Mountain roads as heritage objects : towards a typology of heritage status development processes

International audience; Examination of the historical and socio-cultural processes involved in establishing mountain roads as heritage objects suggests that heritage development situations can be modeled in terms of 4 major categories (labeled A, B, C and D). The resulting typology is presented in conjunction with a number of interpretative keys that can be used to define a road's heritage development status and it is illustrated by examples from the Alps, the Himalayas and the Andes. A road's heritage status is generally related to its specific historical and/or physical characteristics. The model presented here can be used to analyze the evolution of this status over different scales of time and space. This article concentrates on the history and tourism aspects of heritage development, as they are essential factors in the spatial and regional dynamics of mountain areas.