TYPOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF THE RURAL BUILT SYSTEM: A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO A CASE STUDY

The research analysed the main critical is-sues that characterize the Italian rural territory and its most important resources, with par-ticular attention to the trends that concerned Emilia-Romagna and the Province of Bolo-gna. The study provided then for the definition and calibration, making reference to a study area (municipality of Imola, Italy), of a meth-odology for the quantitative assessment of the evolution of structural and infrastructural components of the rural built system. The strong increase in the construction of new buildings pointed out by the elaborations performed turned the attention to the need for the restoration of existing rural buildings, in order to contain as much as possible further new constructions in rural areas. Since this issue is closely linked to the res-toration and reuse of historic rural buildings, attention was then focused on the level of at-tention paid by the town planning regulations of the study area to the issues of protection, restoration and reuse of rural buildings. The study provided for the census, classifi-cation and typological categorisation of the historic rural buildings in the study area in terms of the possibilities for their reuse, con-sidering both the need for the original typo-logical characteristics to be respected and the current needs of people living in rural areas, be it for agricultural or non-agricultural activi-ties. In this regard, this work reports the methodology and experience of a research team that includes the authors.