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The purpose of this paper is to presents a conceptual framework for a value-based monitoring system that serves as the core element for heritage conservation planning of World Heritage Sites. It reports on the early stage of heritage management research within the PRECOM3OS framework, in collaboration with the University of Leuven in Belgium and the Universidad de Cuenca in Ecuador. A new management concept was developed throughout a five-year interdisciplinary and multi-actor growth process within an international setting.

The application of the preventive conservation approach to world heritage management places the concepts of authenticity and integrity at the core of the heritage monitoring system. Moreover, the monitoring system is converted into a decision support tool for intervention and maintenance planning, beyond the mere purpose of inventorying or generating alerts.

The regular update of information for condition, risks and value assessment strengths and support strategic heritage planning. The conceptual information system developed is based on an inventory system and updated through monitoring. Therefore, planners are supplied with a tool for alternative scenarios, potential prioritization of intervention, options for preventive conservation and multi-criteria support for strategic planning over time.

The monitoring system is not fully implemented in the World Heritage Site of Cuenca; however, a generic model is put forward, developed to generate a planning tool that can be applied for different heritage sites.

More specific, the integration of two concepts: the value assessment and monitoring from a preventive conservation perspective is considered an innovative contribution to the development of decision-making systems in the broader urban planning context of historic cities.

Urban heritage areas are under significant pressure as a result of increasing populations and significant visitor growth. The growth in visitor numbers is of particular concern as this is leading to the phenomenon of overtourism. In Asia, although the issue of overtourism requires immediate attention in order to avoid the loss of tangible and intangible heritage, many of those responsible for managing urban heritage areas lack the skills and competencies to prevent it or mitigate its effects. The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory competency framework for managing urban heritage areas sustainably, for thereby preventing and/or mitigating overtourism.

In developing this framework, the authors examined how the context needs to change in order to implement sustainable urban heritage management, and they identified the particular competencies and associated skills and knowledge that are required of the stakeholders responsible for urban heritage areas to manage, prevent and/or mitigate overtourism. This analysis was based on a series of case studies examining the planning and management of urban heritage areas in Asia.

It was found that meeting three key objectives was essential in improving the competencies of stakeholder heritage area planners and developers as it relates to overtourism: integrated team approach, a mindset change on the part of key stakeholders and a common vision guiding the development process.

It was found that in order for urban heritage managers to sustainably manage the heritage under their responsibility and prevent and/or mitigate overtourism, a fundamental shift in mindset is required on the part of key stakeholders, moving away from a “silo” approach and towards an integrated approach to urban heritage management, in which the team leaders and management teams have an interdisciplinary set of competencies and are supported in the planning and management process by subject/discipline specialists. The authors found that the set of competencies that are required by heritage management teams lie at the intersection of the four key areas of policy and planning intervention in urban heritage areas, which are: community economic development, urban planning and design, urban heritage area planning, and tourism planning and management. The competencies can be categorized under three headings: interdisciplinary perspective, soft management competencies and technical competencies.

This paper was developed based on the authors’ experience in planning and tourism initiatives throughout Asia and on a long history of urban heritage tourism and planning work around the world. Most of the discussion focusses on how urban destinations can prevent and/or address the issues associated with overtourism by enhancing the competencies of the teams and practitioners who are responsible for managing urban heritage areas.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers selected for the present special issue on planning and heritage. This paper aims at advancing knowledge about the variety of uses and meanings of planning tools and practices in the cultural heritage field, by bridging disciplines and by building on evidence from the studies composing the special issue.

After a review of the debate on planning in management studies, the paper briefly outlines the features of the five selected papers and it reconstructs a composite narrative on planning in cultural heritage, as it emerges from the collected papers taken together.

In the fields of both management and urban studies a similar trajectory of “rise and fall” of rationalistic views of planning has taken place. Today's discourse of planning in urban studies is strongly dominated by the issue of inclusiveness and participation. When looking at “who” really participates in these processes, it is clear that a vast array of public and private actors is involved, at least formally. When looking at “how” they are involved, a variety of possible approaches to participative planning are in use, from more formal, to more informal and emergent ones. Whether these participative forms of planning in cultural heritage actually “work” remains in part an open question.

Despite the increasing centrality of plans and planning in cultural heritage management, an investigation about the state-of-the-art of the debate on planning in this field and an exploration of how planning is done in practice are missing.

With specific focus on sustainable development of the built environment in Cape Coast, Ghana, the purpose of this paper is to examine practical and conceptual barriers for local planning authorities advancing international outreach programmes based on a global discourse on heritage and heritage management.

A discourse analysis was conducted on documents and programmes produced by international organisations and local planning authorities since 2000. Further qualitative data collection methods included 25 semi-structured interviews, literature and media review and on-site observations.

The study shows that the dominant global discourse on heritage management being interconnected with tourism development is adopted by local planning authorities. However, the requirements to advance initiated urban redevelopment projects are neither adapted to the economic realities nor institutional capabilities of the local planning system. Instead of adjusting specific Ghanaian notions of heritage or local forms of heritage organisations, negotiating the discourse is potentially a more sustainable approach.

The findings reveal important implications necessary to address from sustainable development perspective. The study can help practitioners to develop strategies based on local African planning contexts rather than western discourses on best practice.

This study discusses the impact of an Authorised Heritage Discourse on local planning of the built environment, and the need to rescale and broaden the scope of such discourses to other levels than the dominating national/global.

Urban conservation is an integral part of urban development planning and it is incorporated into land use rules and plans. In order to achieve the goals of an ideal heritage conservation policy, there are spatial plans, building codes and relevant regulations that should be well prepared as reference for development projects. Kota Lama Semarang (Old City of Semarang) area has been recognized as part of the origin of the development of Semarang City, the capital city of Central Java. This area has been designated as a cultural heritage area both at the city and national level since 2020. The Heritage City Conservation Program (P3KP) encourages Kota Lama Semarang Area to experience fairly massive development since 2013. On one hand, to control and manage the area, the Semarang City Government issued several official planning documents, i.e. (a) Kota Lama Semarang Area RTBL documents (2003); (b) Kota Lama Semarang Grand Design (2011); and (c) Kota Lama Semarang Site RTBL (2020), which consecutively were used as references of development projects. On the other hand, the results of development projects indicated that there are no coherent physical improvements in the area. The study was conducted to show whether there are consistencies or mismatches between the three planning documents.

This study used a qualitative deductive method with content analysis technique to compare three planning documents, using the predetermined variables.

The results showed that the consistency between the three planning documents was not fully demonstrated, but they are mutually interconnected.

The research focused only on three formal planning documents, for which comparative analysis was undertaken using content analysis to identify consistencies and inconsistencies based on determined 9 variables.

Good planning documents should be consistent, since they are used as development references. Inconsistencies among planning documents produced segmented urban environments in Kota Lama Semarang Area/Site, which are mostly due to the different institutions preparing the documents.

The segmented urban development in the area has reduced the historical and cultural values of the area. Revitalization program that was undertaken has some implication to the sustainability of the local economy.

The paper explores both the consistencies and mismatches among the three planning documents, which have been used as references in implementing development projects in Kota Lama Semarang Area. Failures in maintaining consistencies among documents are supposed to produce inconsistent physical development in the area, unless adjustment to current development has to be made.

The purpose of this paper is to examine a pilot in a national R&D programme in Norway (2007-2010) to join the ongoing discussion on the different meanings and uses of planning tools and approaches in cultural heritage across various disciplines. The study aimed to reveal how patterns of collaborative planning processes unfold in a complex cultural heritage setting, the key challenges, dilemmas and tensions in the different phases of the process and implications for future research and policy.

Longitudinal explorative dialogic action research was undertaken to investigate and capture the evolution of knowledge-creating processes. The qualitative data collection methods included 25 semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, participatory observation and text and document analysis.

Experiential R&D activities can bridge and transcend the context-specific tensions that separate the involved actors and their activities. Furthermore, a pro-active cultural heritage authority is required at the national level to maintain supportive links to the local level, and it is necessary to manage and prevent potential opportunistic action from negatively affecting cultural heritage sites and processes.

The single case study approach makes generalising beyond the current study difficult. However, the findings raise relevant issues for further research on the management of cultural heritage policy from a sustainable development perspective.

This paper identifies the need to study the evolving processes of linking cultural heritage, sustainable development and collaborative planning, as well as the dynamic relationship between the national, regional and local levels of heritage management.

The purpose of this papter is to examine the role heritage considerations have played in the transformation of industrial areas in three Norwegian cities, Oslo, Drammen and Larvik. The location, scale and rough appearance of industrial sites stemming from the industrial era makes these places locations for new cultural and other recreational activities made possible through architectonic interventions.

A comparative case study based on examinations of a series of plans, site investigations and interviews with planners, developers, architects and heritage managers.

The study has revealed that private-public partnerships today prevail parts of Norwegian planning. The role and strength of the state, the municipality, the private developers and the heritage management as partners varies, however. While the state as well as the heritage management played an essential role in all stages in the development process in Oslo, the private developers and the public planners were the main instigators both in Drammen and Larvik, where the heritage managers played a subsidiary role. Although largely transformed, selected parts of the old industrial heritage sites have been taken care of as a result, and new architectural contexts have arisen.

While actual planning processes have been led by private investors and real estate developers, the case study has shown that participation from the public sector via funding is vital to ensure long-term solutions. The results can be of service in similar cases where large industrial plants are left empty while slowly disintegrating.

Ireland's Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 established the requirement for a National Adaptation Framework (NAF) composed of nine sectoral plans, of which Built and Archaeological Heritage is one. All the plans were written according to the six-step process outlined in Sectoral Planning Guidelines for Climate Change Adaptation produced by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE, 2018) which is also the government department charged with coordinating the NAF. This article will summarise the application of the methodology to heritage resources in Ireland, the issues encountered and the results achieved.

The plan was informed by existing research and incorporated expert, stakeholder and public consultation throughout the process. It also closely considered published plans from other sectors in order to aid consistency within the NAF and to ensure cross-cutting issues were highlighted.

Of the many potential impacts of climate change, those identified as priorities for adaptation planning in Ireland were flooding (inland and coastal), storm damage, coastal erosion, soil movement (landslip or erosion), changing burial preservation conditions, pests and mould, wildfires and maladaptation. Goals, objectives and an action plan were developed commensurate with the five-year term of the plan, but also initiating a long-term strategic vision. A monitoring strategy was developed to monitor progress, identify problems and inform improvements to the adaptation plan as part of an iterative process.

Much work is being done on the topic of climate change and cultural heritage, yet at the time of writing Ireland is believed to be the only country to have adopted a national adaptation plan for cultural heritage.

Despite various comparative studies in the field of cultural heritage protection in the world, there is still a significant lack of comparative research on policies related to the legal system of countries' governance. The purpose of this study is to address the comparative policies in Iran and Italy, with a particular focus on the results of the executive experiences of two different types of policies in the cities of Oroumieh (North-West of Iran) and Turin (in North-West of Italy).

Utilising the comparative, analytical, bibliographic and descriptive historical research methodology, which is based on the study of the local, national and international comprehensive review of regulations and policy-making of cultural heritage preservation policies in Iran and Italy. In this research, the related documents in three languages (Persian, Italian and English) have been examined to compare profoundly and comprehensively the policies and regulations adopted in these two countries to be able to analyze the national and transnational regulations and local policies in the cultural heritage sector.

In addition to many cultural similarities and numerous commonalities, especially in the multiplicity of urban cultural heritage in historical centers, the results suggest that the legislation structure in Iran is much more centralized than in Italy. Also, the findings suggest that Italy focuses on aligning its previously centralized national legislative system in line with contemporary European heritage and preservation policies.

The paper outlines how to use historical and cultural similarities through comparative study to benefit the experiences of two historical countries in urban heritage conservation and policy-making part despite their differences.

The purpose of this paper is to argue the many ways in which the conservation and revitalisation processes in Novara carried out over several decades are representative not only of the Italian approach to urban conservation but also of the fruitful relationship between institutional and social bodies.

Through an exploratory study approach, this paper illustrates how social actors contributed to the conservation process of Novara Old Town, and documents the regeneration of two historic complexes, the Castle of Novara and Casa Bossi. To do so, it drew upon content analyses of the official reports and planning tools and a set of semi-structured interviews conducted with the representatives of the community organisations and the Municipal Planning Board.

The study demonstrates the effectiveness of a third actor whose double role entails cooperation and conflict. The participatory approach applied in these two heritage complexes has proved to be cost-effective because it is inherently able to effect “planning in the public domain” and address socially sustainable outcomes.

The Italian approach to the conservation of historic cities has been widely acknowledged as a “good recipe” in the international context. However, little attention has been paid to how this success story depends on a unique relationship between public bodies and local communities. To fill this gap, the paper shed light on the historic centre of Novara and two particular heritage complexes in terms of the relations of different actors in conservation and regeneration processes.