Water towns – Hill towns. China – Italy and the UNESCO “Historic Urban Landscape” recommendation
The conference focused on the future of the small historic cities of Italy and China with the aim to identify and promote a sustainable approach able to marry the interests of economic development and tourism with those for the conservation of built urban and environmental heritage and of local identity. In particular, the long lasting Italian tradition of restoration and urban, landscape conservation was compared with the often pragmatic Chinese approach that does not overestimate conservation with respect to development. The contribution and value of these small towns, as places of culture and rootedness, to the overall development of their territories was another focal issue of the conference, stressing the importance of putting in network the specificities of these towns and of utilising new technologies in order to make them more “smart” and “inclusive”.
The Conference took place in Rome, Ara Pacis museum, on September 30, 2015 in the context of the activities promoted by Lazio Region and Roma Capitale for Expo 2015, http://en.arapacis.it/. It was organised by the CNR-ICVBC with the support of the Internationalization Office of Lazio Innova, the Lazio Region agency for SME’s development, which in this occasion signed an agreement with the Chinese partners.
