Cultural Resources and sustainability of development in the CSF 2000-2006

One means of harnessing culture and development is through the Cultural District, representing a set of relationships which interact in a specific area, integrating valorisation of the cultural patrimony, production and infrastructures to involve the social component in economic development. A Cultural District can comprise the cultural heritage, in its widest meaning, the enterprises variously involved in preserving and increasing the value of that heritage, the required infrastructures, and also the entertainment and leisure venues; potentially, each of these activities may represent an inducement for the others. Current Italian law considers the concept of cultural heritage mainly in terms of restrictions and in isolation, and fails to promote an active integration of the huge national heritage favouring sustainable development of the whole context in which it is inserted. A different approach is taken by the Community Support Framework 2000-2006, which concentrates resources and requires articulated choices from the Regions and interested parties, which should lead to innovative strategic planning in a global view of territorial management. Starting from this premise, this paper investigates the concept of "cultural district", focusing on the innovative aspects, sustainable value, main categories and examples of particular interest. In addition, it presents a possible application of the cultural district in the framework of the Integrated Territorial Projects (Italian acronym PIT), provided for the Campania Regional Operative Programme (Italian acronym POR) of the Community Support Framework 2000-2006 in the sector of Cultural Resources.