Cultural Heritage as a Tool of Polycentricity, Synergy and Territorial Cohesion: A Case Study from Northern Greece

摘要

Within what is now an international framework of spatial management and territorial cohesion, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of networking and polycentricity. The turn from monocentric to polycentric systems is a global phenomenon and one of the main objectives of European policies, as a tool for synergy and balanced development. Synergy is based on the idea that a network of spatial regions is more than their sum, and is described by the equation 1+1 2 . Among the functional linkages developed within a network is cultural heritage, as a means of connecting and an important resource for the society and an area's sustainable development. Northern Greece has a rich multicultural background. In the new globalized societies cultural assets are regarded as a means of cooperation and growth. In this paper are investigated the potentials of sustainable polycentric development of the area, where there are not any networks yet. An emphasis is given on two characteristic urban centres, Komotini and Xanthi, which present multiple opportunities of networking, according to the theory of polycentricity, through their common cultural heritage.