A Cultural Heritage Low Entropy Enhancement Approach: An Ex Post Evaluation of Creative Practices

Abstract

According to the current European and Italian scenario related to urban regeneration, cultural and landscape heritage valorization is being enhanced by the activation of innovative processes and new emerging approaches. These involve the development of methodologies and tools that can address decision-making processes based on creative practices consistent with a concept named “low-entropy economy” in this paper. The low-entropy economy represents an economic approach based on the minimization of physical urban transformation and the enhancement of the existing heritage. In this perspective, the research aims to develop the Cultural Heritage Low Entropy Enhancement (CHLEE) approach by exploring how some frugal experiences have promoted cultural heritage enhancement and related complex values through a program of temporary uses and activities able to produce new values, where the human experience is essential. A crucial role is represented by the heterogeneity of creative practices that contribute to identifying and implementing innovative management and governance models. The analysis of creative practices, based upon the ex post evaluation of some Italian case studies across the PROMETHEE-GAIA multicriteria method, is able to show how these experiences build innovation ecosystems and improve the ex ante evaluation for new strategies and policies, underlining strengths, weaknesses, and milestones that shape creative experiences as drivers of urban competitiveness.