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The purpose of this study is for a higer sustainability of the historic towns and centres. The task of the society is to minimize risk and guarantee maximun safety within the territory while safeguarding the natural as the built landscape. With these sometimes unfortunate outcomes in mind, the society continue to promote “informed planning” hoping to achieve ever grater sustainability and respect for the extant, but, in practice, what the society have done amounts to very little. Indeed, today’s historic city centrers remain neglected and are increasingly “unsafe”.

In the course, Italy introduced a set of regulations in an attempt to construct, transform, conserve and exploit the potential of historic cities. Unfortunately, the results were not outstanding and today we need to rethink their approach if we are to reverse the abandonment of historic centers and make those “safe” again. In an effort to understand if what was hitherto put in place is sufficient or if new strategies are called for, we have reviewed the technical measures issued. In a large number of cases, restoration only increased their fragility, whereas in many others, especially concerning small centers with traditional economies, no rehabilitation work was ever attempted, not even essential maintenance work, and thus their functional and physical obsolescence became manifest.

The variegated and complex fragility of such centers requires forms of planning that can take account of the environment, deploy city-planning measures and undertake structural and architectural adaptation. If regeneration is to lead to a “comprehensive and integrated vision” for solving urban problems, economic, physical and social improvement and appropriate environmental conditions for an area subject to transformation, it will require new national and local action policies able to guarantee physical safety, the conservation of cultural values and the social and economic regeneration of such centers within a framework of policies for equilibrated urban development.

The processes of repurposing/revamping and giving leverage to historic centers must make use of multidisciplinary approaches ranging from conservation needs to overall regeneration needs. Therefore, new formulas are needed to enable us to combine conservation based on protective constraints with formulas for rehabilitation, reuse and performance improvement that are couched less in terms of sustainability, and more in terms of profitability, according to the principle – repeatedly voiced in international forums – that assets are also economic resources. Therefore, it will be necessary to proceed carefully, by drawing up a program of territorial development strategies with due guarantees of feasibility and economic growth prospects.

An appropriate regulatory framework is certainly necessary for the regeneration of historic towns and centers but an even more important role should be played by projects that optimize the use of resources if we are to ensure that financing will be managed correctly and a connection will be created – given the discontinuity represented by new constructions – between what remains of extant historic and contemporary architecture and construction. In this context, contemporary architectural design and urban planning can help meet the continued requests for the refurbishment of consolidated cities and the reconstruction of earthquake-stricken towns.

Rehabilitating center is not a cultural luxury but a necessity that springs from the need to economize territorial and economic resources. Consequently, a methodology should be formulated to produce, in each specific case, a design jointly drawn up by town planners, architects, urban redevelopment experts, structural engineers and with the participation of many other specialist figures, such as economists, sociologists, geologists and engineering physicists.

This paper provides a multidisciplinary vision on regeneration.

The purpose of this paper is to present and validate a large-scale methodology for risk assessment and management in cultural heritage sites, taking into account their specific tangible or intangible values. Emphasis is given to historic centres that are key resources in building resilience to disasters but are also highly vulnerable due to several factors, such as the characteristics of the built environment, the community and social life, the lack of risk awareness and maintenance and finally the poor regulatory framework for their management and valorisation.

The multi-step procedure starts from the assessment of the attributes of cultural heritage in order to identify priorities and address the analysis. Then, it evaluates the primary and secondary hazards in the area, the vulnerabilities and threats of the site and the impacts of the chain of events. Finally, it allows for calibrating a site-specific set of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery measures.

The application to two case studies in the Italian peninsula, the historic centres of San Gimignano and Reggio Calabria, allows for identifying research gaps and practical opportunities towards the adoption of common guidelines for the selection of safety measures.

By providing a qualitative assessment of risks, the research points out the potentialities of the methodology in the disaster risk management of cultural heritage due to its capacity to be comprehensive and inclusive towards disciplines and professionals.

The paper aims to investigate the approach and tools adopted by an Italian city, included amongst the UNESCO World Heritage sites (WHS), to involve different stakeholders in the protection and valorisation of its historical centre to achieve the goals of sustainable development. The paper focusses on the role of local authorities as the key actors that should engage different city users to jointly achieve heritage conservation and socio-economic development.

Data were collected, thanks to the researchers' direct participation in a project launched by the municipality of Urbino, which involved several local stakeholders and lasted about a year. Participant observation allowed the authors to collect informal interviews, join collective discussions and reflect on the direct observation of the activities undertaken.

The case study analysed suggests how participatory governance may be effective in fostering responsible principles in “asset usage” by any type of city users and how citizens actively co-design and co-implement initiatives of heritage revitalisation when engaged in cultural heritage (CH) policies.

The paper addresses a long-standing problem that has never been solved: how to enhance the consciousness of the CH amongst stakeholders and reconcile their different and conflicting needs in the historical urban environment in the process of revitalisation.

Although tourism destination image is a widely studied subject, the perspective of local players is generally neglected, albeit its relevance for informing the positioning and brand management strategies of the places is recognized. This chapter aims to determine the perceptions of key local public organizations from the historical-cultural and heritage sectors and companies linked to commerce and tourism (private sector) about the historic center of a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site in Brazil. The results of this investigation contribute to the development of marketing and tourism development strategies in historic towns, especially those classified as World Heritage by UNESCO.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the renovation of one of Havana's most architecturally significant areas – namely, the Plaza Vieja or Old Town Square, whose restoration was the focal point of an international campaign launched by UNESCO in 1982.

It will recount the details of the urban and social rehabilitation project that has taken place in the Old Town Square and the general way in which Havana's historic center has developed over the past 25 years.

The research will provide facts about those involved in the process, the management model which was implemented and valuable information regarding the neighborhood's housing and demographic evolution.

This paper has value to all those involved in the management process of the city of Havana, as well as, to other facilities managers dealing with similar processes worldwide.

Large-scale interventions are still the dominant approach in dealing with historic cities in Iran; however, during the last decade there has been a shift towards integrated and decentralised policies and a series of locally based projects were initiated across the country. Political and ideological forces, population growth as well as cultural and heritage consensus are influencing approaches towards urban conservation and heritage management constantly. This paper opens up the urban intervention approaches in the historic core of Shiraz and provides a deeper insight and better understanding of heritage management and regeneration plans in Shiraz as a representative of historic Iranian cities.

The study explains and analyses major urban transformations in Shiraz. The main approaches towards historical city core are identified and the mechanism that shaped these approaches in national and local scale is discussed. This investigation primarily uses qualitative data sources. The study relies on multiple sources of evidence which result in the reliability and validity of the investigation. Therefore, primary sources include original documents, maps and photographs published in documentation for the projects, published and unpublished materials and archives about case study city and secondary sources such as interviews with consultants and authorities as well as residents have been used.

This paper provides a more detailed explanation about several interrelated factors that affected the process of decision and policy making, planning and implementation of city centre interventions during the last two decades.

This paper anticipates consequent trends in heritage management in Shiraz and recommends further research areas. The paper can be used to develop a more practical set of recommendations for urban heritage management in Iran.

This chapter embraces a rhythmanalytic approach to address the complexities of a city recovering from a disaster. Bridging Henri Lefebvre's work on everyday life with his later work on rhythms this chapter engages his theory to analyse the case of L'Aquila, a city in central Italy that was destroyed by an earthquake in 2009. To this day, the city's skyline is dominated by cranes, while life unfolds along with sounds of the ongoing reconstruction. While the city is still recovering from the earthquake, the landscape of ruins co-exists with a landscape of construction. More than 10 years after the earthquake stripped away life from its historical centre, the city continues to live in a temporal in-between the disaster and its future ‘rebirth’. While most of the current research on the city neglects the city's everyday experience, my research decentres the debate by analysing the everyday rhythms of L'Aquila's historical centre. Additionally, drawing from walking interviews this chapter highlights the perplexing aspects of everyday life in the city emphasising how the city is negotiated and learned from the locals. This chapter highlights the way different temporalities blur in the everyday practices of reconstruction, emphasising how the city is lived and created in the here-and-now.

Using a continuous dataset, the purpose of this study is to explore the evolution of retailing in the historical city centre of Utrecht between 1974 and 2003.

Following an evolutionary framework entropy statistics and sector analysis are used to investigate the structural changes that have occurred over this period.

The results indicate important changes over time. First, there is a decline of shops selling daily and space consuming goods. Second, the expansion of some sectors and the emergence of new sectors has compensated fully for the loss of these shops. The success of some of these sectors is related to the rise of recreational shopping. Despite increased competition of “out‐of‐town” retailing and other forms of retailing, Utrecht's historical city centre has remained on top of the retail hierarchy in The Netherlands by transforming itself into an attractive location for recreational shopping.

The results indicate that new policies should encourage retail entrepreneurship to adapt to ever changing socio‐economic and spatial contexts. Furthermore, in most sectors that are under pressure, possibilities exist to shift to related categories through what may be called upgrading.

In the main, the data investigate sector dynamics. Future research on the evolution of retail locations using time‐series, therefore, should try to include more variables, like floor space, organisation type, etc. which can also provide explanations for the patterns of structural change.

The paper has introduced entropy statistics as a new technique to analyse sector variety dynamics of retail locations, since it captures both the number of sectors and the skewness of distribution.

Konya developed as a city with a single centre in historical period, the mound (höyük) known as Alaeddin’s Hill. This is still the central feature of the urban settlement of Konya. The tomb of the great humanist, poet and philosopher, Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumii, is also here. The most prestigious section of Konya during the Seljuk and Ottoman periods was the Konya Türbeönü, the space in front of his tomb. The historical city centre maintains its liveliness in the area between Alaeddin’s Hill and the tomb of Mevlana. This historical city centre is the most accessible area in the city and functions fully as such while bearing its historical identity.

The transformation of Konya from single-centred city to multi-centred city resulted in considerable changes in the city’s silhouette. The Konya Türbeönü Square was redesigned and presented for use. While defining the effect of outdoor spaces on human life, they are evaluated as places that meet basic physical, social and psychological requirements. Since the planning process of the Konya Türbeönü Square was not participative, it has remained a focal point of intense discussions and debates about its meeting users’ needs have arisen.

This article studies user satisfaction with the design of the Konya Türbeönü Square and investigates the effects of changes on users. The study survey, asked for demographical information about the users, the sensorial effects of the outdoor space, the effects of its landscape and general satisfaction. The questionnaire was administered to 300 people, including 100 architects who are educated in designing, shopkeepers who are interaction with this area everyday and laypersons. Evaluating the questionnaire data revealed the physical landscape quality and the behavioural and functional qualities of the users along with the visual qualities of the historical urban square’s former/older condition. This study aims to show how participative planning can improve future projects.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the planned urban renewal and re-scripting of Riyadh’s downtown as part of the capital’s aim to become a globally recognized city. Specifically, this paper examines in how far internationally established values and narratives are leveraged in the creation of an urban mega-destination that seeks to attract a transnational class of knowledge workers and tourists. The question is explored, in how far and to what extent urban heritage sites and iconic architectural projects are used as strategic tools to promote a process of cultural and economic transformation and in how far the resulting symbolic capital is leveraged to create a status of singularization that appeals to a national and international audience. This study investigates several neighborhoods in the area, analyzing how these will be transformed by Riyadh’s plan to turn the downtown into a commercially viable mixed-use destination by means of designated heritage destinations and iconic architecture.

This paper examines the views and experiences of governmental agencies, architects, developers and residents who are directly or indirectly involved with the planned restructuring of Riyadh’s historical downtown. In total, 40 semi-structured interviews were drawn from this stakeholder group to investigate their current understanding of the downtown associated with the effort to convert Riyadh’s historical downtown into a profitable urban destination. Five of these interviews were conducted with involved planning offices, and 35 with current residents in the area. In addition, a detailed site survey was conducted through a series of maps to reveal existing land uses, building typologies, states of disrepair, activity levels, pedestrian and car circulation patterns, as well as landmarks, and public spaces in each of the areas.

The subsequent data show that despite many positive outcomes in terms of commercial redevelopment, the adaptive reuse of the existing urban fabric is not considered, nor the preservation of underutilized or abandoned buildings along with its resident diverse communities, activities and milieus, many of which carry on evolving traditions.

This is significant because this paper presents a massive case study that ties into a larger debate on cultural globalization where similar practices around the world entail a spatial reorientation of urban districts to attract a transnational cosmopolitan middle class along with a simultaneous displacement of diverse and migrant communities, albeit on a much larger scale. While highlighting the rationale and effectiveness of this approach to create a well-packaged commodity, this paper also underscores the ambiguous consequences of this strategy, which entails the loss of a layered urban fabric that documents the city’s evolution through different economic periods, along with the dispersal of migrant communities and their vernacular practices.

Within this context, the current cultural value of the downtown as a heterogeneous, dynamic and multilayered fabric is debated, which documents the socio-economic conditions of the times in which these layers were formed. Departing from the UNESCO’s 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape and globally accepted sustainability standards, this study contrasts the proposed top-down tabula rasa approach proposed by the local authorities with an inclusive bottom-up approach, which would focus on the adaptive reuse of existing structures by taking into consideration the social meanings of belonging that heritage has for contemporary communities while fostering a more inclusive understanding of heritage as an ongoing cultural process.

The implications of the planned conversion of Riyadh’s historical downtown into an urban destination have not been previously explored and as a result, there is a conflict of interest between the creation of a marketable image, the preservation of heritage values, sustainable urban practices, social inclusion and Riyadh’s aim to become a globally recognized city.

This paper explores the employment of urban renewal and city branding within the context of Riyadh’s aim to become a world city. Within this framework, the paper examines the capital’s plan to convert the historic downtown into a mega-destination for the country’s middle class and national and international tourists.