Kyriaki Gkavogianni

The research on this project emphasises on the application of ‘smart’ techniques in sites which have historic and cultural significance. Due to the attention paid nowadays to the concept of ‘smartness’ in cities, a rational thought would be whether it could be applied in existing inhabited cores which attract world and national attention for their value. Through deep investigation on the concept of Smart Cities and on the limitations and opportunities of Cultural Landscapes, a clear definition of Smart Cultural Landscapes is provided. Examples of the past have been used in order to analyse ideas and learn from failed cases. Both the
literature and the study of previous cases have assisted the creation of a toolkit which could be applied to every Cultural Landscape that wants to become ‘smart’. The site chosen is the Medieval City of Rhodes which is inscripted as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and suits the characteristics of Cultural Landscapes. Therefore, a toolkit is provided which is site-specific and is tested on two scales: to the entire city and to a small part of it in depth. The conclusions of the research prove the hypothesis correct and have a significant contribution to practice by suggesting that every Cultural Landscape can become ‘smart’.