Attractiveness and Problems in a Rural Village Restoration: The Umbrian Case of Postignano

Abstract

The hamlet of Postignano is located in Umbria, into the Municipality of Sellano, in a rural marginal peripheral area. The relaunch project for this area is the main research object, in this paper. In 1992, two Architects bought the whole hamlet, investing a great amount of money and human and professional resources to make it live again after its abandonment, which took place in the 1960’s. The research is the result of a series of interviews to selected key-actors and to people who bought a flat in the hamlet. The interviews are aimed at understanding what made the hamlet attractive and how the owners’ approach to the settlement management has been changed during the last decades. The project, indeed, has crossed crucial decades for the international laws about the rural development, facing new challenges like the global economic crisis in 2008 and local problems which forced the owners to reinvent deeply their approach to local development. The redevelopment process of Postignano confirms the necessity to build a touristic plan involving the local communities and being respectful through the sustainable development concepts.