The “Economy of Beauty and Culture”. Routes for the Integrated Sustainable Enhancement of the Internal Areas of Alta Irpinia

Abstract

The internal areas of Alta Irpinia, long considered marginal, represent a reservoir of material and immaterial cultural resources which, suitably valued, can contribute to the development of historical centres and villages whose characteristic system of social and economic relationships, which has survived over the centuries, risks disappearing. From the analysis of the strengths and critical points detected and the initiatives activated within the National Strategy for the Internal Areas, a picture emerges that identifies the local cultural, historical-artistic and architectural heritage as the poles around which to start redevelopment strategies place-based focused on knowledge and on the “beauty and culture market” as policies for sustainable tourism aimed at promoting environmental, cultural and territorial resources. The critical issues on which to intervene suggest the strengthening of the cultural identity of the places starting from the construction of a territorial system of analysis and knowledge of the local heritage as a primary resource to invert the alarming unemployment trend and avoid abandonment and desertification phenomena. Starting from these considerations, particular attention was paid to the links between architecture, urban fabrics and the environment to outline long-term sustainable integrated valorisation scenarios where cultural resources and local development support each other in the belief that “the knowledge aspect represents the first form of protection” [1].