Cultural heritage and urban transformation: managing space and tourist projection of arqueopaleontological sites of Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain)

The importance of archaeopaleontological discoveries found in the "Sierra de Atapuerca" has provided a special resource to the tourist potential of the city of Burgos and of the environment near the excavations. When scientific research has demonstrated the uniqueness and value of findings, the public decision-making centers, from the initiative promoted by the local authority, have undertaken an ambitious plan for the knowledge and valorisation of the prehistoric legacy into an integrated network of equipments with a strong impact on the area's tourism development and the restructuring of urban space affected.