Preserving the future, Projecting the past. What is a Cultural Park?

Abstract

The number of cultural parks has been steadily increasing in recent years throughout the world. But what is a cultural park? The aim of this dissertation is to provide an answer to this question or at least to set out the basis for an academic debate that moves beyond technical narratives that have prevailed to date. It is important to open up the topic to academic scrutiny given that cultural parks are becoming widespread devices being employed by different institutions and social groups to manage and enhance cultural and natural heritage assets and landscapes. The main problem to deal with is the predominant lack of theory-grounded, critical reflection in the literature about cultural parks. These remain largely conceived as technical instruments deployed by institutions in order to solve an array of problems they must deal with. Also, cultural parks are overally regarded as positive and constructive tools whose performance is associated with the preservation of heritage, the overcoming of the nature/culture divide, the reinforcing of identity and memory and the strengthening of social cohesion and economic development. This dissertation critically explores these issues through the analysis of the literature on cultural parks. Also, it provides a novel theoretical conceptualization of cultural parks that is connected and underpins a tentative methodology developed for their empirical analysis.