Participation and integrated cultural territorial plans

Abstract

Nowadays, the participation is an essential part of an urban regeneration process, moreover in the case of the historic centres, in which the inhabitants and their traditions and intangible heritage are an inner part of the value of that urban setting. Starting from structuring a cognitive framework before planning the implementations, the participation process tries to involve all the stakeholders—moreover the inhabitants—in order to collect scientific as well as popular knowledge. The process has to continue during the decisional phase, in which the participation has to turn into the participative democracy. This chapter analyzes this several phases of participation, focusing on the numerous conflicts generated, especially when the issues of the inhabitant clash with the economic profit—it happens more frequently in the most sensitive as well as attractive areas—both essential for the future of an historic centre.