Historical cultural heritage: Decision making process and reuse scenarios for the enhancement of historic buildings

Abstract

In the last twenty years, conservation policies of cultural heritage have become key policies of the European community. This is due to two main factors: the importance attributed to the use of heritage, and the need to support the role of cultural values. More specifically, heritage is seen as cultural capital and as a potential driver for tourism, while cultural values have a crucial role in shaping the identity of territories because of their intrinsic value and their value as an investment for the cultural, social and economic development. Choosing among different alternative scenarios of reuse, valorisation and conservation of unused cultural heritage is generally a complex decision-making process, given the multidimensional nature of the scenarios and the wide set of values they represent. These decisions are not always consensual, also because the political choice on the potential use of the asset concerns the maintenance of its physical integrity, of its intangible values and of the economic development that can be achieved from its new functions. In this context, the paper proposes the use of Social Multi-criteria Evaluation (SMCE), a multi-dimensional approach applied to a real case study that can support the choice of possible reuse scenarios.