The impact of cultural heritage on territorial capital

The projection of local realities into a global dimension has conferred renewed centrality to territorial contexts, manifested in the rediscovery of peculiar aspects of a particular place. From this perspective, it is appropriate to consider the territory as a common good par excellence, not merely as an endowment, vestige, or preexisting entity but also as a construct generated through the vital, enduring, and coevolutionary interaction between human communities and the natural environment. Within this framework, the concept of territorial capital assumes a strategic role, considered as a set of localized assets, natural, human, artificial, organisational, relational and cognitive, which constitute the competitiveness of a territory. Cultural heritage also gains significance as a coevolutionary historical construct resulting from reifying and structuring anthropogenic activities, which strengthen relationships, creativity, and territorial identity, functional elements of territorial capital that, in turn, are shaped by context and the environment. These interconnected processes are crucial in ensuring that local intervention and planning policies engage various stakeholders in a concerted manner, fostering territorial management models aimed at implementing governance processes. Indeed, a well-functioning governance process can guarantee the proper valorisation of cultural heritage and a substantial consolidation of territorial capital.