Going beyond Good Intentions for the Sustainable Conservation of Built Heritage: A Systematic Literature Review

Joana Gonçalves, Ricardo Mateus, José Dinis Silvestre and Ana Pereira Roders
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Joana Gonçalves: Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), School of Engineering, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Ricardo Mateus: Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), School of Engineering, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
José Dinis Silvestre: CERIS—Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1000 Lisboa, Portugal
Ana Pereira Roders: Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, 2033 AP Delft, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 22, 1-28

Abstract: This research addresses the performance gap between intentions towards a sustainable conservation of built heritage and its actual implementation. Socio-psychological models of human behaviour, such as the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), have been studying this dissonance between intention and behaviour, and allow to recognise latent critical factors. This paper provides a systematic literature review of research publications on the intersection of the topics of human behaviour, heritage, and sustainability. It aims to analyse how the TPB has been used in the field of sustainable conservation of built heritage. The studies are categorised according to the type of heritage, main actors targeted, aims, and methodology. A total of 140 publications were analysed. The results show a recent field of research. In the domain of built heritage conservation, behaviour is commonly addressed as a synonym of performance, targeting the building itself. Most publications relating socio-psychological constructs of behaviour and heritage sustainability can be found in the tourism and hospitality field, focusing on tourists’ and residents’ behaviours. The review shows that practitioners are still absent from the literature. However, research addressing other stakeholders shows that the theoretical framework can play an important role in the implementation of sustainable conservation practices in the built heritage.

Keywords: behavioural intentions; built environment; heritage; sustainability; conservation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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