COSTING THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: TOWARDS A POLICY OF STRONG SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Aziliz Vandesande1, Rossella Moioli2, Koenraad Van Balen3

1 PhD student - Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation, (Faculty of Engineering Science , KU Leuven) Kasteelpark Arenberg 40 - Box 2448, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium), aziliz.vandesande@bwk.kuleuven.be

2 PhD student - Università di Nova Gorica

3 Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation, (Faculty of Engineering Science , KU Leuven) Kasteelpark Arenberg 40 - Box 2448, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium), koenraad.vanbalen@bwk.kuleuven.be

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses several important issues to understand what sustainability and sustainable development means today in the built heritage field, ranging from traditional concepts to new tendencies, based on contemporary literature and international policy documents. Following, the results of this overview will be compared to the built heritage field by means of an interpretative content analysis based on secondary literature. Thereby a number of opportunities are identified and implications for future research and practice discussed.

The researchers argue that it is time to move towards a policy of strong sustainable development. This implies a long-term conservation process of the urban environment whereby new-found externalities and capitals are sustained to contribute to the quality of life. In response, the paper will provide some reflections and experiences from the Monza and Brianza Cultural District project related to the issue of sustainable development of a territory. Thereby the aim is to remark how conservation of built heritage can promote the enhancement of quality in the conservation/valorization process and the improvement of skills, creating a development based on intellectual capital.

Parole chiave/Key-words: sustainable development, conservation, quantitative / qualitative capital