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In recent decades the debate on accessibility in historic centers has seen a growing wealth of contributions supported by operational experiences. Despite this significant progress, the issue remains unresolved in terms of developing new policies for the enhancement and preservation of minor historic centers subject to demographic and socioeconomic decline. Indeed, the geographic conformation of these centers, which once provided protection and security, now poses a challenge in terms of accessibility. How to ensure the daily usability of such places, meeting the needs of the inhabitants while preserving the identity features of the historic built environment? The aim of the contribution is to search for a new conception of accessibility capable of taking on a deeper meaning in heritage revitalization processes. A cultural accessibility that succeeds in referring to historic urban space as a place for the production of meaning and culture to be declined in the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last 2 decades, gentrification has emerged in Spanish-speaking urban studies as a powerful and controversial concept that revitalizes the debate on urbanization processes. However, some scholars have opposed gentrification as an alien notion and a spurious generalization from the experience of cities in the Global North, useless for urban studies in the Global South. In this context, the aim of the article is to defend current scientific work on gentrification that bridges diverse urban geographies. We also challenge a rigid and reductionist division of the urban world into a few homogeneous regions by engaging with current debates on comparative studies. We propose a dialogue between the Mexican and Spanish cases of gentrification, connecting these processes in distant urban regions. The main finding is that, despite enormous contextual differences, there is common ground for gentrification studies in Mexico and Spain in the recent historical processes of urban renewal of historic centers for touristic exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to explore the service quality determinants in historic centers (HC) by applying a user-generated content analysis with indicators of the TOURQUAL protocol for evaluating the quality of tourist services as the theoretical basis. We analyze 7,849 reviews from 9 HC (5 Brazilians and 4 Portuguese), from January 2019 to September 2020, available on TripAdvisor and Google Maps platforms. The findings demonstrate that the dimensions of technical quality, experience, and environment are the most identified among the reviews. Additionally, we noticed a lack of use of Unesco titles as marketing strategy. The research proposes a model of importance for dimensions of quality of service in historic centers that enables managers to improve the quality of tourist services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international scientific debate on the growing concern over land consumption has gained prominence in recent years. The awareness of the link between cultural heritage and sustainable development has become increasingly evident, leading to a greater focus on the Adaptive Reuse (AR) of cultural assets as a conscious process of creating new values. This trend has prompted a reflection on urban planning practices and the promotion of AR and valorization policies for heritage, which can contribute to environmental sustainability, social cohesion, and cultural identity, thereby providing fertile ground for innovation and local economic development. However, decisions regarding AR interventions pose significant complexity due to the multiple interests at stake, as well as high costs that discourage investiments. For these reasons, this paper proposes a multi-methodological approach—applied to a project for the AR of a cluster of mountain huts located in the Sila National Park (SNP)—aimed at effectively supporting decisions related to the evaluation of feasibility and economic sustainability of cultural heritage landscapes that have not yet been adequately valorized. This approach was applied to a pilot project of AR, allowing for the discussion of the proposed evaluation methodological framework. The final step involved verifying the economic feasibility and financial sustainability of the methodology based on a Financial Feasibility Plan (FFP) of the proposed of the new destination to 'Rifugio Diffuso' (RD). The assessment aimed to evaluate the intervention's ability to create value, generate a level of profitability that meets private investment expectations, and promote sustainable development of the local economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Nowadays, rehabilitation in historic centers can become a challenge due to the restrictions concerning the requirements for the building envelope. Portugal has conducted studies to define the maximum U values [W/(m2 K)] for single building components based on the indoor temperature. Despite the relative humidity being crucial for thermal comfort, the current Portuguese scheme for energy certification of buildings does not consider it. Additionally, it is essential to know that most of the dwellings in Portugal are in a fleet-float regime due to cultural habits and energy poverty. Therefore, increasing the insulation thickness of exterior walls might not have a relevant impact on the indoor temperature. There is even the risk of harming the authenticity of the built heritage. Using a calibrated dynamic simulation model developed with TRNSYS software, we found that, in winter, the effect of external wall insulation on the indoor temperature is tiny. Results suggest that maximum U values [W/(m2 K)] for exterior walls might be over-defined. Further studies of cost-optimal levels should be conducted with calibrated models in a free-float regime to define the maximum U values [W/(m2 K)] of external walls for this type of buildings.

In historic centers, construction works consist of complex activities that must balance the operative requirements and lower the impacts on a delicate and sensible environment. In this urban system, especially regarding relevant reconstruction processes such as post-natural disaster scenarios, construction operations are performed through the traditional construction processes, using fuel-based generators and vehicles with limited efficiency and with relevant impacts in terms of the consumed energy, noise and vibrations. In the global transition of the construction sectors towards a zero-emission and fuel-free future, construction sites in historic centers represent a particular opportunity where the application of fuel-free strategies is particularly feasible and can provide additional value in terms of the environmental impact, productivity and health and safety. This work addresses the need for a framework to provide the basis for the application of fuel-free principles in construction within historic city centers dealing with two major concepts: the adaptive construction site as a way to reduce the energy demand and the potential adoption of fuel-free machines. The former is derived from the analysis of a real project in the historic city of L'Aquila, while the latter is defined through the identification and categorization of the applicable electric machines, equipment and vehicles and the discussion of the limits, opportunities and added value of the fuel-free strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the experiences of two projects which had a major urban impact in the 1980s on two Mexican cities, Guadalajara and Monterrey. In both cases, the background behind urban planning and the different projects to regenerate the historic city centers are discussed. The considerations of the local authorities regarding the tired and deteriorated image of the old downtown area are also presented, outlining the large-scale interventions that involved the demolition of colonial and 19thcentury buildings and spaces. The results are contradictory: on one hand, a large public space was gained, but at the same time, the original city layout and many heritage buildings were lost. Both projects were the result of authoritarian political decisions, by governor decrees, without any consultation with the inhabitants of Guadalajara and Monterrey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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As part of the curricular internship activity carried out at the University of Bologna for the master's degree program Engineering of Building Processes and Systems, curriculum Historic Building Rehabilitation under the guidance of Professors Alessia Zampini and Leila Signorelli, it was possible to analyze the concepts of authenticity and monuments. The goal was to analyze how these concepts were interpreted for nine historic centers belonging to the UNESCO World Heritage List: Lyon, Provins, and Albi; Florence, Pienza and Urbino; Cordoba, Toledo e Ávila. The analysis revealed that the historic centers represent the development of a multitude of concepts of authenticities and monuments that can ultimately be assimilated into a single entity. Despite their geographical expansion several projects allowed historic centers to preserve their distinctive features, while maintaining the values of authenticity and outstanding universal value throughout the centuries.

European countries are affected by various levels of seismic hazard, including many areas with medium to high seismicity. Heavy damage over large areas has been observed in past earthquakes in these countries, particularly in masonry buildings located in historical centers, confirming the need for enhancing the current knowledge on the seismic vulnerability of these constructions, so more informed technical and political decisions towards the mitigation of the risk can be taken. However, the characterization of building stocks for engineering purposes is still an open issue due to the enormous amount of resources that such a project would require. Nevertheless, the availability of virtual images and maps represents an outstanding opportunity for having remote approaches to urban environments. The role of on-site inspections can be complemented or even substituted by means of these remote approaches, provided it is complemented with suitable approaches. The use of these resources is not new, but the critical assessment of their capabilities and limitations deserves a critical discussion. The present paper aims at assessing the opportunities offered by web-based mapping platforms in the context of seismic vulnerability assessment of masonry buildings in old urban areas. After evaluating the advantages and shortcomings of some of the most popular web-based mapping services, an explanatory application to a set of 39 buildings located in the historic center of the city of Leiria (Portugal) is presented and critically discussed, contrasting the results obtained by using on-site and remote inspections. Two different seismic vulnerability assessment approaches are applied and analyzed herein, confirming that web-based mapping platforms can represent an efficient and cost-effective complement to traditional field surveys when the large-scale seismic vulnerability of old urban areas is of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Vivienda y Urbanismo is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As part of the curricular internship activity carried out at the University of Bologna for the master's degree program Engineering of Building Processes and Systems, curriculum Historic Building Rehabilitation under the guidance of Professors Alessia Zampini and Leila Signorelli, it was possible to analyze the concepts of authenticity and monuments. The goal was to analyze how these concepts were interpreted for nine historic centers belonging to the UNESCO World Heritage List: Lyon, Provins, and Albi; Florence, Pienza and Urbino; Cordoba, Toledo e Ávila. The analysis revealed that the historic centers represent the development of a multitude of concepts of authenticities and monuments that can ultimately be assimilated into a single entity. Despite their geographical expansion several projects allowed historic centers to preserve their distinctive features, while maintaining the values of authenticity and outstanding universal value throughout the centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ranko Radović (1935-2005) was one of Serbia’s most notable architects, urbanists, and professors, with a prominent influence on European scholarly discussions on planning urban centers and public spaces, which have come to light not only through his research design proposals but also through numerous publications, seminars, conferences and lecture notes. The importance of Radović lies in his profound and early understanding of urban issues that became common across Europe in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He focused on the composition, ideologies, traditionality and innovation of cities, while striving to create paradigmatic shifts in urban design with the parallel retainment of strong cultures. Radović, strongly influenced by his European experiences, created urban schemes based on his strong ideals that were a product of deep urban perception and collective criticism deriving from his experiential research. As a result, this paper seeks to show and discuss how his time and practice in Finland, and particularly his research designs for the areas of Herttoniemi and Vuosaari in Helsinki (1995-1996), shaped how he perceived the concepts of urban spatial identification, geometry, and historicity, and how these elaborations evolved through his urban planning and design schemes in Serbia’s northern province of Vojvodina (1997-2000).

Copyright of Revista: Módulo Arquitectura CUC is the property of Corporacion Universidad de la Costa, CUC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Historic urban conservation has, for more than a century, been a major focus of planning, architectural debate and public policy. Today, there is a growing consensus that the historic city should be viewed not only as a unity of architectural monuments and supporting fabric, but also as a complex layering of meanings, connected both to its natural environment and to its geological structure, as well as to its metropolitan hinterland. The current paper will attempt to analyze the principles of modern urban conservation and to evaluate the effectiveness of their application in Mediterranean historic centers. It is structured in two parts. In the first part it examines the changes that diachronically took place in planning for historic urban conservation. It will analyze the principles that were followed until today and the existing strategies, policies and practices of historic urban conservation. The second part will examine the application of these policies in the historic city of Valletta and it will analyze the effectiveness of these principles’ application in the conservation of its historic environment. The evaluation of these policies and practices will be based on basic urban conservation pillars, such as the support of their identity through communication strategies; the promotion of cultural identity and contribution to economic growth; the enhancement of a better quality of life for residents through the strengthening of the use of the dwelling; the increase of the attractiveness of tourists; and the application of regeneration strategies and environmental planning. It is essential to address the issue of urban conservation in ways that reflect the great diversity of cultural traditions, to support new practices, and to define management systems aimed at preserving values within sustainable processes.

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The implementation of a culture of seismic risk preparedness is becoming increasingly critical in Europe as the building stock ages and the awareness about seismic risk rises. In this context, the assessment of the seismic vulnerability of existing buildings, followed by the implementation of appropriate retrofitting solutions, can help to substantially reduce the levels of physical damage and economic impact of future events. The central region of Portugal is particularly susceptible to large seismic events and is characterized by the prevalence of historic masonry buildings. This work aims to validate assessment methods for the risk of historical city centers in order to propose management strategies for municipalities and assess the economic impact of large-scale seismic retrofitting. To do this, an application of these methods was performed on the historical city center of Leiria. An in-depth inspection was performed of the entire center and the results were compiled into a database. Using an index-based seismic vulnerability assessment approach, a vulnerability assessment was made for each building. Based on vulnerability and predicted damage, estimates of human and economic losses were made for the city center before and after retrofitting to justify interventions on a broad scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The private real estate of historical centers play a crucial role in development’s dynamics, because their efficient utilization contributes to the competitiveness and prosperity of the territory that they belong to. These real estate in state of decay and quite often under contested ownership, represent an impediment to the implementation of dedicated development plans. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on the historic centers and to suggest tools and preliminary procedures in support of the local Councils in facing up the problem of the unused private real estate, within a structured enhancement process. Will be used two approaches: one related to legal aspects of the problem, where have been clarified the available legislative instruments , the other which highlights the importance of the assessment process and its contribution in defining instruments used to set up development plans, with specific attention on the feasibility and sustainability of the investments involved in the recovery of these historic areas, eventually with the contribution of private funds, nevertheless the need to evaluate the benefit the private investors will receive in return from their investments.

Seismic vulnerability assessment of urban centers is a challenging issue that needs to be faced accurately for the earthquake risk of large territorial areas. The selection of suitable methods is a crucial aspect that must be treated according to different evaluation processes, depending on the size of the problem and on the available calculation capacities. A possible strategy consists in analyzing large stocks of buildings, so to include in the analyses all those structural parameters that characterize their response and to involve the variability of the considered features. This would require a high computational effort that should be addressed to the investigation of the response of a large number of models. For this reason, simplified procedures based on engineeristic judgements, are commonly considered a viable way to be undertaken in order to predict damage scenarios. Alternatively, the attention could be focused on a limited number of buildings that are judged to be representative of the whole stock. In this case, more sophisticated analyses could be carried out and the obtained results could be extended to the whole urban center. Based on this premise, this paper presents the results obtained through the application of two different seismic vulnerability methodologies on the historic center of Campotosto, in Italy, which was hit by the last 2016 Central Italy earthquake. The first is an empirical method, applied considering a large stock of 130 buildings, which was calibrated by the authors after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake for historical centers that are similar to the one studied in this paper. The latter, is a method based on analytical formulations dealt with by the Vulnus software, developed at the University of Padua in Italy, which was used for evaluating the seismic vulnerability of an aggregate building, which has been considered representative of the historic center. The final aim is to compare, also in the light of the damage provoked by the 2016 earthquake, the observed post-seismic scenarios, expressed in terms of fragility curves, derived from the two applied methodologies, in order to prove their reliability and to stress the possible issues related to their implementation at different scales.

Linking forms of intervention in the city and processes of socio- spatial appropriation in the historic center of Puebla. We discuss specific caseloads of dispossession - appropriating space that delve into social inequalities. With all this, we intend to verify the relationship between the use made of the Historical Center and social appropriation class that is the subject

Copyright of ESTOA: Revista de la Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de la Universidad de Cuenca is the property of ESTOA Revista de la Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de la Universidad de Cuenca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article, a predictive model for the seismic vulnerability assessment of old Italian historic centers is presented through its direct application to a meaningful case study, the historic center of Scanno, in Abruzzi, Italy. The proposed method is calibrated on the basis of the observations carried out on similar historic centers hit by the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake and is applied in order to provide likely damage scenarios by means of fragility curves. The method is based on the evaluation of a limited number of structural and typological parameters that can be obtained by simple and rapid inspections on buildings. In addition, it is conceived in order to provide useful information on the most effective anti-seismic strategies to be implemented on urban scale for pursuing a global mitigation of the seismic risk and for the application of suitable risk reduction policies. The final aim of the article is to give an applicative vision of the method, by providing instructions on how to judge the features of the buildings that are influential on their seismic behavior, as well as by showing the potentiality of the method itself in providing likely damage scenarios, also with the support of GIS-based representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international debate that led to the drafting of important institutional documents and charters on the city considered the conservation of cultural heritage essential to planning choices and favored the sustainability of the high-density model for historic centers. Italian theory and policy regarding intervention on the historic city provided a major contribution to this debate and the extensive conservation and development policies that emerged benefitted from a general and shared consensus. All the same, analysis of the statistical data on population and real estate in some Italian cities over the last 30 years suggests that the effects of the relationship between these policies and settlement choices should be further questioned. The goal of this paper is to define a precise framework for the dynamics characterizing northern Italian historic centers in the medium and long-term, focusing attention on the use of real estate property and the location choices of families, institutions and enterprises. The results show that historic centers have progressively lost their social and economic attractiveness because of the structural mutations in Italian society and the country's economy. The dense regulatory mechanisms that had matured and were tested over decades of economic and demographic growth no longer appear to hold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of rapid economic development, population growth, people increasing needs and changing lifestyles, most historic centers in the Gulf have experienced problems in making the necessary adjustment and adaptation to the present needs and changes. This paper examines the role of urban regeneration in revitalizing redundant historic areas and how they can be used to reinforce their cities urban identities. This study is based on the case study approach by focusing on the urban regeneration of Msheireb in old Doha, Qatar. Since the project is not yet completed, this paper will focus on the physical aspects of urban identity rather than its social dimensions. The empirical investigation used a comprehensive fieldwork undertaken through several site visits. This paper argues that one way of rediscovering the urban identity of the city of Doha is to go back to its first roots and try to sustain them in face of the emerging global environments. Through the Msheireb urban regeneration project, this paper explores a new experience in Qatar and the Gulf in creating a new urban identity inspired from the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Il costante e continuo ripetersi di sismi sul territorio italiano ripropone puntualmente le problematiche legate alla prevenzione. Il sisma abruzzese e ancor più il sisma emiliano hanno dato la misura di come il nostro territorio sia fragile ma anche di come il sisma colpisca indistintamente edilizia storica ed edilizia moderna, compresa anche quella produttiva che di norma è più controllata e si rinnova con più facilità. Il problema di analizzare, studiare, censire, catalogare e archiviare le informazioni legate ai centri storici e alle stratificazioni che li contraddistinguono è noto, infatti spesso un gran numero di informazioni, rilevate durante la redazione di ricerche e studi o ancora più banalmente nella redazione degli elaborati legati alla presentazione di pratiche edilizie, si sperdono perché non archiviate correttamente o perché non si sfruttano le potenzialità dei programmi di archiviazione e gestione dei dati.

The aim of this study was to characterize of Historic Centers from establishing linkages between demographic and housing dynamics, assuming that these dynamics are the result, or more or less direct referrals, the territorial context that welcomes urban that contain them. We adopt, therefore, as a field of analysis, a specific area of the city, one who has purchased its characterization as a historic, considering that the behavior of the field, can be derived very specific consequences will affect the dynamics of the city as a whole. To do this, we will take as a reference to Castilian territory, selecting for study, those containing urban historical areas declared as Cultural Interest.