Pressure of tourism on heritage and technologies for an inclusive society

The heritage enhancement contains in itself a contradiction that seems irreconcilable: on one side they have to broaden its accessibility, on the other they have to limit damages caused by tourism. An elitist tourism cannot constitute the solution, but alternative types of fruition could in part come in aid, thanks to ICT and georeference. Nowadays, technologies not only are directed to replace the real experience, or to enhance it, but even to simulate it by entering parameters of physical reality. Therefore, in this field they are developing “virtual tourism” projects, that will lead to a wide accessibility of cultural heritage, in view of a true "inclusive society" able to reach even the weaker segments of the population – in the same time, the indiscriminate use of heritage could be reduced. The natural evolution of these projects may even involve the landscape, urban and architectural design (e.g. the transport planning, or innovative infrastructures). This kind of approach, that requires and combines humanities and technical skills, aims to make available and accessible not only the historical, architectural and artistic heritage in itself, but also intended as system.