The Ripagnola coast: from heritage to strategic resource

• Mariella Annese ^[1] ; Letizia Chiapperino ^[1]
  1. [1] DICAR, Polytechnic of Bari
• Localización: TOURISCAPE2 - Transversal Tourism and Landscape International Scientific Conference: Barcelona, 5th-6th November 2020 / coord. por Ricard Pié Ninot, Carlos Jesús Rosa Jiménez, Josep María Vilanova Claret, Joaquim Sabaté Bel, Enrico Porfido, 2020, ISBN 978-84-9880-855-1, págs. 747-758
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro
• Resumen

  • The Ripagnola coast represents one of the most evocative landscapes of theApulian territory, which has become an imaginative place and a characteristicidentity of Apulia. In 2014, the region achieved international exposure thanks toimportant recognitions (“Best Trips” and “Best value travel destinations in theworld for 2014”). This shows that this place evokes and encloses the charactersof the regional landscape.The Ripagnola coast is a coastal area located in the eastern part of the townof Polignano a Mare. This area is characterized by a significant ecosystem andenvironmental value with historical buildings (so-called trulli), as well as naturalcomponents on land (caves and lame) and sea (prairie of oceanic Posidoniaand coral reefs). This demonstrates the uniqueness of the coastal agriculturallandscape. However, the latter has been under the threat of increasing urbansettlement pressure.The existing gap has been widened by the phenomena of illegal settlementand spontaneous occupation that occur on the coastal strip within thedelimited protected area of 300 meters, where seasonal exploitation of housesand campsites is damaging the natural landscape preventing its use by thecommunity.The site is legally and environmentally ready to start the process ofredevelopment and protection. However, public action proves unable tooppose the illegal operations that still affect the area, as well as to provide theterritory with appropriate protection measures and management. Starting from the case of Ripagnola coast and analyzing the trend of cases overtime, this contribution aims to reflect on how coastal territory enhancement cancope with anthropic transformations and vulnerabilities related to environmentalrisk together with the demand for accessibility and tourism through theestablishment of a regional park.The latter represents an opportunity for a new joint landscape project betweenpublic authorities and communities, focused on sustainable and lastingdevelopment of the territory also in social and economic terms.The implementation of the park, which has now been undertaken by theApulian Region to avoid further speculation, has been followed by an intensesocial mobilization campaign (collection of signatures and thematic meetings),thus showing a deep awareness of the coastal patrimonial value. Thiscontribution intends to analyze this action to understand the potential effectson the strategies of tourist enhancement in an eco-sustainable key.