Cultural Heritage as an opportunity for south-east European countries.
Cities represent one of the most important global actors in the contemporary context. They are the interest point of political, social, cultural and economic forces that shape the built environment. These forces are two-dimensional and represent the contemporary expression of the relationship between globalization and localism.
This is even more evident in post-conflict areas. Balkan region knew during the 90’s numerous and bloody conflicts that widely affected urban scenarios. It is not only an architectural concern: built environment influence lifestyle and social activities, and it redesign the way communities act and ibteract within cities.
There are numerous ways to look and understand such cities and there are several theoretical framework interpreting these different visions: the closed city, the fragmented city.
Among these framework, Divlja grandja (the wild city) is particularly suitable in the Balkan context: it is mainly referred to illegal building process and it is recognized in the informal city scheme; built environment, economic forces, social distances are all parts of the informal city where uncertainty affects all the aspects of life.
In this complex scenario, cultural heritage represents a great opportunity for the building of a common and shared vision off the city and it can help the sustainable development of these territories acting as an empowering resource.
This is the key point of view of Sonia Pistidda, the author of Resilient Cities, edited by Altralinea Editore, in which the author provide readers with an in-depth analysis about the complex phenomenon of the redevelopment process of Balkan region.
By introducing key concepts of architectural theories, the book illustrates relevant issues related to different topics of urban analysis: governance models, economic forces and cultural impacts and the ways these different disciplines contribute in creating a mutidimensional city planning. There is no a unique model of intervention: territories show different needs and the planning actions should be designed on a single case approach.
The objective is to guarantee a multidimensional sustainability, and cultural heritage should play a main role in this process because of the multidimensional nature of its impact.
