Port Cities Creative Heritage Enhancement (PCCHE) Scenario Approach: Culture and Creativity for Sustainable Development of Naples Port

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

While the subject of this paper is quite useful in urban development and heritage conservation, the entire approach to the study lacks coherence and clarity, leading to difficulties in understanding what this study is about. Perhaps, this may be due in large part to the lack of clarity in the use of English language. The author cites numerous studies in the introduction without giving the readership any idea of synthesis of that literature leading to a clear understanding of the problem addressed in the paper and what the current context of literature says about it. In an attempt connect culture with climate crisis, the author makes major mistake by referring to literature on organizational culture, in which the term 'climate' refers to the friendly social atmosphere in an organization and not about the 'climate change/crisis'. There are many terms/concepts used without proper definitions.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

many thanks for your precious comments and suggestions.

Starting from the studies on culture for climate change and monitoring framework for cultural creative initiatives and sustainable urban development, the paper develops a “Port-cities Creative Heritage Enhancement” (PCCHE) evaluation/planning approach. The whole approach aims at measuring port heritage creative transformations and defining cultural creative alternatives for port-city sustainable development. Below I’ve tried to improve the whole coherence and clarity of the article following your comments according to the following points:

1. State of the art more focused on culture for climate change (as you can see from references 4 to 26) and synthesis of that literature leading to a clear understanding of the problem addressed (see §1)
2. Study scope, research demand, and terms/concepts with proper definitions (see §1, 2)
3. Coherence among introduction, approach, and results (see §1, 2, 3)
4. English revisions of the whole text.

Reviewer 2 Report

Thanks for your efforts and raising this interesting topic.

·         I suggest adding ‘scenario approach’ to the title.

·         Add couple of paragraphs indicating the role of digitalization/smart city/smart destination/smart port…etc.

·         What role the digital technology can play regarding creativity and cultural heritage rejuvenations?

·         As you are aware, the new internet generation is retreating from traditions (de-traditionalization); how to entice this new generation to involve in heritage rejuvenation and transformation of port city? Focus on the role of digital technology.

·         Is there any example of your scenario in action?

·         You talked about ‘planning approach’; I assume you meant city planning approach. What specific city planning approach do you suggest?

·         P. 14. ‘trough’ ; check for spelling.  

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

many thanks for your precious comments and suggestions. Below I’ve tried to improve the whole coherence and clarity of the article following your comments according to the following points:

1. I’ve added ‘scenario approach’ to the title
2. I’ve added some references about digitalization/smart city/smart destination/smart port (see references 41, 42)
3. Thank you for the suggestions on smart port cities and digital technologies, but the focus of the study is mainly to develop an approach to measure port heritage creative transformations in terms of functions for cultural heritage reuse and urban strategic planning. I tried to define cultural creative alternatives in cultural heritage enhancement for port-city sustainable development. Probably within the alternative A2 “Port, innovation and creativity” is included the idea of engaging new generations in cultural heritage rejuvenation with technologies. This alternative includes all the initiatives related to cultural creative enterprises, industry 4.0, and start-up incubators for experimenting new environmentally friendly procedures and encouraging sustainable consumption habits in reusing port heritage (see §2). I believe that the focus on digital technologies is very interesting but it should have a specific contribution in a future research.
4. I’ve improved my research questions to a clear understanding of the problem addressed
5. I’ve tried to clarify the research design and coherence among the introduction, approach and results (see §1, 2, 3)
6. There are many European examples of this cultural creative scenario in port-cities like Barcelona, Rotterdam, etc. I’ve cited another paper that studies these experiences (see reference 39).
7. I would suggest a collaborative urban planning/evaluation approach
8. I’ve tried to make English revisions of the whole text.

Reviewer 3 Report

The topic taken up is very important and still rarely undertaken. The article is interdisciplinary, including elements of city and space management, urban planning, cultural heritage and sustainable development. The case study of Naples is presented in an interesting way.

The presented case study is certainly worth following. However, I wonder if it would be possible to create a road map for other port cities that could benefit from the experience of Naples.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

many thanks for your precious comments. I’ve appreciated very much the suggestion of a roadmap for the Naples port city case study. Probably, I could describe the whole process at the end of the ongoing project named “Census and enhancement of the historic-architectural heritage, port functions and areas of port-city interaction of the Ports of Naples, Salerno, and Castellammare di Stabia” resulting from the collaboration agreement 2021-2022 between Institute of Research on Innovation and Services for Development (IRISS) of National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and Port System Authority of Central Tyrrhenian Sea.

The paper shows just a part of this study project (the definition of the evaluation/planning approach) described in Figure 1. For the next publication, surely I’ll define the roadmap of the whole project for Naples port-city.