where cultural resources are concentrated: coastal areas and urban areas concentrate the largest
number of visitors (and hence the potential for excessive pressure is higher, also considering
that only a minor share of the visitors does in fact “pay” for resources that are normally
consumed as a part of a freely available “experience”).
- Spatial planning has to take into account the cultural infrastructure of the territory (in its
tangible and intangible expressions) both as a “vehicle” of development strategies - for instance
cultural projects in sparsely populated regions can provide attractiveness for visitors and hence
the potential for the development of a resource-based industry and a “constraint” which should
not be affected by development strategies that are insensitive to local idiosyncrasies and
“localised knowledge”.
- The territorial expressions of tangible cultural resources will highlight the possibilities and the
tensions that inevitably arise with the management of local or regional CH in the political
context of an enlarged EU where competing values, expectations and objectives can often
collide, but also offer new opportunities for knowledge transfer, strategic alliances, networking
and sharing.
NOTES
1 Project partners are: Ca' Foscari University of Venice; Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universitat Greifswald; Erasmus
University Rotterdam; KU Leuven; Univesitat Autonoma de Barcelona; Nottingham Business School;
University of Thessaly, Volos; Universidade Coimbra; University of Copenhagen; IGSO, Polish Academy of
Sciences; Universty of Joensuu; University of Pardubice.
2 Punctual cultural data are missing in most European data banks which are used for spatial planning and
economic development, like Eurostat and Eurogeographics.
3 The UNESCO World Heritage List considers cultural heritage as « ... containing all the signs that
document the activities and achievements of human beings over time» (Feilden and Jokilheto 1998:11);
though it recognises cultural heritage as a broad concept relevant to the development of contemporary
society, it focuses on heritage as a “product of history” and an “asset”. UNESCO (United Nations
Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) defines heritage as « ... the product and witness of the
different traditions and of the spiritual achievements of the past and . . . thus an essential element in the
personality of peoples» (Davison 1991).
4 The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage defines the intangible cultural
heritage as the practices, representations, expressions, as well as the knowledge and skills, that communities,
groups and, in some cases, individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage. It is sometimes called
living cultural heritage, and is manifested inter alia in the following domains: (i) oral traditions and
expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage; (ii) performing arts; (iii)
social practices, rituals and festive events; (iv) knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
(v) traditional craftsmanship. (www.unesco.org).
5 Examples are given by Graham et al. (2000), who speak of “contested heritage” reflecting the idea that
culture may mean different things for different groups (hence the attempts to “appropriate” of the heritage
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