Digital technologies to improve public fruition in Heritage sites through cultural significances and perception analysis

In the field of Cultural Heritage, digital documentation is currently a necessity to manage monitoring and maintenance actions, as an essential support for thorough analyses. The use of digital surveying techniques and 3D models has a strategic relevance in the conservation and mitigation process, considering possible risks and natural hazards. In this framework, the paper addresses documentation as a tool of knowledge (digital and not), considering it as essential in the initial phase of construction of urban and landscape models and capable of giving the bases for indepth analyses and the prefiguration of strategies for regeneration. Starting from historical maps, the aim is to integrate different analysis methods through the use of digital models, which more and more have the capacity to include several data simultaneously (urban, territorial, social, cultural). The research is part of the iNEST project (Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem), an interdisciplinary study which aims at extending the beneficial effects of digitalisation to the areas of “Nord-Est” Italy, also through digital data as a cross-domain analysis tool, founded by PNRR (Piano Nazionale Ripresa Resilienza). Focusing on the case study of the historical city and landscape of Piazzola sul Brenta, the research is aimed at understanding the dynamics between the natural environment, the historical built one and the inhabitants, bringing together psycho-physical factors linked to the physical space and the perception of the place. The main topics of research exploration include new strategies to access, discover, and understand cultural assets leveraging on digital technologies and digital data management, applications for small cultural sites also focusing on social aspects linked to heritage significances, and possible new perspectives in the use of digital documentation for the management of public use of heritage.