Ramshackle farmhouses, useless old stables, or irreplaceable cultural heritage? Local inhabitants’ perspectives on future uses of the Walser built heritage

Bamert, Manuel; Ströbele, Maarit; Buchecker, Matthias

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.03.016

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Ramshackle farmhouses, useless old stables, or irreplaceable cultural heritage? Local inhabitants’ perspectives on future uses of the Walser built heritage
Authors:	Bamert, Manuel Ströbele, Maarit Buchecker, Matthias
DOI:	10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.03.016
Published in:	Land Use Policy
Volume(Issue):	55
Page(s):	121
Pages to:	129
Issue Date:	2016
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0264-8377 1873-5754
Language:	English
Subjects:	Perception; Alpine landscape; Cultural heritage; Maintenance
Subject (DDC):	333.7: Land, natural recreational areas 725: Public buildings
Abstract:	Social and economic developments in rural regions call for a discussion of strategies of dealing with redundant traditional buildings. Using a social science approach, our study examines how the local population in two rural regions perceives the built heritage and which factors are underlying these perceptions. People’s attitudes towards maintaining the cultural heritage vary considerably and are partly influenced by the socio-cultural and economic context of the region. The present article discusses some of the core regional socio-cultural influences on attitudes towards the rural built heritage. Following from qualitative interviews, the article concludes that the scale of perception of the built heritage is related to the “liveliness” of the local culture: The more original and distinctive the local culture is, and the more the local economy is still based on agriculture, the wider the scale of perception of the traditional cultural landscape and built heritage. In a region with local traditions that are alive and followed in everyday life, and a local economy that is mainly based on agriculture, the entire settlement structure is perceived as cultural heritage. In such areas, alternative uses should be found for redundant buildings. In contrast, in regions where the culture is less visible and alive nowadays and where the local economy has changed, people tend to perceive single buildings as representing their cultural heritage, and they often wish to preserve and conserve such remaining houses, barns and stables. In the study, we show that from a social science point of view, there is no universal perception of the maintenance of built cultural heritage. Rather, we see different views and opinions that are important to consider when it comes to developing heritage protection strategies together with public authorities.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/9203
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	President's Office
Organisational Unit:	Research and Development Unit
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Rektorat und Ressorts

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Bamert, M., Ströbele, M., & Buchecker, M. (2016). Ramshackle farmhouses, useless old stables, or irreplaceable cultural heritage? Local inhabitants’ perspectives on future uses of the Walser built heritage. Land Use Policy, 55, 121–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.03.016

Bamert, M., Ströbele, M. and Buchecker, M. (2016) ‘Ramshackle farmhouses, useless old stables, or irreplaceable cultural heritage? Local inhabitants’ perspectives on future uses of the Walser built heritage’, Land Use Policy, 55, pp. 121–129. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.03.016.

M. Bamert, M. Ströbele, and M. Buchecker, “Ramshackle farmhouses, useless old stables, or irreplaceable cultural heritage? Local inhabitants’ perspectives on future uses of the Walser built heritage,” Land Use Policy, vol. 55, pp. 121–129, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.03.016.

BAMERT, Manuel, Maarit STRÖBELE und Matthias BUCHECKER, 2016. Ramshackle farmhouses, useless old stables, or irreplaceable cultural heritage? Local inhabitants’ perspectives on future uses of the Walser built heritage. Land Use Policy. 2016. Bd. 55, S. 121–129. DOI 10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.03.016

Bamert, Manuel, Maarit Ströbele, and Matthias Buchecker. 2016. “Ramshackle Farmhouses, Useless Old Stables, or Irreplaceable Cultural Heritage? Local Inhabitants’ Perspectives on Future Uses of the Walser Built Heritage.” Land Use Policy 55: 121–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.03.016.

Bamert, Manuel, et al. “Ramshackle Farmhouses, Useless Old Stables, or Irreplaceable Cultural Heritage? Local Inhabitants’ Perspectives on Future Uses of the Walser Built Heritage.” Land Use Policy, vol. 55, 2016, pp. 121–29, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.03.016.