Representing place, branding place. Designing place identity enhancing the cultural heritage

Abstract

The tangible and the intangible cultural heritage constitute for the smaller towns a fundamental resource on which to calibrate the tourist and the cultural policies, and on which to base the urban and the territorial image building strategies. These may require both material actions oriented to the physical transformation of places, and immaterial actions oriented to communication. The two dimensions, material and immaterial, are not rigidly separated but they form a continuum, as in the case of place-making and of place-branding actions aimed at changing the perception of places. This paper presents a case study focused on the communication of the cultural heritage of the local and cultural identity of a small urban center in Sardinia. This project has provided an opportunity to represent the peculiarities of the territory and to make it accessible through the integration of several actions aimed at making perceptible and transmittable the value of local cultural heritage.