Sustainable urbanism and urban heritage conservation (original) (raw)
Related papers
'Sustainability and the Holistic Approach to the Management of Historic Cities', 2003 03
Sustainable development is one of the core agendas of our time. It is a concept that has gathered momentum over the past decade. Urban conservation is a concept that has been with us since at least the 1960s. How do these two concepts relate to each other? How can they be brought together in a common philosophy and practice? This paper aims to summarize weaknesses in current philosophy and practice in urban conservation; to set out the relationship between successful architectural conservation and wider agendas of sustainability and cultural identity; to highlight the communality of approach and practice that needs to be fostered and developed between a complex range of interrelated issues and disciplines; and to extend both the perceived relevance of architectural conservation and its level of attainment. This paper is based upon the author's work in the United Kingdom and in continental Europe, East and West.
Reimagining Heritage Preservation for Modern Urban Sustainability
LUGARIT, 2024
This article explores the evolving relationship between heritage preservation and modern urban development, challenging the traditional dichotomy between heritage and modernity. It argues that heritage, often viewed as a static relic of the past, should be integrated into the dynamic, everyday lives of communities to remain relevant and sustainable. The discourse around heritage preservation, currently dominated by elitist and populist perspectives, needs to shift towards a more inclusive and flexible approach that aligns with societal needs and economic realities. The article advocates for preservation strategies that stimulate the organic, ongoing interaction between communities and their heritage, ensuring that heritage sites are not just conserved but actively contribute to the vitality and sustainability of urban environments. This requires moving away from rigid legal frameworks and scientific formalities towards creating economic incentives and adaptive practices that allow heritage to thrive as a living process within the fabric of modern cities.
'Urban Heritage, Development and Sustainability' book review, Context 150, 07 2017
Context, 2017
Urban Heritage, Development and Sustainability forms part of the same Routledge series ‘Key Issues in Cultural Heritage’ as Heritage and Globalisation, a review of which appeared in Context 123. Similar in format (it is a collection of 16 essays contributed by academics and practitioners), the book offers a spectrum of reflections and case studies on models and practices in urban heritage. With a particular focus on tensions between conservation and development, Urban Heritage explores the disconnection between international frameworks and national and local implementation; assesses how international heritage branding can legitimise unsustainable practices at national and local level; and champions bottom-up approaches for the negotiation and realisation of socio-culturally inclusive conservation strategies.
Historic cities as model of sustainability
Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, 2012
Purpose -This paper is an editorial to JCHMSD's Volume 2 Issue 1. Its purpose is to introduce the selection of papers in the issue. Design/methodology/approach -The paper discusses the increased focus of national and local authorities, as well as multilateral agencies, on historic cities in a search for a more sustainable process of urban development that integrates environmental, social and cultural concerns into the planning, design and implementation of urban management programmes and projects. The recent adoption of a new policy instrument by UNESCO, the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, is providing a set of general principles in support of sustainable urban heritage management and the paper further explains the first results of a field testing of the embedded Historic Urban Landscape approach in two different geo-cultural regions of the world (i.e. Central Asia and East Africa). It points to fields of further research, which are linked to the papers selected for this issue. Findings -The Historic Urban Landscape approach, as promoted in the new UNESCO Recommendation on the subject, facilitates a structuring and priority setting of the manifold needs and wishes in the broader urban development and heritage management process, thereby creating clarity and understanding in an often very complex process with competing demands. Originality/value -The new UNESCO Recommendation was adopted on 10 November 2011 and this research paper is the first to expound on an implementation of the approach embedded therein, explaining its merits and potential.
The Way Forward with Historic Urban Landscape Approach Towards Sustainable Urban Development
Built Heritage, 2018
The pace of urbanisation, with the increase in the number of metropolitan areas, has been paralleled with the heritage discourse of past generations that valorises monuments in isolation, and has pushed the appreciation of urban heritage to a grim corner in the face of development. Since the turn of the millennium there are international efforts to reverse this trend by placing culture and people-centred approaches into the heritage discourse in order to allow inclusive policies that see culture and cultural heritage as an asset and driving force for sustainable urban development. As one of such instruments, the UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, as an integrated management model, is considered in this article to have potentials to bridge existing divides to achieve sustainable urban development. With this belief, the paper looks into the future, with supporting arguments that come from discussions as a result of the WHITRAP International Expert Meeting on the Im...
Journal of Architectural Conservation, 2015
Since the final quarter of the twentieth century, and increasingly in the early years of this one, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) – together with international governmental partners such as the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) – has sought to address multiple aspects of the urban challenge. These have included matters ranging from rapid urbanisation in developing regions and associated issues of basic provisions for housing and sanitation, to managing change (or ‘continuity’, as key members of the international conservation community prefer) in historic cities. Within UNESCO, threats to urban heritage have been a preoccupation of the World Heritage Centre. Note: This review, published in 2015, should be read in conjunction with the later: ‘The Historic Urban Landscape and the Geography of Urban Heritage’, 2018 07 (text) https://www.academia.edu/39917032/The\_Historic\_Urban\_Landscape\_and\_the\_Geography\_of\_Urban\_Heritage\_2018\_07\_text\_
Urban conservation has been a subject of academic and professional discourse for over three decades. Conservation in this paper is seen as an umbrella term that covers a wide spectrum of issues that can be classified under three categories: socio-physical, socio-cultural, and environmental concerns. It is also manifested as a process of evolutionary development which involves preserving, restoring, and adapting old structures, while introducing new ones; a process that respects the continuity of history and tradition, the needs of inhabitants and their cultural aspirations. This understanding indicates that urban conservation is a process of continuous yet controlled interventions in the environment. The extent and the degree of such an intervention is dependent upon crucial factors that include the value system adopted by the society, the resources available, and the cultural and environmental context within which such an intervention takes place. With an ultimate goal to discern lessons from urban conservation practices, urban rehabilitation and adaptive re-use is discussed with reference to a number of non-western case studies. The paper aims at exploring the merits of six conservation and rehabilitation projects which have received considerable coverage and recognition on a national and international level while they have not been put into contextual comparison with others. Merits of these projects are analyzed and highlighted in this article to work as an archetype for similar projects around the world. The paper concludes that to maintain sustainability of the revitalisation and urban conservation approaches, the typical urban tissue and essential qualities of the historic areas and of the life of the communities residing there should be maintained, while adapting the physical structures and activities to some of today's requirements.