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Challenges for Historic Gardens’ Sustainability between Restoration and Management

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Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2020) | Viewed by 17580

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Federica Larcher

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Guest Editor

Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences, DISAFA, Ornamental Crops and Landscape Design, University of Turin, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy
Interests: landscape and urban horticulture; urban greening; parks and gardens
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Paola Gullino

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Agriculture, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Via Giuseppe Verdi, 8, 10124 Torino TO, Italy
2. Research Centre for Rural Development of Hilly, University of Turin, Via Giuseppe Verdi, 8, 10124 Torino TO, Italy
Interests: historical rural landscape; green areas; perception; UNESCO cultural sites and landscape design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Rinaldi Bianca Maria

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Guest Editor

Politecnico di Torino, Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning, Italy
Interests: andscape architecture theory and design; history of garden art

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

During the last decades of the 20th century, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) classified historic gardens as “living monuments”. These sites required special and specific rules and protection measures; however, their preservation is particularly complex due to the lack of knowledge and low management investments and is exacerbated by climate change and exotic diseases. The issue will comprise a selection of papers addressing, with a multidisciplinary approach, new research related to the restoration of historic gardens and parks and focusing on design and compositional issues, botanical and environmental aspects, as well as historical features. To ensure historic gardens’ sustainability, it is important to identify both a methodological framework and sustainable approaches combining new needs and critical issues with cultural values. We ask for high-quality papers that contribute to the methodology and application of current design and restoration approaches, as well as management challenges, aimed at discussing the broad relationship between historic gardens and sustainability. Papers selected for the issue on “Challenges for Historic Gardens’ Sustainability between Restoration and Management” will undergo a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of rapidly and widely disseminating innovative research results and successful experiences.

Dr. Larcher Federica
Dr. Gullino Paola
Dr. Rinaldi Bianca Maria
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

Keywords

Valorization of cultural heritage
Multidisciplinary research
Historic gardens
Garden design
Landscape architecture
Garden restoration
Case studies
Botanical collections
Conservation strategies
Horticulture

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 7318 KiB

Open AccessArticle

New Challenges for Historic Gardens’ Restoration: A Holistic Approach for the Royal Park of Moncalieri Castle (Turin Metropolitan Area, Italy)

by Paola Gullino, Enrico Pomatto, Walter Gaino, Marco Devecchi and Federica Larcher

Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 10067; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su122310067 - 02 Dec 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2911

Abstract

The paper illustrates a holistic approach for restoring historic gardens in urbanized contexts, from the historic analysis, to the knowledge of the present values, to the proposal of guidelines for restoration and future sustainable management. The Royal Park of Moncalieri Castle (Turin metropolitan area, north-west Italy) was used as a case study. The evaluation of the current structure, analysis of the botanical component and the recognition of historical permanences were performed. Following the criteria of specific interest (forestry, botanical and compositional) and historical importance, invasive species and specific critical issue, selected trees were described and mapped. Identifying the historical compositional elements, including a system of preferential paths and botanical species to be safeguarded should be considered the first step for future management planning process. Our results could be of interest both for methodological purposes and for the restoration of historical gardens’ planning and management. During the restoration process, different critical issues exist. In this context, combining historical and compositional values with today’s needs and problems is a scientific challenge that involve all the community. Historic parks and gardens must be considered as patches of the urban green infrastructure, able to provide a wide set of ecosystem services. Promoting the return of historic parks to the public fruition is of primary importance for the citizen well-being. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges for Historic Gardens’ Sustainability between Restoration and Management)

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27 pages, 5329 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Historical Public Parks: Investigating Contemporary Visitor Needs

by Angeliki Paraskevopoulou, Andreas Klados and Chrysovalantis Malesios

Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 9976; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12239976 - 29 Nov 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3624

Abstract

Worldwide, several large-scale historical gardens have been adapted to social needs and became public parks. Historical parks, designed in a different era and often subjected to pressures for development, raise concerns in meeting contemporary visitor needs, rendering them vulnerable to private interests. The main purpose of this paper was to determine whether a historical park designed in a different era can meet today’s visitor needs. The National Garden (NG) in Athens, Greece, a well-protected historical park, was selected as a case study. A questionnaire survey addressed to the visitors of the NG was undertaken on the basis of the main components of park design, factors affecting visitation, and visitor perceptions of involvement in park management. A descriptive and regression analysis was applied. Even though the NG was not originally designed as a public park but as a garden, overall results showed it satisfies its visitor’s needs. The planting and associated tranquility are the most liked characteristics of the NG that are inextricably linked with its original design as a private garden. The main qualitative traits of plants that people like were found in the NG plant species. Suggested improvements to fulfill further contemporary visitor’s needs have to be considered carefully and must comply with the statutory measures that protect the NG and associated wildlife habitat. As in many urban parks, concerns for safety and cleanliness and willingness to volunteer in park maintenance were also expressed by visitors of the NG. This study illustrates that historical gardens designed many years ago and transformed into public parks can protect and conserve the historical and cultural heritage and concomitantly meet today’s visitor needs. Further research is suggested to study other historical parks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges for Historic Gardens’ Sustainability between Restoration and Management)

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20 pages, 4762 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Vegetation on Perceived Safety and Preference in City Parks

by Aleksandra Lis, Łukasz Pardela and Paweł Iwankowski

Sustainability 2019, 11(22), 6324; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11226324 - 11 Nov 2019

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 4572

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of safety-related environmental characteristics in a city park on users’ preferences and whether this impact can be explained by perceived safety. The factors examined were physical and visual accessibility as well as the effectiveness of concealment created by plants in various spatial systems. We used 112 photographs taken in city parks for the study. Studies have shown that visual and physical accessibility varies in terms of impact on preferences and safety—as a result, we tested only visual accessibility and effectiveness. Correlation and regression analyses confirmed that vegetation in a park that obstructs views and can offer concealment reduces our sense of safety. In addition, such vegetation has a negative effect on preference. However, mediation analysis showed that this sense of safety or danger means that dense vegetation (low visual accessibility yet highly effective in offering concealment) is less preferred as a landscape feature. After excluding the impact brought to bear by the sense of safety, the studied features of vegetation had no significant impact on preferences. This means that plants and vegetation layouts of varying densities can be used in completely safe parks and this will probably not adversely affect the feelings of the users. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges for Historic Gardens’ Sustainability between Restoration and Management)

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Review

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45 pages, 1345 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Systematic Literature Review of Historic Garden Management and Its Economic Aspects

by Cassandra Funsten, Valeria Borsellino and Emanuele Schimmenti

Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10679; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su122410679 - 21 Dec 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5153

Abstract

Historic gardens are important parts of humanity’s built heritage within the designed landscape, providing many environmental, economic and socio-cultural benefits. Management is a key part of their conservation, perhaps the most difficult because it is costly, must be continual, and requires a skilled workforce. This systematic review looks at the literature addressing historic garden management, with special attention regarding the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. Academic studies on this subject come from many different disciplines, making it both stimulating and fragmented. It is now time to consolidate these interdisciplinary efforts into a clear vision, including a framework of key themes and research methods so as to better coordinate efforts and make the information and innovation generated more accessible to the garden managers “in the trenches”. With this aim, reviewed studies are classified according to 10 criteria: supply or demand orientation; management phase involved; primary sustainability processes addressed; geographic criteria; number of sites covered; policy documents referred to; kind of data collected; study methods employed; possibility of bias specifically regarding historic gardens; garden use. An analysis of these criteria shows that historic garden management literature focuses on describing the gardens themselves, with few studies interested in the people supporting them. Future research should follow recent policy documents’ lead and pay more attention to community value and involvement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges for Historic Gardens’ Sustainability between Restoration and Management)

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