{"id":1015,"date":"2018-12-19T08:22:58","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T08:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/?p=1015"},"modified":"2025-02-13T12:53:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T12:53:45","slug":"inhabit-the-ruin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/?p=1015","title":{"rendered":"(COMPLETED) (re)occupy the ruin. Unveiling the capacity of vernacular heritage for the regeneration of depopulated settlements in mountain territories under transformation."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>(re)occupy the ruin. Unveiling the capacity of vernacular heritage for the regeneration of depopulated settlements in mountain territories under transformation. A study case of the Spanish Central Pyrenees.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Doctoral Dissertation by Dr. Ignacio Gal\u00e1n.<\/p>\n<p>Defended on July 5, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Examination committee<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Supervisors<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Prof. dr. Yves Schoonjans (KULeuven)<\/p>\n<p>Prof. dr. Gis\u00e8le Gantois (KULeuven)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Assessors<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Prof. dr. \u00c1ngel Comeras-Serrano (San Jorge University, Spain)<\/p>\n<p>Prof. dr. Bruno Notteboom (KULeuven)<\/p>\n<p>Prof. dr. Kris Scheerlinck (KULeuven)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Members<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Prof. dr. Hans Leinfelder (KULeuven)<\/p>\n<p>Prof. dr. Kathrin Golda-Pongratz (UPC Universitat Polit\u00e8cnica de Catalunya, Spain)<\/p>\n<p>Prof. dr. Jo Van Den Berghe (Chair) (KULeuven)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rural mountain territories in Europe, especially in the Spanish\u00a0Pyrenees, have experienced large transformations in the last\u00a0decades due to diverse external pressures and internal decline\u00a0processes. In this shrinking region, the abandonment of\u00a0traditional productive practices and the decrease in population\u00a0within the local communities contrast with the growing\u00a0demands for rural territories as resource providers, leisure\u00a0locations, or crucial environmental enclaves.<br \/>\nDue to the decline of the local communities, many depopulated\u00a0settlements can be detected in the mountain territory of the\u00a0Spanish Central Pyrenees. The abandonment of territories\u00a0entails a substantial cultural and environmental loss, while it\u00a0also compromises the social and economic well-being of the\u00a0remaining inhabitants and of its weakened territorial network.\u00a0However, an increasing number of reoccupation experiences\u00a0in formerly depopulated settlements can be identified. In these\u00a0processes, former communities, tourists, public authorities,\u00a0neo-rural newcomers, and non-human species are claiming<br \/>\nand disputing these remaining spaces, transforming them\u00a0according to their interests and means. Depending on how this\u00a0process is developed, the complex recovery of depopulated\u00a0settlements might generate constructive growth or negative\u00a0displacement of local communities. It can also have positive\u00a0or negative cultural, economic or environmental effects. Very\u00a0different territorial challenges affect the areas where the reoccupied\u00a0settlements are situated. This requires the exploration\u00a0of distinct strategies that responsibly address the ongoing\u00a0territorial issues of each location, where the well-being of local<br \/>\ncommunities and their environment are the protagonists.<br \/>\nThis research applies a socio-spatial methodology at multiple\u00a0scales (territory, settlement, built space) in six selected study\u00a0cases within the study area. Through a combination of spatial\u00a0analysis, field observations and semi-structured interviews,\u00a0the initial spatial conditions, as well as the interests and<br \/>\ninterventions developed by the diverse communities for the\u00a0reuse of the depopulated settlements, are investigated. It\u00a0scrutinises several aspects of the territory, such as the location\u00a0of the settlement in relation to its functional territorial network or\u00a0the use of the land in the surrounding areas. On the scale of the\u00a0settlement, it analyses the use of the landscape resources and\u00a0the spatial reorganisation of the settlement structure. Finally, at\u00a0a built-space level, the reuse and adaptation of the remaining\u00a0-tangible and intangible- rural heritage are explored.<br \/>\nThis investigation reveals the changing conditions generated\u00a0by the decline as a new opportunity to reclaim these\u00a0discarded spaces differently. The heterogeneous locations\u00a0(nearby, remote, isolated) and conditions (pressured, shrinking,\u00a0depopulated) stimulate diverse approaches (recovering,\u00a0reshaping, retaining) that contribute to enhancing the rich\u00a0territorial diversity.<br \/>\nThe successful re-occupation interventions by local\u00a0communities identified in pioneer experiences, provide useful\u00a0knowledge to develop strategies that can be reapplied,\u00a0tackling the diverse territorial challenges affecting each area.<br \/>\nThroughout this research, rural vernacular heritage acquires a\u00a0central position. It unveils its multiscalar and multidimensional\u00a0nature, not only formed by small-scale buildings but also by\u00a0the settlement and cultural landscape configuration, the use\u00a0of the land, or the structure of the territory, as well as other\u00a0intangible aspects like locally adapted knowledge or collective\u00a0memories attached to those places. At the same time, the important agency of vernacular heritage is exposed, being\u00a0able to re-establish a strong interaction with the existing or\u00a0new communities while providing its diverse -formal, practical\u00a0or emotional- capacities, which perform as catalysers for the\u00a0regeneration of depopulated rural settlements.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>-Keywords<\/em>: Landscape transformation, Adaptive reuse, Rural Heritage, Local Identity, Territorial development, Sustainable communities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>*Source of pictures: Transformed village Isin. Project by C.A.B. Arquitectura<br \/>\n<\/em><em>Pictures. Left: cuestiondegustosgdu.blogspot.com\/2011\/06\/isin-huesca.html . Right: https:\/\/orejadeoso.com\/<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(re)occupy the ruin. Unveiling the capacity of vernacular heritage for the regeneration of depopulated settlements in mountain territories under transformation. A study case of the Spanish Central Pyrenees&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1014,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-phd-project"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1015"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2109,"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions\/2109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.collectivespaces-kuleuven.be\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}