Harmonizing Cultural Landscape with Resilience: Climate Adaptation Strategies in the Arno and Hudson River Basins
Ahmadreza Shirvani Dastgerdi () and
Giuseppe De Luca
Additional contact information
Ahmadreza Shirvani Dastgerdi: Department of Architecture, University of Florence, Via Micheli, 250121 Firenze, Italy
Giuseppe De Luca: Department of Architecture, University of Florence, Via Micheli, 250121 Firenze, Italy
Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-24
Abstract:
Climate change increasingly threatens heritage-rich river basins, yet the integration of traditional ecological knowledge into formal environmental governance remains underexplored. This study investigates how historically embedded water management practices in Tuscany’s Arno River and New York’s Hudson River can inform adaptive strategies under conditions of climate uncertainty. Employing a Triangulated mixed-methods approach—including a systematic narrative literature review, variable coding (hydrological dynamics, cultural heritage, governance structures, economic livelihoods, and adaptive knowledge), and effect size analysis—we conducted a comparative assessment to uncover regional challenges, capacities, and implementation dynamics. The findings reveal that while both basins contend with hydrological volatility and fragmented governance, the Arno benefits from legally embedded heritage practices that continue to shape canal-based agriculture and flood mitigation. In contrast, the Hudson showcases strong multi-level stakeholder engagement and ecological restoration, though with less institutional reliance on traditional land stewardship. By integrating codified traditional practices with participatory governance and applying a weighted implementation structure, this study illustrates how resilience planning can be more context-sensitive, operationally feasible, and socially inclusive. Ultimately, this research positions cultural landscapes as active infrastructure for climate adaptation—provided they are institutionally supported and community-endorsed—offering a transferable model for policy innovation in similarly vulnerable riverine systems.
Keywords: resilient landscape; cultural heritage; conservation; climate change adaptation; traditional practices (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/6058/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/6058/ (text/html)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:6058-:d:1693059
Access Statistics for this article
Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu
More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().