Landscapes as Cultural Heritage: Contemporary Perspectives

A special issue of Heritage (ISSN 2571-9408).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 10759

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Architectural Composition, ETSAM Madrid School of Architecture, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: heritage management; cultural landscape; new media studies; cartography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: social-ecological systems; urban–rural gradients; land planning; simulation scenarios; landscape structure; global change; socioeconomic models
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Architectural Composition, ETSAM Madrid School of Architecture, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: critical heritage; heritage management; landscape architecture; cultural landscape

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architectural Composition, ETSAM Madrid School of Architecture, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: heritage management; cultural studies; cultural landscape; film studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

At the end of the last century, UNESCO and the Council of Europe carried out initiatives that crystallized a notion already ventured by many specialists: that the landscapes we inhabited could be conceptualized and safeguarded as a heritage asset. That is, the geographic continuum was a repository of material and immaterial remnants inherited from our collective past and it had to be protected in the same way as other cultural assets. Consequently, in the last two decades, numerous countries have re-evaluated their national planning systems and landscape conservation policies to give them a heritage focus.

During this same time, multiple ways of approaching landscape studies from a heritage perspective have emerged. Additionally, this has been both in a technological sense, which looks at new data sources, virtual tools and innovative forms of dissemination, and in a conceptual sense, which includes various agents in the valuation processes or seeks to conserve the landscape as a living cultural asset. Therefore, this Special Issue seeks to reflect on contemporary approaches to landscape as heritage, paying special attention to innovative methods and positions.

We welcome both practical and theoretical contributions from a wide range of fields: heritage management, archaeology, architecture, and tourism studies, among other disciplines. We suggest the following thematic lines, although, of course, we invite authors to combine them or propose other topics:

  • New data sources applied to landscape heritage valorization;
  • New technologies for the study of landscape as heritage and new methodologies associated with them;
  • Landscape assessment and characterization: current challenges and practices;
  • Contemporary policies of landscape safeguarding with a heritage perspective;
  • Fostering citizen participation in valuation processes and Communication of Cultural Landscape Heritage;
  • Critical positions and new conceptualizations of heritage linked to the landscape;
  • Cultural Landscapes impact on the Economy, tourism, and the Creative Industrial Sector.

Dr. Nicolas Marine
Dr. Cecilia Arnaiz Schmitz
Dr. Rodrigo De La O Cabrera
Dr. David Escudero
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

32 pages, 6164 KiB  
Article
A Dialogue between the Humanities and Social Sciences: Cultural Landscapes and Their Transformative Potential for Social Innovation
by Diamantis Panagiotopoulos, Fabienne Wallenwein, Georg Mildenberger and Gudrun-Christine Schimpf
Heritage 2023, 6(12), 7674-7705; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6120404 - 14 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1667
Abstract
Throughout the last decades, engaging with cultural landscapes has been a scientific, social, ethical, political, and economic imperative that calls for novel theoretical approaches, effective strategies and, above all, participatory action. Facing this multifarious challenge, academic disciplines have to redefine their traditional methods [...] Read more.
Throughout the last decades, engaging with cultural landscapes has been a scientific, social, ethical, political, and economic imperative that calls for novel theoretical approaches, effective strategies and, above all, participatory action. Facing this multifarious challenge, academic disciplines have to redefine their traditional methods and aims, and demonstrate an openness towards new and risky paths of scientific pursuits. The present paper arose from interdisciplinary cooperation between the humanities and social sciences with the main objective to explore the potential of cultural landscapes as resources for social innovation in rural regions, addressing issues such as out-migration of original inhabitants, unemployment, and an overaging population. Based on an overview of landscape semantics and theoretical approaches, the paper first analyzes (cultural) landscape and social innovation as applied concepts. In a second step, both disciplinary angles mingle into a joint approach. Moving from methodologies to challenges, the authors discuss the Social Grid Model, which allows for an integrated analysis of social networks, institutions, and cognitive frames. They also delve into the Structured Democratic Dialogue as a tool for the revitalization of ‘active’ and ‘inactive’ cultural landscapes by reinforcing the role of local communities. Finally, the authors investigate how such novel ideas for the promotion of tangible and intangible heritage in rural habitats can be employed by example of two intervention regions in Greece (Koumasa) and the People’s Republic of China (Honghe Hani Rice Terraces), and as part of an orchestrated collective action. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscapes as Cultural Heritage: Contemporary Perspectives)
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22 pages, 3616 KiB  
Article
Transimperial Eyes: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Colonial Narratives about the Dutch Expedition to Southern Chile (1643)
by Aurora Sambolín Santiago, Hugo Romero-Toledo and Matthias Gloël
Heritage 2023, 6(12), 7589-7610; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6120399 - 08 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1531
Abstract
The review of historical archives that allow us to know the observations and experiences of those who recorded scarcely explored territories in the past, especially in the context of European colonization of vast areas of the world in the seventeenth century is crucial [...] Read more.
The review of historical archives that allow us to know the observations and experiences of those who recorded scarcely explored territories in the past, especially in the context of European colonization of vast areas of the world in the seventeenth century is crucial for heritage studies. The following article analyzes how the Dutch expedition to southern Chile during the 17th century (1642–1643) was narrated, both in Dutch and in its translations into German, English, and Spanish, considering the interests of empires and the discursive differences that translational variations reveal. This transdisciplinary analysis, combining historiography, translation studies, and historical geography, consists of a critical reading of the original narration and a comparative reading of the aforementioned translations, and within them ethnographic representations made about the Mapuche-Huilliche people and the city of Valdivia and changes introduced by different translations are identified. These changes are then related to imperial contexts and discourses that shape these translations. In terms of our findings, we note that, in general, Chilean translations tend to exaggerate the representations of indigenous people as barbaric, inferior, and uncivilized. These representations are present in the European versions, but the shifts that we identified indicate an intensification of this discourse. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscapes as Cultural Heritage: Contemporary Perspectives)
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21 pages, 14074 KiB  
Article
Networked Heritage Management in the Lower Guadalquivir (Spain)
by Marina López Sánchez and Cristina Vicente Gilabert
Heritage 2023, 6(10), 6822-6842; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6100356 - 19 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1340
Abstract
This paper describes the operations carried out to generate a georeferenced heritage inventory at a supra-municipal scale. The tool establishes links between its heritage elements based on the features and characteristics of the territory. The work has been carried out on the fluvial [...] Read more.
This paper describes the operations carried out to generate a georeferenced heritage inventory at a supra-municipal scale. The tool establishes links between its heritage elements based on the features and characteristics of the territory. The work has been carried out on the fluvial zone of the Lower Guadalquivir, an area of approximately 8500 km2 located in Andalusia in the south of Spain. The method used is based on the digital inventory of the Andalusian immovable historical heritage generated by the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage, in which more than 500 heritage assets in the study area are indexed. The work begins with the expansion and processing of these assets with the aim of reorganizing them and establishing new parameters in their classification schemes. Subsequently, a spatial analysis developed in a GIS environment detects relationships between heritage assets determined by the physical characteristics of the territory. These relationships are contrasted by historical research, and eight heritage networks in the territory are defined as a result. Finally, one of the networks is used to show how, from the graph theory, it is possible to investigate the detected links. Ultimately, it is discussed how this study allows us to move toward new models of the heritage management of territorial dimension and relational vocation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscapes as Cultural Heritage: Contemporary Perspectives)
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31 pages, 33689 KiB  
Article
Urban Environment of Disappeared Heritage: Graphic Analysis of Puerta Real in Seville
by Antonio Gámiz-Gordo, Daniel Antón and Pedro Barrero-Ortega
Heritage 2023, 6(7), 5469-5499; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6070288 - 18 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1964
Abstract
The city of Seville experienced a remarkable rise in the 16th century thanks to trade with America. Based on a report by the architect Hernán Ruiz, it was decided to renovate the gates of the walled city. The Puerta Real, also called Puerta [...] Read more.
The city of Seville experienced a remarkable rise in the 16th century thanks to trade with America. Based on a report by the architect Hernán Ruiz, it was decided to renovate the gates of the walled city. The Puerta Real, also called Puerta de Goles, was remodelled between 1560 and 1566, and King Philip II entered through it in 1570. However, it was demolished around 1864, and only the remains of the adjacent wall stand today. This research aims to graphically analyse the gate and its immediate surroundings to gain a more profound knowledge of it and to promote its heritage value. To this end, an extensive collection and analysis of historical images has been carried out, which are essential for understanding the transformations of the site. A photograph by Masson (c. 1855–1860) was next used to support the virtual reconstruction of the gate. A 3D laser scanner was also used to document the existing archaeological remains and, via game-engine technology, to recreate rigorously, for the first time, this 16th-century gate in its current environment. This research could be useful for future scientific reconstruction to promote the heritage revitalisation of this city area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscapes as Cultural Heritage: Contemporary Perspectives)
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27 pages, 2883 KiB  
Article
Intangible Heritage of the Dehesa: The Educational and Tourist Potential of Traditional Trades
by Rebeca Guillén-Peñafiel, Ana María Hernández-Carretero and José Manuel Sánchez-Martín
Heritage 2023, 6(7), 5347-5373; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6070282 - 14 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1160
Abstract
Dehesas constitute one of the most relevant and traditional landscapes of the Extremadura region. However, the supremacy given to the economic–productive functionality of agricultural territories over environmental and cultural sustainability leads to the devaluation and neglect of the heritage manifestations of the rural [...] Read more.
Dehesas constitute one of the most relevant and traditional landscapes of the Extremadura region. However, the supremacy given to the economic–productive functionality of agricultural territories over environmental and cultural sustainability leads to the devaluation and neglect of the heritage manifestations of the rural world. Based on this premise, this study aimed to understand the current situation of some of the traditional trades of the Extremadura pasture, assessing the benefits of their conservation and determining the possible threats that hinder their preservation. In addition, it sought to articulate a proposal for solutions aimed at safeguarding them. To this end, the Delphi method was used, and 20 experts were interviewed in depth, mainly cork and charcoal extractors. The results corroborate the existence of various problems faced by the traditional trades, which compromise the conservation of the identity of the rural population and the sustainability of the dehesa. To mitigate these tensions, it was concluded that there is a need to disseminate the heritage of the dehesa through educational and agrotourism experiences to promote an increase in tourist awareness, revalue ancestral knowledge, and contribute to the conservation of intangible assets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscapes as Cultural Heritage: Contemporary Perspectives)
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21 pages, 30044 KiB  
Article
Documentation and Virtualisation of Vernacular Cultural Heritage: The Case of Underground Wine Cellars in Atauta (Soria)
by Tomás Ramón Herrero-Tejedor, Miguel Ángel Maté-González, Enrique Pérez-Martín, Serafín López-Cuervo, Juan López de Herrera, Luis Javier Sánchez-Aparicio and Paula Villanueva Llauradó
Heritage 2023, 6(7), 5130-5150; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6070273 - 05 Jul 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1352
Abstract
The cultural heritage associated with rural systems is extremely valuable and is a sign of identity for cultures that are disappearing or undergoing transformation. This paper explains and illustrates the series of procedures that have been carried out to document and subsequently virtualise [...] Read more.
The cultural heritage associated with rural systems is extremely valuable and is a sign of identity for cultures that are disappearing or undergoing transformation. This paper explains and illustrates the series of procedures that have been carried out to document and subsequently virtualise the ethnological site of the “El Plantío” underground wine cellars in Atauta. The ensembles of underground wine cellars are located immediately outside the village of Atauta, from which they are separated by the stream of Arroyo de la Laguna or Golbán, thus giving rise to two environments that are characterised by the perfect interrelation between their natural and architectural heritage. The visual and scenic relations between both these elements make this area a prime example of a cultural heritage that is associated with wine production systems. This documentation was obtained through a combination of different geomatic techniques. The results are organised on a web platform to enable their digital visualisation (2D/3D). This platform provides a virtual environment such that users can understand these underground heritage assets in an integrated way together with the immaterial cultural heritage and the cultural landscape—all of which converge on this ethnological site. The project offers different types of audiences, both real and virtual, access to all of the documentation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscapes as Cultural Heritage: Contemporary Perspectives)
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