Professional profile
Urban Conservation | Built Heritage | Cultural Diplomacy | Territorial Planning | Rural Development | Post-earthquake Reconstruction
I am an architect and urban planner specialising in urban and rural conservation. My research explores the relationship between conservation and development in human settlements, with a particular focus on small settlements in rural China. I am also interested in how heritage ideas and practices circulate around the world, particularly in the context of “Chinese culture going global.”
CNR Disciplinary Fields and Research Management Sectors
- SH8_3 Cultural studies and theory, cultural identities and memories, cultural heritage, architectural heritage
- SH7_7 Cities; urban, regional and rural studies
- SH2_6 International relations, global and transnational governance
MUR Italian Scientific-Disciplinary Sector
- CEAR-12/B Urban and Regional Planning
- CEAR-12/A Urban Design and Planning
- CEAR-09/A Architectural and Urban Design
Groups & Labs CNR ISPC
Built Heritage Innovation Lab →
Cities and Cultural Heritage Research Group →
Publications
Highlight
Pola A.P. (2026). Small Settlements in China. Heritage, Forms, and Counterstories. ListLab. ISBN 9788832080742
Pola A.P. (2019). When Heritage Is Rural: Environmental Conservation, Cultural Interpretation and Rural Renaissance in Chinese Listed Villages. Built Heritage3, 64–80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03545728
Pola A.P. (2022). Global experts for historic towns: Leonardo Benevolo and Giorgio Lombardi’s contributions to UNDP/UNESCO Andean region programme. Planning Perspectives 37(5), 1051-1072. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02665433.2022.2116351
