Search results

The main aim of this paper is to determine how well the UNESCO 2011 Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscape (hereafter, the HUL approach) is understood by the academic community today. It will review relevant research, highlight shortcomings regarding the HUL concept and approach and explore how well the six proposed steps are being considered when implementing the HUL approach.

This paper presents and discusses the results of a systematic review of 140 peer-reviewed publications, published in international academic journals between 2008 and 2019 and available in databases such as WoS and Scopus, such as journal articles, book chapters and books. More specifically, this research takes the six-step process as its theoretical framework in order to understand if the six steps are being followed in the case studies where the HUL approach has been implemented. Following this, it assesses gaps in the HUL concept and approach. The paper explores the HUL implementation management process, investigating what is being done, how it is being done and who is involved.

The concept ‘Historic Urban Landscape’ has been used in research since 2008. However, the first case studies implementing the HUL approach were not published until 2013. While there is an abundance of theoretical research in relation to the HUL concept and approach from different perspectives and to varying degrees of depth, the case studies which practically demonstrate the HUL approach and its six steps are scarce. This paper will also show how feasible the steps are and which are used the most.

This research demonstrates if the HUL approach is being understood in the academic field and if the implementation of the six steps is being reflected in the literature. This approach will reveal how these steps are being implemented and if this is having an effect on the heritage planning process.

The purpose of this paper is to explore possible contributions of natural resources for the historic urban landscape (HUL) approach. It points to several possible avenues for collaborative research, which can expand the discourse on the topic of urban sustainability with different disciplines of heritage studies, natural resource management, urban planning and disaster risk reduction.

There are already several UNESCO initiatives such as the Man and Biosphere Programme, World Heritage Forests Programme and the World Heritage Programme for Small Island Developing States, which the HUL approach can learn from to understand approaches that integrate natural resource management in urban planning methods. Different cases from the USA, Japan and Singapore applying landscape approaches have also been documented in this research.

Several examples have been found in which natural resources are integrated to bigger strategies of urban planning. Japan has enacted the “Landscape Law” in 2004 to highlight the importance of preserving landscapes in improving the quality and viability of community life. The “Mauritius Strategy” created by small island developing states is another example. It holistically looks at policies to deal with environmental challenges while advocating economic growth and protecting cultural and natural heritage, among other concerns. The long tradition of creating greenways in the USA have also contributed in presenting heritage assets and providing environmental benefits. The High Line in New York City is a good example of this.

In line with the HUL approach, the research points out possibilities of non-traditional collaborations in solving current urban challenges. Finding ways of linking natural resources to a bigger urban framework can inspire new solutions for the interlinked problems of urban growth, heritage management and nature conservation amidst climate change.

The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology developed on the basis of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) notion applied for the city of Cuenca in Ecuador. The identification of cultural values – among all the actors involved in the city – draws up a series of sustainable urban development strategies.

This methodology is based on the city analysis from the local community and multiple disciplines such as geomorphology, environment, urban planning, historic cartography, architecture, archaeology, anthropology, and economy. Further qualitative data collection methods included 16 workshops with 168 citizens, specific surveys, mapping, and on-site observations. The challenge of this methodology is not only its implementation in the world heritage city of Cuenca in Ecuador, but also the integration of the management of the historic centre within the overall city development plan.

The application of the HUL concept has allowed the identification of a series of strategies for the urban development where the points of view coming from different stakeholders were gathered. The project reveals the existence of values and attributes, so far overlooked in the actual heritage management system. In addition, a Geographic Information System database has been created with all the information related to Cuenca with the possibility of making it available for the community in the future.

The project has been developed within one year with scarce economic resources: that is the reason why the planned activities took longer than expected.

Social participation has played a key role in the development of the project.

This research process in Cuenca has led to its incorporation as a Latin-American pilot city for a programme developed by the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region.

This paper is an editorial to JCHMSD's Volume 2 Issue 1. Its purpose is to introduce the selection of papers in the issue.

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.

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.

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.

In last year, the innovations in shipbuilding and logistics have opened the walled towns of Mediterranean port cities to cruise tourism and other culture-led regeneration strategies. Thus, walled towns in Mediterranean port cities have a particular development potential which questions about the opportunities and risks connected to any comprehensive regeneration strategy with a cultural and tourist purpose, especially for fortified systems whose continuity has been undermined. The paper aims to provide some guidelines for policy-makers and planners in port cities which have decided or are deciding to develop a comprehensive strategy and a knowledge framework for the walled town similar to those already adopted for fortified sites in the World Heritage List.

The paper investigates on the opportunities and risks connected to any comprehensive regeneration strategy with a cultural and tourist purpose for the walled towns through a comparative analysis of four Mediterranean seaport cities, selected as case studies. Cities which have developed an integrated strategy to inscribe their walled towns to the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

On the base of the case studies’ analysis, the paper proposes a critical reflection upon the management strategies for the UNESCO’s walled towns and supports a better understating of context factors as a way to strengthen the HUL approach when applied to Mediterranean seaport cities.

The paper sheds light on the application of the historic urban landscape approach to the walled towns of Mediterranean seaport cities. The paper is original because it provides: guidelines for policy-makers and planners in walled towns of Mediterranean seaport cities which have decided or are deciding to develop a comprehensive regeneration strategy for the city centre in line with those adopted in UNESCO’s fortified sites; a critical reflection upon the context factors which can strengthen the HUL approach when applied to Mediterranean seaport cities; criteria to update the HUL approach by UNESCO in analysing the conservation state, the managerial aspects, the participation and social aspects of walled towns.

The historic city of Shiraz, in the south of Iran, is renowned for its monuments and its remarkable macro skyline, which has been destructively affected by the rapid urban development. This research proposes a systematic historical analysis, which can discover the driving forces behind the evolution of the macro skyline of Shiraz, in the past as well as contemporary times.

The proposed general framework of the methodology is constituted of systematic historical mapping and documentation, which is based on a desk study and field research. Moreover, by means of this methodology, different layers and driving forces of shaping the urban macro skyline are extracted.

The outcome demonstrates 12 driving forces or contributing factors behind the evolution of the urban macro skyline. Based on the results, it is concluded that there was a shift in the subject and content of driving forces during the last century that has contributed to the destructive effects on the silhouette of Shiraz in turn.

It is suggested that the proposed comprehensive method, which is based on the historical analysis and the field survey, can be applied as a documentation platform. It is believed that the analysis and the extraction of driving forces can facilitate future urban landscape management plans as well as possible impact assessments.

Many studies rely on the analysis of historical data in landscape assessment. Nevertheless, this research develops an innovative historical analysis, which identifies the driving forces behind the evolution of the urban macro skyline over time.

The paper aims to clarify threats facing heritage management in developing countries. It investigates the challenges facing the application of the historic urban landscape approach (HUL) in the city of Alexandria in Egypt, where heritage is trapped between unplanned developments from one side and deterioration from another side.

This paper uses SWOT analysis regarding the heritage management approach of the historic site. Site observation, documentary reviews, an online questionnaire (due to the COVID situation) and some interviews with park visitors and shopkeepers have been adopted to capture the changes in the site management, specifically capturing the current status of the site.

The paper presented an empirical study covering the evolution of heritage management practices. It suggests that building and maintaining the synergy between the government, the private sector and the public is essential for the sustainability of urban development in the city of Alexandria. It also asserts that heritage is a major catalyst of urban regeneration in the city.

This paper highlights major threats facing Alexandrian heritage. However, it lacks generalizability.

It suggests inclusive urban conservation strategies that are based on the HUL approach that would revitalize the historic core and assist in preserving both its tangible and intangible heritage. These strategies can help decision makers to develop more sustainable approaches in managing city heritage and achieving sustainable development of the city core.

The paper presents a social implication through involving stakeholders in the sustainable revitalization project of Al-Shalalat district located in the city center of Alexandria.

The paper presents an empirical study that fulfills an identified need for adopting more sustainable strategies in heritage management in Alexandria.

The purpose of this paper is to address the challenge for knowledge exchange between disciplines that study past urban landscapes, such as archaeologists, historians and historical geographers and disciplines that work on new urban landscapes such as architects and spatial planners. It presents the design, deployment and evaluation of a heritage instrument, the “digital cultural biography” (DCB), which aims to allow future-oriented disciplines to make more historical and heritage informed decisions.

The paper makes three contributions. First it presents a methodology to disseminate geographic information across disciplines by applying the biography of the landscape research strategy. Second it translates this methodology to a digital instrument, the DCB, which makes it possible to configure the historical and heritage features diachronically as well as spatially. And third it evaluates the added value of this instrument by organizing a design concourse and applying various evaluation methods. The Roman neighbourhood of Testaccio functions as the use case for this study.

The research shows a high potential to use digital tooling based on geospatial technologies to support the dialogue between future and past-oriented disciplines.

The paper discusses how the recently developed biography of the landscape method can be used as a tool for collaboration between heritage managers and spatial planners. Moreover, for the first time it applies and evaluates digital tools and geospatial technologies to support this approach.

This article is an editorial to JCHMSD's Volume 3, Issue 1 and aims to provide an overview to its selection of papers.

The article builds upon a previous editorial on the implementation of the new UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL). It discusses a research and training programme under development by the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research in Asia and the Pacific (WHITRAP) and Tongji University's Advanced Research Institute for Architecture and Urban Planning, in Shanghai, China, to help determining a strategy for the application of the HUL approach in China.

The HUL approach facilitates a structuring and priority setting of competing needs and demands for the integration of urban development and heritage management processes, which is perhaps most pressing in the current Chinese context of rapid and large‐scale urbanization. However, its precise meaning, and therefore its merit, is still poorly understood in China due to confusing conceptual foundations and interpretations, primarily related to the terminology of “cultural landscape”.

This research paper outlines a series of pertinent issues and questions as part of a critical path –a “road map”– for the application of the HUL approach, as promoted by UNESCO, in China and it outlines key areas for further research, in particular as concerns the development of a toolkit.

The integrity of heritage and landscape hinges on protection and restoration policies. Such policies are implemented through the determination of buffer zones that most of them are mainly based on the self-absorbed view, which isolates cultural sites from the community, instead of the more inclusive perception-based view. This study used perceptions as a base in identifying buffer zones in Anahita Temple, in comparison with previous study.

Accordingly, two parallel and qualitative methods were implemented. First, the site inventory approach was used to determine physical buffer zone, and then historical and temporal perceptions were used to determine a perception-based one. In addition, integrated buffer zone was defined based on two approaches. Finally, the participatory importance and performance analysis were proposed in order to conservation strategies formulation.

The results indicated that a physical buffer zone isolates the historical site from its landscape, thereby presenting challenges. By contrast, constructing a perception-based one not only maintains the integrity of the landscape but also creates correspondence between the landscape and people's mental map of the site.

Maintaining the site's integrity is expected to encourage participation from the local community and fuel more effective conservation efforts but it also introduces challenges given the need to impose new regulations.

Despite various studies on role of perception in Historical Landscape, less attention has been paid to the role of perception in definition of heritage buffer zone. Therefore, the main goal is to develop a framework to determine the buffer zone of heritage sites by providing a sample.