PlaceMaker: a Method for the Integrated Enhancement of Cultural Resources and Urban Identities.

The essay illustrates the results of the research project "Innovative TEchnologies for the COnservation and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage" - Italian acronym: TECON@BC - carried out in the framework of the ROP - Regional Operative Programme, with attention to the study of the medieval burgh of Sovana and its updating in the framework of the Bilateral project "Valorisation-Tourism-Participation: Developing alternative integrated solutions for less promoted historic sites" with ICVBC-CNR of Rome (Italy) and CACH: Department of Cultural Relics Research of Beijing (China). The aim of the TECON@BC project (2010-2013) is to develop methods and technologies for the conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage to the end of promoting and improving the enjoyment of the Tuscan (Central Italy) cultural heritage, with special regard for heritage located in underdeveloped areas, as a means to favour progress in these areas. In continuity with this project, the aim of the CACH Bilateral project (2016-2018) is the identification of models and computer science tools for the planning and enhancement of the historical sites for a more durable sustainable development to be investigated in Sovana as one of the emblematic cases to be used in China. By using the PlaceMaker method (Sepe, 2013, 2015, 2016) - see table 1 - specifically devoted to the identification and design of place identity resources (Lynch 1960; Hague, Jenkins 2005), I was able to highlight identity-related features of the town of Sovana.