Search Results (17)

Nomadic heritage villages constitute significant material cultural heritage. Under China’s cultural revitalization and rural development strategies, these villages face spatial degradation driven by tourism and urbanization. Current research predominantly employs isolated analytical approaches—space syntax often overlooks social dynamics while social network analysis (SNA) overlooks physical interfaces—hindering the development of holistic solutions for socio-spatial resilience. This study proposes a multi-scale integrated assessment framework combining social network analysis (SNA) and space syntax to systematically evaluate public space structures in traditional nomadic villages of Xinjiang. The framework provides scientific evidence for optimizing public space design in these villages, facilitating harmonious coexistence between spatial functionality and cultural values. Focusing on three heritage villages—representing compact, linear, and dispersed morphologies—the research employs a hierarchical “village-street-node” analytical model to dissect spatial configurations and their socio-functional dynamics. Key findings include the following: Compact villages exhibit high central clustering but excessive concentration, necessitating strategies to enhance network resilience and peripheral connectivity. Linear villages demonstrate weak systemic linkages, requiring “segment-connection point supplementation” interventions to mitigate structural elongation. Dispersed villages maintain moderate network density but face challenges in visual integration and centrality, demanding targeted activation of key intersections to improve regional cohesion. By merging SNA’s social attributes with space syntax’s geometric precision, this framework bridges a methodological gap, offering comprehensive spatial optimization solutions. Practical recommendations include culturally embedded placemaking, adaptive reuse of transitional spaces, and thematic zoning to balance heritage conservation with tourism needs. Analyzing Xinjiang’s unique spatial–social interactions provides innovative insights for sustainable heritage village planning and replicable solutions for comparable global cases. Full article

This article discusses the importance of cultural identity for ethnic youth, considering the challenges they face as migrants or from migrant backgrounds. It then develops the idea of using safe cultural spaces as a culturally responsive model of care for these youth. The data used are drawn from a qualitative study with 35 African heritage youth living in Aotearoa–New Zealand as participants. The study was guided by participatory action research (PAR) methodology principles. Data was collected using research workshops (adaption of focus groups) and qualitative survey questionnaires. PAR’s transformative lens, narrative inquiry, and inductive thematic analysis were used to identify and analyse the reported themes. Findings show that ethnic youth value their cultural identities primarily because, in the context of migration, where they constantly navigate multiple levels of social exclusion and marginality, it confers a sense of personhood, uniqueness, and belonging. However, trying to live their multiple cultures authentically presents many challenges. Accordingly, intentional initiatives that are culturally responsive and holistic are critical to support them in navigating this process healthily. Creating safe cultural spaces is proposed as a model of care. The article reports and discusses youth perspectives on what these spaces and the model of care would entail. Full article

Service-Learning (SL) is an innovative educational methodology that integrates academic learning with active community engagement, fostering both technical and transversal competencies. This pilot study explores the implementation of an SL-based experience within the Physiotherapy Degree at the University of Extremadura. The primary objective was to design and deliver therapeutic exercise programs targeting patients with cardiorespiratory conditions, utilizing local community resources. A total of 44 third-year physiotherapy students participated in the design and simulated the implementation of community-based interventions targeting muscular strength, postural control, balance, and endurance. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining descriptive statistics (SPSS v23) and thematic analysis of student reflections to assess the impact of SL on the development of specific professional competencies, including clinical reasoning, patient communication, therapeutic planning, and adaptation of interventions to diverse environments. The results show a significant improvement in students’ theoretical and practical understanding, with over 70% of participants rating their learning experience between 8 and 10 (on a 0–10 scale) in aspects such as pathology description, clinical assessment, and exercise planning. Additionally, 92% reported improved teamwork, 89% noted better adaptability, and 87% reported enhanced decision-making skills. The findings suggest that SL can enhance perceived learning in musculoskeletal rehabilitation and support the transition from academic training to clinical practice. However, the study is exploratory and based on perceived outcomes, and future research should include validated tools and real patients to assess its impact more rigorously. This pilot study highlights the value of integrating musculoskeletal-focused training—targeting strength, balance, and endurance—into physiotherapy education through Service-Learning methodology. The study highlights SL’s potential to enrich physiotherapy education while leveraging community spaces—such as those in Extremadura, a region with three UNESCO World Heritage Sites—as dynamic learning environments. Full article

The present study explores residents’ perceptions of Stintino (Sardinia, Italy) as a tourist destination. The municipality is predominantly known for La Pelosa beach, widely regarded as one of the most attractive coastal sites in Europe. However, its popularity has raised critical issues related to carrying capacity and seasonal overcrowding, contributing to a tourism model centered almost exclusively on beach-related activities. This study aims to investigate how locals conceptualize their place beyond the dominant seaside narrative, particularly considering Stintino’s identity as a former fishing village with a strong maritime tradition. As part of Italy’s designated inner areas, Stintino also embodies a deep-rooted connection to cultural heritage, further reinforcing the need for its preservation. Adopting a photovoice-based participatory visual methodology, this study engaged 15 local stakeholders from key sectors (hospitality, fishing tourism, retail, gastronomy, and cultural institutions) who produced and discussed photographic representations of their lived experience of the territory. The visual material was thematically analyzed using a conceptual framework informed by theories of place perception and social representations. The findings suggested a multifaceted territorial storytelling rooted in local heritage, symbolic spaces, and everyday practices. Tourism governance strategies could incorporate community-based approaches, such as participatory mapping and inclusive narrative development, to foster more sustainable and place-sensitive promotion models. Full article

Rapid urbanization in the Global South poses challenges to ecological integrity, cultural heritage, and equitable access to green infrastructure. This study evaluates the effectiveness of recent green infrastructure projects in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, including flagship parks and upgraded road corridors, through the lens of the Urban Nature Futures Framework (UNFF). To operationalize the UNFF’s three perspectives—Nature for Nature (NN), Nature for Society (NS), and Nature as Culture (NC)—a context-specific set of indicators was developed through the existing literature, global assessment frameworks, and stakeholder consultations. A mixed-methods approach, combining structured surveys with both qualitative and quantitative thematic analysis, was applied across four stakeholder groups: residents, park visitors, corridor users, and experts. The results indicate that while social benefits (NS) are widely recognized, ecological (NN) and cultural (NC) dimensions receive comparatively less emphasis. Regression analysis shows that education, employment, and green space use frequency significantly shape perceptions of NS and NC, while NN are more consistently shared across groups. This study demonstrates the practical value of the UNFF as an assessment tool and offers a replicable methodology for evaluating multifunctional green infrastructure. The findings underscore the need for more inclusive, biodiversity-positive, and culturally grounded urban renewal strategies. These insights are relevant for planners and policymakers aiming to foster equitable and resilient urban environments in rapidly growing cities. Full article

This article explores the methodological framework and examines the learning and scientific outcomes of a workshop activity centred on the innovative integration of digital heritage approaches with design thinking methodologies. The workshop was developed in the Italian central Apennines and it investigated the design implications of working on heritage contexts in marginal areas using innovative digital tools, as well as the impact of this approach on the community. The activities engaged international students and professors, employed a multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and trans-scalar approach encompassing field research, data processing, dialogue, and collaborative visioning. The findings are both methodological and thematic. Methodologically, the workshop introduced a novel approach to architectural education by integrating digitalization in the design process and by fostering an urban vision that bridges research with local needs. Thematically, the outputs explore new uses for “potential spaces”, sustainable mobility, heritage-led strategies, and tourism, emphasizing community involvement. The workshop’s originality lies in its cognitive, narrative, and design processes, where digital data are part of the creative process. Despite the workshop’s compressed timeline, it successfully fostered creative thinking and practical solutions, demonstrating the value of intense, interdisciplinary collaborative visioning for heritage regeneration. The workshop’s broader implications include potential spin-offs into future community engagement and knowledge-transfer activities, highlighting its social and practical relevance. Full article

The paper explores the significance of digitalization and spatial modeling for the preservation and management of cultural heritage, addressing challenges posed by architectural complexity and extensive data volumes and developing a tailored data model to organize and integrate geometric, material, and historical information. The case study of Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy, is proposed, considering that its architectural complexity and cultural significance require innovative approaches to documentation and management. The “Pitti Data Model” is proposed as a tailored information system to organize and manage the data. It classifies spaces by adopting a hierarchical approach that supports detailed spatial analysis and reflects the historical and functional diversity of the site. The model links geometric data with thematic data such as material types, state of conservation, and historical names of spaces, providing a multi-dimensional understanding of the building. Based on Getty’s Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), a controlled vocabulary was employed to ensure semantic consistency and interoperability. This semantic enrichment facilitates the integration of geometric data with broader heritage information systems. The paper presents, therefore, the integration in existing standards like INSPIRE, CityGML, and IndoorGML, thus providing a data model supporting efficient querying and visualization in a GeoDB that integrates spatial and non-spatial data, supporting collaborative and sustainable heritage management by enabling advanced analyses such as visitor flow optimization and conservation planning. This aligns with the concept of Heritage Digital Twins (HDT), which are interactive, evolving representations of cultural assets. HDTs support collaborative and sustainable heritage management by enabling stakeholders to access, analyze, and update information in real time. Full article

As the cultural importance of universities continues to grow, university museums have become key platforms for promoting university heritage and values. However, enhancing the visitor experience in these museums remains challenging. This study examines the effectiveness of smellscape in enhancing the visitor experience in university history museums, with a focus on how various scents impact visitors’ emotions. Using the Fuzhou University History Museum as a case study, the museum was divided into three distinct zones: the Historical Evolution Zone (HEZ), the Contemporary Development Zone (CDZ), and the Thematic Exhibition Zone (TEZ). Specific scents were selected for each area to evaluate their emotional impact, and data were gathered using electroencephalography (EEG) indicators, emotional questionnaires, and scent pleasure scales. The results indicated that calming scents like sandalwood and agarwood, used in the HEZ, convey a sense of historical depth but may also evoke negative emotions, whereas sage enhances positive feelings. In the CDZ, rosemary and mint significantly improve emotional states, while lemongrass exhibits weaker pleasantness and appears less suited for this area. In the TEZ, scents such as patchouli and orange blossom align well with future-oriented themes, demonstrating high levels of pleasantness and emotional value. Smellwalk interviews further validated the experimental results, revealing notable differences in the emotional impact of smellscape across different exhibit zones. A thoughtful selection of scents can enhance the cultural expression of spaces and effectively regulate visitors’ emotional experiences, strengthening the cultural resonance of museum environments. Future designers may consider incorporating olfactory elements into landscape design. Full article

The conformation and dynamics of metropolitanisation act as propulsive elements of territorial transformations. The deficiency of infrastructural equipment, the heterogeneity of urban fabric and the lack of services and public spaces contribute to severing the identity ties between settled communities and territories. In light of this, within the more general reflection concerning urban regeneration, we recall the role that cultural heritage plays in the physical and functional organisation of the city, as a reflection of the interaction between community and context. The contribution is contextualized in the research work on the activities related to Thematic Line 4 of the Extended Partnership 5—CHANGES (NRRP). The thematic line activities follow three phases: 1. contextualization; 2. operational phase; 3. experimentation. The research work presented here is part of the ‘operational phase’, to identify strategies and projects for heritage-led regeneration. The article analyses the pilot case of CSOA Forte Prenestino as a starting point for thinking about expanding the research activity to other similar cases. It is a self-managed community centre in Rome (Italy) located in the nineteenth-century Forte, which has become a symbol of collective identity. The case study was identified following three levels of investigation: 1. identification of the municipality, first-level administrative subdivision of the city of Rome (Italy); 2. identification of the main historical, archaeological and architectural emergencies of the municipality; 3. identification of an asset to be analysed as “Heritage by designation” (involvement of experts) and “Heritage by appropriation” (involvement of communities). The research results show the “Recognition Path” of Forte Prenestina: according to what has been ‘designated’ by urban planning instruments, project instruments, legislative instruments and authors of scientific publications and conferences; and on the basis of the bottom-up ‘appropriation’ process of the asset that has allowed its management, assessment of its cultural and social potential and its development. The research results allow us to reflect on heritage-led urban regeneration as a strategy capable of capturing and promoting the links between social integration and cultural–historical identity. Full article

This work is part of research conducted within the Di3A Landscape Design and Redevelopment Laboratory at the University of Catania. Its objective is to improve the enjoyment of public spaces through the study of landscape design in highly urbanised and historical areas. The case study used was the historical centre of the city of Catania in Sicily. This study focused on the green aspects of the redevelopment of some open spaces of the Antico Corso district using international and national thematic studies on public spaces as a reference. In particular, the research concentrated on the design of the Garden of Via Biblioteca inside the former Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò La Rena, a UNESCO world heritage site redeveloped by the famous architect Giancarlo De Carlo. After a careful analysis of the area, we decided to use contemporary project themes with the aim of enhancing the present historical elements and nature-based solutions, which, through the introduction of carefully selected plant species, favour biodiversity in the urban environment. The method adopted was divided into three main phases: (1) spatial analysis; (2) a SWOT analysis method; and (3) the planning and design of the green redevelopment of places to be reconverted into public spaces. This methodology has already been tested on the open spaces of the former Vittorio Emanuele Hospital inside the Antico Corso District, showing how the multidisciplinary approach applied can be replicated in other urban contexts in historical centres. The results of these studies may be useful in the context of urban planning reforms envisaged by Regional Law No. 19/2020 and Regional Law 13/2015 in Sicily and to help the Superintendencies of Landscape and Cultural Heritage to preserve and to enhance historical greenery. The adopted strategies may also be useful in the application of the PUI (Integrated Urban Plan) of the Province of Catania that follows the PNRR (National Plan of Reconstruction and Resilience) parameters to provide local services to the municipalities involved. These pilot projects should be extended to bigger areas. The applicability of the methodology could be tested in other parts of the Municipality of Catania with a particular focus on run-down areas, followed by further testing on territorial sections of the province. Full article

The traditional trend in heritage management focuses on a conservationist strategy, i.e., keeping heritage in a good condition while avoiding its interaction with other elements. This condition results in the link between heritage and tourism to be established as juxtaposed process, which gives rise to the need to broaden the concept of heritage and how it can be used through tourism to contribute to the local development of communities. The objective of this study is to show the different mechanisms of social use that the intangible cultural heritage of the different peoples and nationalities of Ecuador can have. For this purpose, the San Antonio de Killu Yaku community, parish of Puerto Napo, canton Tena, Napo province, is taken as a case study, based on an analysis of the current situation of tourism in the community. The cultural resources of the territory are taken as a starting point to transform them into tourist attractions for the construction of a thematic heritage space, in order to minimize the concern about the erosion and lack of appreciation of the ancestral manifestations and knowledge that the nationality possesses, due to the accelerated globalization of society. The analysis corresponds to a descriptive process of all the information collected with the proposed exploitation mechanisms through tourism activities. During the process, an increase in the exchange of knowledge was shown, as well as a constant cultural insurgency in which people maintain themselves to safeguard their cultures. Full article

Spa towns represented, for decades, a point of reference for the European panorama of health, tourism and cultural exchange. They have been the first tourist destination in the modern sense, as well as a manifesto for a renewed demand of quality and laboratories for architectural and urban experimentations. A product of territorial relations, they have been able to aggregate ideas, capital and skills in a generative logic. However, from the second half of the 20th Century, these cities underwent a series of structural changes related to health and tourism trends that deeply affected all levels of their local systems. Today, these places are witnessing numerous episodes of degradation and abandonment of their built cultural heritage. Promoting a place-based approach, this paper argues that spa towns could be reconsidered as strategic resources in the construction of the territorial capital and that adaptive reuse practices, if integrated into strategic visions, can represent a driver for the activation of a sustainability transition based on ‘fully circular’ processes. Here, the abandoned built cultural heritage represents an opportunity space, a potential catalyst of innovative synergies, and a meeting point between local and territorial interests. While referring both to theoretical profiles and applied research experiences, the paper frames urban transformation and adaptive reuse processes as an integrated challenge within change management logics. Finally, the paper proposes a set of thematic recommendations in order to stimulate the creation of receptive environments for change and deal with the different times, scales, actors and the economic and non-economic interests involved. Full article

This paper reports on the exploration of potential design opportunities for social media and technology to identify issues and challenges in involving people in generating content within a cultural heritage context. The work is divided into two parts. In the first part, arguments are informed by findings from 22 in-depth semi-structured interviews with representatives of cultural institutions and with people from a general audience who recently participated in a cultural activity. The key findings show that social media could be used more extensively to achieve a deeper understanding of cultural diversity, with opportunities in redefining the expert, extending the experience space, and decentralising collaboration. To further support these findings, a case study was set up evaluating the experience of a mini audio tour with user-generated (i.e., personal stories from a local audience) vs. non user-generated (i.e., professional stories including facts) narratives. These were delivered using text and 3D sound on a mobile device. The narratives were related to a built environment in central London near world-renown museums, cultural buildings, and a royal park. Observations, a standardised spatial presence questionnaire, and a short open interview at the end of the tour were used to gain insights about participants preferences and overall experience. Thematic analysis and triangulation were used as a means for understanding and articulating opportunities for social media to better involve and engage people using user-generated narratives presented through 3D sound. Full article

The world’s cultural and natural heritage has been gradually affected by climate change, and although the research agendas of many countries have included this reality since 2003, there is still an incipient approach to it, with analysis techniques used being limited. In addition, there are very few case studies that describe in detail the adaptation processes of spaces to these new conditions. The aim of this research is to identify the scientific production related to the impact of climate change on cultural and natural heritage indexed in the international databases Scopus and Web of Science (WoS), which will enable to establish maturity of the research on this subject. The methodology used for the analysis of the data obtained is bibliometric analysis; evaluative and relational measures are applied to a set of 78 articles (45 in Scopus and 33 in WoS) and to a joint base of 47 articles after deleting those articles that overlap in both databases. The result is a scientific mapping that enables observing of the evolution of knowledge generation in this field of study. The main findings show that research is incipient, with a large presence of transient authors with a single publication, the research is limited to the geographical scope of Europe and North America, neglecting many other areas, the impact which is measured by the citation of articles is very low, the relational measures corroborate that the thematic approach is new by identifying a high presence of isolated relationships among authors. The results obtained will be very useful for researchers working in this scientific area, as they can find a synthesis of scientific production in this document, allowing them to draw their own conclusions regarding the current gaps in research; constituting the starting point of their research, with the aim of filling these gaps. Full article

Thematic paths are a central aspect of urban policies for cultural heritage valorization. In fact, thematic paths are central spatial features for structuring the image of a historical landscape. Hence, this study proposes the cultural paths assessment tool (PAST) as a methodological framework for individuating a network of routes connecting cultural heritage components and for assessing their usefulness. Usefulness is herein defined as the potential of a street network to support the meaningful experience of a historical urban landscape. PAST combines space syntax techniques, a geographic information system, and a qualitative analysis within a multi-criteria analysis framework for addressing four aspects of connecting cultural heritage components, including: (i) the individuation of relevant assets; (ii) the identification of the sub-network of most central street segments; (iii) the definition of the street network of thematic routes; (iv) the assessment of the usefulness of thematic paths, according to the criteria of usability, imageability, and accessibility. The proposed methodology, applied to the historical district of Marina in the city of Cagliari in Italy, supports planning and design processes in two ways: (1) by identifying street segments and squares comprising a network of thematic routes; (2) by individuating high-leverage interventions for improving the usefulness of thematic routes. Consequently, the proposed study addresses the need to establish methodologies and analytic tools that support decision making processes for conserving, managing, and valorizing historic urban landscapes. Full article