Abstract
Over the centuries, farm buildings, which accompany the development of agriculture, have played an important role in defining spatial and environmental planning. In some European countries in particular, these rural structures have been built based on traditional agricultural needs and typical land characteristics. Considering the land abandonment that has occurred over the last five decades, with farmers moving to more comfortable residences in neighboring urban settlements, historical farm buildings have often been abandoned, thus causing a leakage of the historical-cultural heritage of the rural landscape. Nowadays, open data and geographic technologies together with advanced technological tools allow us to gather multidisciplinary information about the specific characteristics of each farm building, thus improving our knowledge. This information can greatly support the protection of those buildings and landscapes that have high cultural and naturalistic value. In this paper, the potential of Geographic Information Systems to catalogue the farm buildings of the Basilicata region (Southern Italy) is explored. The analysis of these buildings, traditionally known as masserie, integrates some typical aspects of landscape studies, paving the way for sustainable management of the important cultural heritage represented by vernacular farm buildings and the rural landscape.
Highlights
The concurrent process of land abandonment and soil degradation, which is afflicting several marginal areas in the world, is totally redesigning the shape and the functionality of rural areas, negatively influencing the traditional features of their landscape [1]
A method to verify some results for the study area in which there are typical rural landscapes of the Mediterranean area was implemented
The present paper confirmed the main results emerging from recent studies in the scientific literature, i.e., that many farm buildings develop a fundamental—if not essential—effect for the preservation, the monitoring, the management, and the general sustainability of the rural landscape
Summary
The concurrent process of land abandonment and soil degradation, which is afflicting several marginal areas in the world, is totally redesigning the shape and the functionality of rural areas, negatively influencing the traditional features of their landscape [1]. In the future, this abandonment will affect more and more areas in Europe and throughout the world [3,4]. This process, which has taken place in the last 50 years, is accelerating, especially in marginal and mountainous areas, due to multiple factors linked to worsening economic conditions and the steady migration of rural workers from small villages to large cities [5,6]. New approaches and methods are needed on a large scale as well as on a small scale in order to adapt environmental planning techniques to different territorial, landscape, and socio-economic needs
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
