Cultural coastal landscapes. Crisis of identity, rediscovery of local complexity.

The evolution of coastal landscapes in many Mediterranean regions had been affected by the development of tourism which is the main cause of the natural resources destruction, the environmental impact on soil and water, the transformation of way of life of coastal population. The first part considers the monitoraggio costierocrisis of cultural values in the coastal landscapes due to the risk of the widespread of commecialisation and consequently of the standardization of the seaside tourism. At the present day, after an intensive exploitation of tourism, in some areas of Mediterranean the crisis of the seaside resorts push the public administrations to find solutions to make more attractive places with new processes of urbanization in which international arch-stars are charged with the construction of multifunctional buildings, in many cases connected to new tourism ports and open spaces, with the aim to enlarge the presence of tourists; bathing is still the favorite destination for holidays, but others typical free time urban activities (shopping, etc.) are increasing also in relationship with cruises. These policies are considered convenient solutions for further development of ‘mass’ tourism activities raising the globalization, without considering threats to the landscapes consisting in the “loss of character, degradation, intense use, unregulated tourism” (Natchitoches Declaration, US/ICOMOS, 2004). These policies in many cases are not aware of advantages of the biodiversity and cultural diversity preservation to long term tourism activities. On the basis of UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscapes definition the coastal cultural landscapes are a mix of “Continuing Landscape” which “retains an active social role in contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life, and in which the evolutionary process is still in progress” and “Associative Cultural Landscape” “for the artistic or cultural associations” “which may be insignificant or even absent”. The UNESCO definitions need to be adapted to peculiar cultural aspect of the coastal cultural landscapes. They exhibit the lost of cultural meanings associated to their more recent transformation. In the 19th and 20th century, an international élite of writers, painters and artists, inspired by the aesthetic value of the landscape, chose places in which they found a source of inspiration. Scholars in the botanic, archaeological, architectural studies were interested on the natural and cultural aspect of the coastal landscapes. Groups of landscape architects, gardens amateurs elected places in which new ideas on seaside resorts planning, park and gardens construction were developed. In the second part the Liguria region is analyzed as example of limited policies for the protection of cultural landscapes because of inconsistent guidelines of regional and local planning; on the one hand the growth of tourism ports, the development of buildings which alter the coastline and the its link with the landscape, on the other hand some actions of rehabilitation (the reuse of railway line for the slow mobility, the restoration of ancient urban spaces, etc.). The cultural landscapes of the Riviera are formed by the therapeutic landscapes of the first ‘winter cities’ and by the summer seaside resorts in which the new urban structure represented the wellness and the leisure activities. The “garden and parkland landscapes” “constructed for aesthetic reasons” by groups of foreign (Clearly Defined Landscape, UNESCO) are relevant expression of the new artistic ideas related to reinterpretation of ancient Mediterranean culture. The paper try to identify the mayor gap in coastline planning in order to contrast the globalization and presents the ‘green’ master plan of the City of Alassio developed by the Landscape Section group - Department Polis, University of Genoa as attempt to improve the local complexity.