Identification of “Typical Agricultural Districts” for the development of rural areas applied to Eastern Sicily

Typical agricultural products could play an important role in developing rural areas. They contribute greatly to forming the character, quality, and use of the countryside. This work uses multi-criteria analysis (MCA) of data from the Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify the territorial context of the “Typical Agricultural District”. Such districts can be identified by the presence of typical agricultural practices, as defined by the relevant EC directive, their cultural resources, their infrastructure, and the landscape. These districts often specialise in high quality agricultural products and tourism, with the two activities complementing one another. The analytical process that we use in our case study allowed us to identify a particular district in which all of the agricultural and cultural values of the area were concentrated. This area could be used as a case study for specific plans and projects aimed at managing the landscape resources and developing the rural areas. The area studied is in Eastern Sicily but the method used is valid in a general sense, and could be applied in other contexts.