ECONOMICS UNIQUENESS

268 ■ THE ECONOMICS OF UNIQUENESS
Th is process is consistent with the fact that urban planners and architects
consider the city as a comprehensive entity. Th ey emphasize a holistic approach
to dealing with heritage, taken as built structures organized in space, and
revealed by its own scale and perspective in the surrounding area. Spatial analysis
aims to identify the organization in space of heritage economic values, from
the material provided by the mapping process. Spatial identifi cation is conditioned
by many factors: physical features (natural, artifi cial, or both), road and
communication connections, urban density, and so on. Th e analysis takes into
consideration both the location of the economic values (buildings, monuments)
and the impact of these values on the surrounding area (streets, public spaces,
non-heritage buildings), thus arriving at the shape and boundary for each category
of economic values.
Individual indicators are oft en merged into a composite index. Spatial analysis
can be more eff ective by displaying and visualizing a comprehensive economic
landscape. Th e purpose is to draw areas of total economic values on a
base map, by selecting diff erent layers of values (successive thematic maps) and
by adding up the layers into a single map. Th e map visualizes the aggregate economic
value of heritage, or an economic landscape of heritage. Th e economic
landscape appears on a single color-coded map (with darker tones for higher
values), and identifi es the places with the lowest and with the highest values.
FIGURE 9.1
How to Organize, Explain, and Synthesize Geographic
Information about Values
Spatial
analysis
Maps
Values
Source: Author.
Non-use
Non-use
values
Organize, explain, and synthetize geographic information of values
Real estate Tourism Indirect Macro
Use values
related to
real estate
Direct use
values from
tourism
Indirect use
values from
tourism
Use values
from macro
impact