A novel paradigm to achieve sustainable regeneration in Historical Centres with Cultural Heritage

At European level, consensus exists on the fact that cultural heritage is a significant driving force in the European economy, society and culture. The Horizon 2020 Expert Group on Cultural Heritage “Getting cultural heritage to work for Europe” (EC 2015b) label as “outdated” the “view of environmental protection as only an economic cost factor” (p.6). They argue on the contrary that: “Cultural Heritage must be seen as a special, but integral, component in the production of European GDP and innovation, its growth process, competitiveness and in the welfare of European society. Like environmental protection, it should be mainstreamed into policy and regarded as a production factor in economic and wider policy development” (p.6). Stemming from this position, a major consequence in terms of assessment of the heritage is the shift from a cost- centred view of cultural heritage towards a new position, considering cultural heritage as a strategic resource for a sustainable development of Europe. As well as it is now clear that underestimating environmental risks and neglecting environmental protection increase the costs related to risk- related damages, similarly, neglecting cultural heritage protection leads to significant losses in both economic and social terms (including the tourism sector), that need to be properly assessed through a comprehensive set of financial, economic, social and cultural values, including those related to societal assets such as cultural integrity. This is particularly necessary in Historical Centres with Cultural Heritage Value.

It is hereby suggested that a novel paradigm, capable to tackle the issue of protecting Historical Centres with Cultural Heritage Value with an holistic approach, would allow a sustainable management of their values. The overall concept underpinning the novel paradigm stems from a comprehensive and holistic approach to the historical centres, that holds the potential to better embed both physical and socio- ecological value. Currently, methods used to manage historical centres still rely on a dichotomized approach. From one side, conservation policies and management methods tend to consider interventions as if they were detached from the economic and social values thus underestimating the huge hidden value of the assets. On the other side, financial logic often tends to limit investments because the renovation and protection of these assets are considered too expensive. A more trans-disciplinary and holistically oriented approach would allow a better appraisal of the multi-dimensional values of the HCC, thus paving the way for fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among stakeholders and attracting funding based on a more robust and logical basis to calculate the return on investment.

 

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