ABSTRACT
The paper focuses on medium-sized cities, a system of urban settlements which dates back to more than two thousand years. Specifically, the case study is defined in Andalusia, the most populous and the second largest region in Spain, considering the Valley of Guadalquivir River as a geographical framework. Twenty-six out of these cities have been declared as cultural heritage sites due to their spatial and landscape configuration, as well as to the relevant examples of civil, military or religious architecture they hold. However, the conservation of these assets is conditioned by high exposure to certain risks and uncertainties, concerning socio-demographic, socioeconomic or residential aspects. Particularly, the research proposes to adopt the methodology implemented by the Spanish Ministry of Development in the Atlas of Urban Vulnerability to detect conditions of the social and structural disadvantage of the population of the abovementioned cities for effective cultural heritage tutelage.
