The Valuation of Idle Real Estate in Rural Areas: Analysis and Territorial Strategies

Knowledge of the environment and its weaknesses is the first step in addressing urban development in a more sustainable direction, seeking, for example, to limit the occupation of new land. This research presents a methodology for identifying unused buildings in rural areas and providing strategies for the recovery and reuse of building heritage. The reuse of idle buildings, which are numerous and widespread in Italian agricultural areas, represents a valid opportunity to contain land occupation, redevelop unused areas (often degraded) and develop employment opportunities and social dynamics (as in the case of nonresidential use). The paper defines an expeditious methodology for the identification and subsequent mapping, on a municipal scale, of the unused building heritage that is external to the consolidated urban fabric. The initial data from a case study for the municipality of Chiari (in Italy) are significant: more than 370 unused real estate structures were identified. A successive analysis identified the individual buildings that were completely unused and proposes an assessment of their potential recovery value. This methodology can be useful for directing municipal urban planning strategies and regulations for the recovery of buildings in rural areas and for environmentally acceptable land utilization.