Mapping Memory and Legitimating Heritage: The Case of Two Italian Parks

Building upon in-depth interviews, surveys, participant observation and an extensive body of documentary material gathered in the last ten years, this chapter will shed light upon the variables that can influence heritage construction processes and the way conflicts over memory can evolve when that memory is used to condition political choices on the present. The authors submit that the urban fabric has always been characterized by a duality between past and present, but it is only when this becomes a recognized heritage, for example, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that the urban fabric is enhanced as such, i.e., becoming a historic centre. The chapter will rely upon a comparative theoretical framework and focus on two Italian Parks: The Archaeological Park of Tindari (Sicily) and the National Park of the Colline Metallifere (Tuscany). The two authors of the chapter are deeply involved in the life of the two Parks for sharing or having shared professional or institutional positions related to them.