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This special issue of Global
Urban Development Magazine is the product of Global Urban
Development’s Program Committee on Celebrating Our Urban Heritage,
and we want to especially thank the committee's Co-Chairs: Luigi Fusco Girard, Donovan Rypkema,
and Belinda Yuen, who recruited the authors and selected the articles.
Particular thanks goes to Kristina Monique Witt (MS Historic
Preservation Candidate 2008, Certificate in Real Estate Design
and Development Candidate 2008, University of Pennsylvania) for
her editorial assistance.
Heritage
Conservation and the Local Economy
Donovan D. Rypkema
Heritage conservation does not have a value.
Heritage conservation has multiple values: cultural,
aesthetic, educational, environmental, social, historical, and
others. A more recent addition to this litany of values is the
economic value of heritage conservation.
more
Restructuring la Petite Sicile (“Little Sicily”) Town Quarter of
la Goulette in Tunisia
Slaheddine Malouch
For over 20 years Tunisia has been following
an urban rehabilitation policy for rundown or poorly integrated
town areas. Some old town quarters are of particular historic
interest but are in a state of significant dilapidation. The
Arab-Muslim historic districts are known as medinas, but
European-heritage areas also exist. It is the state’s aim to
better strengthen social cohesion within the various historic
neighborhoods and at the same time improve the citizens’
standard of living. This is the broader background for
renovating la Goulette’s Sicilian town quarter, commonly known
as la Petite Sicile (“Little Sicily”).
more
Fortified
Towns & Popular Architecture in the Alava Mountains Region: A
Multipolar Model for Cultural Heritage Revitalization
Isabel Rodriguez Maribona,
Igone Revilla, and Monica Zgaib
The Alava Mountains Region contains a group
of historic towns that represent a precious heritage of stone
walls and popular architecture located in a natural environment
with agricultural and cultural landscapes. Our challenge was to
develop a multipolar model to revitalize the preservation of
heritage and the territory more broadly, integrating natural and
cultural heritage as an active agent of development;
understanding the region as the
physical framework for an inclusive society; and
enhancing people’s capacity to
transmit knowledge from generation to generation. more
Cultural Heritage Tourism in
Washington, DC: A Community-Based Model for Neighborhood
Economic Development
Kathryn Schneider Smith
In Washington, DC, a
nonprofit coalition of more than 185 historical and performing
and fine arts organizations has been creating strategic and
replicable approaches that link cultural assets to economic
benefits for the city and its diverse neighborhoods. At the
same time it is encouraging the preservation and interpretation
of little-recognized historical attractions. The vehicle is the
worldwide phenomenon of cultural heritage tourism.
more
Vladivostok, Russia: Strategy of Cultural Heritage Protection
and Use
Anna Myalk,
Victor Fersht, and Victor Korskov
The Russian Far East is a vast territory of
6.1 million square kilometers, making up about a third of
Russia. Vladivostok is one of the cities of the Russian Far East
with the most significant cultural heritage. The historic
downtown of Vladivostok reveals all the architectural styles
that were used by city architects, and the city and its environs
contain a rich and diverse historical and cultural heritage. The
number of cultural heritage items is as follows: 579 of local
significance, 127 of federal significance, and 38 of
archeological significance.
more
Promoting
Conservation through the Introduction of Information and
Communication Technologies: Luang Prabang, Lao PDR
Yume Yamaguchi and Pablo
Vaggione
Common to many regions and countries in the
process of development, Luang Prabang’s economic progress is
rooted in its natural and man-made beauty, which has enabled a
new tourism industry to flourish. This influx has had a positive
economic impact on local businesses that provide support
services to the increasing number of visitors. However, the
possibility of uncontrolled urban development resulting from
substantial tourism activity threatens the unique atmosphere of
Luang Prabang. Tokyo Institute of Technology is undertaking a
project to introduce Information and Communication Technologies,
with the goal of emphasizing the importance of the conservation
agenda in sustainable development while also building the
capacity of the local population to use such technologies.
more
The Workers
Village Project: Incorporating Heritage Buildings into Urban
Regeneration
Miguel Hernandez Lopez, Paul
Wakefield, Carolina Trujillo, Monica Zgaib, and Rafael Moneo
The Workers Village in the Tiexi district of the city of
Shenyang, China, was identified as a key project for urban
revitalization and strengthening of urban heritage. It became
part of the EU-China Liaoning Integrated Environmental Program (LIEP).
In developing the Workers Village project, Avenue TWC, an EU
consultancy, based its plans on the conservation and housing
rehabilitation strategy developed by the respective working
groups of LIEP. The strategy focuses on a village of 118,000
square meters that is considered a heritage asset of the Russian
period of occupation. This area was designated one of eight
housing conservation areas in Shenyang and suffers from a high
degree of physical and social deterioration.
more
Problematizing Urban Indigenous Heritage in Settler-Society
Countries: Australia and New Zealand
Vidhu Gandhi and Robert Freestone
This paper surveys current global trends in
heritage practices regarding urban indigenous heritage, with a
focus on settler-society countries, namely Australia and New
Zealand. Urban indigenous heritage includes heritage sites,
buildings, and components of the built environment of cities
that are of significance to Aboriginal and Maori peoples. The
following concentrates primarily on the dynamics of largely
“white” European institutions of heritage practice, and the
protocols adopted for indigenous heritage. The central argument
is that while considerable changes have been effected in
international awareness of indigenous heritage practices and
policies, these changes have had little impact in settler
societies. Cities continue to be the stronghold of heritage
rooted in colonial precepts and values.
more
The
Revitalization of Vilnius Old Town, 1995 - 2005
Jurate Raugaliene
Over a decade has passed since the Old Town
of Vilnius was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in
1994. The World Heritage nomination drew attention to the need
to protect the urban structure and to conserve and restore
significant architectural monuments. Dynamic changes in the
economy and social structure required the introduction of new
management methods for the Old Town revitalization. A
Revitalisation Strategy for Vilnius Old Town, prepared in
1995-1996, was the first document on
the area’s revitalization to cover not only architectural-urban
landscape conservation but also other aspects of city life,
including economic, political, and social ones.
more
Urban Conservation of
Fez-Medina: A Post-Impact Appraisal
Hassan Radoine
Fez is a unique Islamic
capital. Its original and age-old urban environment still
survives despite the pressure of modernization and
industrialization. The momentum for conservation of the historic
Fez was initiated by a team that believed in the sustainability
of the city as a living and breathing built environment and who
recognized the utter decay of the medina in the aftermath of
colonization. The vision of this team was to rejuvenate the
heritage of Fez through the improvement of the living conditions
of its inhabitants. more
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
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