Territorial Effects of Shared-Living Heritage Regeneration

Abstract

The paper presents further steps of study started by authors in recent years, as part of the widest international research collaboration, which focuses on shared life and regeneration of abandonment of rural settlements as strategies for the development of sustainable territories. This research aims to understand how the regeneration of ancient community buildings impacts on the sustainable development of the local context. To understand these effects, the research considered four traditional typologies of community buildings, from different cultures: Tulou (China), Cascina (Italy), Hacienda (Mexico), and Marae (New Zealand). Among the tens/hundreds of contemporary regeneration interventions, three contemporary projects per each of these typologies have been selected. To assess the territorial impact of the projects a new approach has been defined using Expert Interviews as the methodology, so as to be able to have an assessment directly by experts in the fields of regenerative projects and sustainable development. The Expert Interviews were held based on a questionnaire that assessed the effects of the projects. For the evaluation of the projects, two categories of indicators have been selected: (1) United Nations SDGs, (2) architectural regeneration indicators generated by the study “The Role of Cultural Heritage in Sustainable Development: Multidimensional Indicators as Decision-Making Tool”, by Francesca Nocca, published in Sustainability (2017, 9, 1882). The research outputs show how the urban-architectural regeneration of these historical typologies can be clearly associated with indications of sustainable development. The results also show that in all four cultures the regeneration of historic buildings provides many benefits to local communities by successfully mixing different income groups and the inclusion of marginalized or vulnerable groups.

The Vernacular and Rural Houses of Agrarian Areas in the Zeta Region, Montenegro

“…To answer the research question, Expert Interviews and Interviews methodologies were adopted as a tool for analysis and interpretation of contemporary phenomena [27,28]. As argued by Meuser and Nagel "The Expert Interview as a method of qualitative empirical research, designed to explore expert knowledge, has been developed considerably since the early 1990s" [29].…”

Structural Materials, Ventilation Design and Architectural Art of Traditional Buildings in Guangdong, China

“…It has also spread into the surrounding areas, including the Dong River Basin and the Pearl River Estuary [19,20]. This building style displays good structural characteristics in harmony with the laws of nature and is amenable to good sustainable development [21][22][23]. has also spread into the surrounding areas, including the Dong River Basin and the Pearl River Estuary [19,20].…”

A systematic review of indicators for sustainability of urban heritage sites

“…possible to utilize existing heritage assets for cultural crafting workshops, exhibitions, or related events to attract outsiders for investments or business trading (Alana et al, 2019;Kou et al, 2018;Leus and Verhelst, 2018;Nocca, 2017;Nocca and Fusco Girard, 2018). Also, regenerating local resources for revenue, such as renting for homestay or co-living in shophouses, can reduce the financial burden while creating unique experience (Cattaneo et al, 2020;Hsu et al, 2021;Lerario and di Turi, 2018). Nevertheless, cultural assets should be a medium to promote knowledge and skills inherited from the past and the possible future, but not be constrained as income generators only.…”

“…Helpful indicators integrated with knowledge capacity and innovative solutions are vital to assess, monitor and measure the ability of resources for investment (Gravagnuolo et al, 2019;Mirzayeva et al, 2020;Nocca and Fusco Girard, 2018). Heritage management can utilise technology to capture, explore and analyse valuable data for potential economic interest or trend (Cattaneo et al, 2020;Guzman et al, 2018).…”

“…A balance between the social, environmental and economic dimensions in urban heritage sites is needed to recognise the urban development challenges (Battis-Schinker et al, 2021;Hsu et al, 2021). Yet, it is not limited to physical conservation (Alana et al, 2019), governance (Guzman, 2020), cultural (Cattaneo et al, 2020;Chahardowli et al, 2020), policy (Battis-Schinker et al, 2021) and patrimony (Leus and Verhelst, 2018). In this paper, "dimensions" are measurement units for sustainability in urban heritage sites (Cambridge Dictionary, 2021a), but it does not serve the purpose to show the sustainability level.…”