Cultural Heritage and City Development

DOCUMENTS

URBACT Results Brochure  Read more
URBACT Tribune 2011 dedicated to Local Support Groups  Read more
Final Publication - URBACT Cities facing the Crisis - Impact and Responses  Read more
The URBACT Tribune 2010  Read more
Managing Urban Identities: Aim or Tool of Urban Regeneration?  Read more
Synthesis of Baseline Studies of the URBACT projects focusing on 'Integrated and sustainable development"  Read more

Cultural Heritage and City Development



In all member states, historic towns and cities bear witness to both a shared European heritage as well as rich cultural diversity.

Many urban landscapes and identities are marked by a built environment whose physical characteristics refer to a process of development stretching back over centuries. Individual monuments and landmarks, groups of buildings, street patterns and coherent ensembles inform us of our cities' pasts, continuity of change through time, periods of ascendancy, remarkable events, or ruptures in the urban fabric as a result of conflict or transformation. Emotional, physical and even economic attachment to the built heritage has generated a valuable culture of monument preservation, conservation areas, heritage sites, etc., where considerations of authenticity interact with those of functional adaptation.

Tangible heritage is an integral part of the "living" city, it is a force of attraction contributing to image and quality perception, it provides special locations for many key urban activities and interactions, it has a strong economic potential (and not exclusively from tourism). Therefore as urban settlements develop, change or grow, a recurrent and ongoing questioning of the role of this feature of our cities is justified. While the guiding principles of the Venice Charter, and UNESCO (World Heritage) criteria, retain absolute validity the main challenge for city authorities and agencies in this respect is to construct a responsible and manageable interpretation in the face of contemporary ambitions, (sustainable) development pressures and processes. This is infinitely more complex than a "museological treatment versus unbridled modernisation"

The project REPAIR presents an interesting angle to approach this debate via the re-use of abandoned military heritage, particularly focussing on "new" objectives or moral obligations to take energy efficiency, waste management, sustainable accessibility and local employment into account in the restoration formula. In addition HerO provides a worthy complement here in its search to devise integrated systems of cultural heritage management, preserving and developing historic urban landscapes as a key facet of the dynamic multi-functional city. An additional project which started the "Development phase" (6 months) in the final weeks of 2009 reaffirms the interest in this aspect of urban development. The LINKS project led by the city of Bayonne seeks to establish a positive relationship between living/housing in historic inner cities, promotion of the sustainable urban model and the preservation of architectural identity and heritage value. It is hoped that CTUR and Creative Clusters a project from the Economic development and Jobs Pole can also make a contribution to this sub-theme on the issue of innovative entrepreneurship in the context of the urban cultural heritage.

 

1. Building on common issues
2. URBACT ARTICLES – Cultural Heritage and City Development
3. URBACT REPORTS – Cultural Heritage and City Development
4. URBACT CASE STUDIES – Cultural Heritage and City Development
5. URBACT EVENTS – Cultural Heritage and City Development
6. Other EVENTS relevant for Cities concerned with Cultural Heritage and City Development
7. Useful LINKS for Cities working on Cultural Heritage and City Development
8. Additional Resources

 

1. Building on common issues

During 2009 the projects involved in this subject area concentrated joint reflection on aspects of identity: the significance of identity in an urban heritage context; the meaning of identity for various population groups; and the role of identity as a force for both economic and social well-being in historic cities. These subjects inspired a workshop held during the URBACT Annual Conference in Stockholm "Identity and the City: Urban identity, an asset for sustainable development in times of globalisation".

In 2010 the orientation of cooperation between HerO, REPAIR, CTUR, LINKS  examined the potential benefits to be derived from appropriate and responsible management of historic urban landscapes. While the majority of older European cities accommodate important heritage components these, often key areas or determinant elements of the urban environment, are not universally realising their potential in terms of producing economic return or engendering quality of life. Main aspects for consideration include:

  • How to maximise the economic impact of historic urban landscapes both in terms of the market and city finance
  • How to ensure that social and environmental objectives can also benefit from "exploitation" of the urban heritage
  • Establishing the "carrying capacity" of historic cities as a feature of sustainable management practices
  • Balancing the force of attraction, responding to demands and expectations of visitors while maintaining viable urban communities based on existing populations
  • Achieving the dual objectives of eco-restoration and conservation of the intrinsic character of the built heritage.

 

2. URBACT ARTICLES – Cultural Heritage and City Development

Seeking to extend reflection on managing historic cities in a sustainable and integrated way, this 15 page article describes the evolution of policy and practice in the city of Bruges over the last 30 years. With the centre of the city (not an URBACT partner) designated as World Heritage site, the ongoing debate between  conservationist bodies and the contemporary development lobby seems even to have intensified. However the city can present a robust approach in applying an integrated management framework adapting to changing needs and circumstances, with both successes and inevitable imperfections. There are therefore both important positive and negative lessons to be drawn from this review, particularly for other heritage cities.

Despite the humorously intended title this article has a serious message to pass on . It is based on the REPAIR project's Pilot Regeneration Actions in Florence and Paola in Malta. Both of ​these local initiatives concern the revitalisation of former prison complex's as multi-functional elements of the city landscape. All too often these generally large scale buildings with a very specific heritage value are simply turned into hotels or museums (albeit of high quality). Here both projects show innovative approaches to rejoining these formerly closed areas to the surrounding urban fabric where the new use patterns are relevant to the needs of their local communities.

​The article examines the pressures that arise in cities with important heritage value. The attraction of such historic urban areas is frequently a positive source of revenue and animation for cities but it also has negative aspects in terms of evolutions towards a solely tourist based functionality - which in turn can seriously disturb the urban balance. Drawing on city experiences from both LINKS and HerO networks the authors make the case for the liveable city based on maintaining functional diversity.
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This article is the result of collaboration between three networks where the Net-Topic project is in fact not directly concerned with the subject of historical heritage. In this sense the paper examines the complexity of urban identity both from  the perspective of responding to an established and recognised continuity but also in terms of imagining the role of identity as a positive force in new urban contexts.

 

3. URBACT REPORTS – Cultural Heritage and City Development

This document sets out the orientation of the project to develop integrated future orientated cultural heritage management systems. The underlying motivation is that these should link the preservation of cultural heritage with the socio-economic development of the historic urban landscape in the face of rapidly changing social, economic and ecological conditions.
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Few official EU policy references exist on the subject of historic urban areas. So together with the lessons learned and recommendations drawn from a review of other EU funded projects (Hist. Urban's and INHERIT - INTERREG IIIB and IIIC, CHORUS and Culture Network – URBACT I) the HerO synthesis highlights the key issues facing historic cities (e.g. protection and preservation of valuable built heritage, proper integration of new development, securing multi-functionality). This results in identification of 3 main target topics for the project, namely:
- Applying an integrated revitalisation approach which balances and adapts the use of the historic urban landscape assets to the different stakeholder needs;
- Protecting the visual integrity; and
- Development and implementation of integrated heritage management systems.

The LINKS baseline study describes the challenge of identifying and implementing heritage-compatible energy performance solutions for the restoration of buildings in historic centres. However it also fixes on the conditions to be considered in seeking to extend the positive advances being made in eco-restoration of individual buildings to address the historic city as a whole and particularly focussing on the environmental upgrading and retro-fitting of historic housing stock.
The first section of the document provides a concise overview of the technical questions involved, and the relevant state of play in terms of legislation and evolving urban policies and practices. The situation and goals of nine partner cities are highlighted as basis for project orientation firmly confirming the network objectives. These are grounded in the ambition to extend the scope away from only considering technical solutions to fully encompass the crucial economic, social and governance aspects as part of a thematic area wide approach - reinforcing attraction and quality of life as driving forces for environmentally adapted living in the historic city of tomorrow.

In this Good Practice Compilation produced by the HerO project, the network was very quick to invite partners to identify and present tools and practices adopted in their cities in response to questions of Protecting Visual Integrity and Applying Integrated Revitalisation Approaches. The document brings together 18 good practices on these issues, derived from 9 city partners. The compilation of 2-3 page resumés ( Liverpool, Regensburg, Valetta, Vilnius, Lublin, Poitiers, Graz, Sighisoara and Naples) allows us to have an immediate overview of the challenge faced by each city and the planned, implemented or ongoing actions. Each case is punctuated by links to relevant contact persons so that those who wish to know more, on the Liverpool "Buildings at Risk Initiative" or community involvement with the Vilnius Old Town Renewal Agency for example, can have a direct contact with informed local representatives.

The edited compilation is a particularly useful and visible way of informing us of the issues concerning cities in this network and of potentials for intervention:
It is recommended as an inviting compact overview in respect of the two sub-themes covered.

This document of pen-portrait examples is also important as an intermediate step in the development of the network activity. It builds on the contextual profiles of the baseline study and forms a means of comparing the key areas of concern (amongst the partners). In this way, more detailed and targeted cases can be selected and deepened to ensure concrete transfer of operational know-how on sustainable management processes and practice - adopted to (re)vitalise historic urban landscapes.   

The HerO baseline study identified the fact that only few references to historic urban areas exist within the EU policy spectrum. In response to this hiatus, network partners agreed to produce a strategy paper to focus more attention on cultural heritage and historic urban landscapes as an integral element to be taken into consideration in the urban dimension of EU Cohesion Policy. This short and to the point document, prepared in conjunction with the European Association of Historic Towns and Regions (EAHTR), puts forward and justifies 4 key policy recommendations with relevance for the EU level.
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​For those interested in the internal workings of an URBACT network and the application of ​the URBACT method to support concrete local actions, this document provides a comprehensive insight. Intended primarily as a guidebook for project partners it gives advice on how to connect the elaboration of Cultural Heritage Integrated Management Plans to the process of engaging Local Support Groups to define and implement appropriate Local Action Plans.
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​One of the core objectives of the HerO network is to develop, and familiarise heritage cities with, the added value to be gained by establishing Cultural Heritage Integrated Management Plans (CHIMPs) as instruments of policy. Based on conclusions drawn from transnational meetings in Poitiers, Graz, Valetta and Vilnius the Thematic Report  establishes the concept as an evolving conclusion of partner exchanges. It explains the structure and steps to be put in place and in 28 pages provides a clear and complete overview of the CHIMP as a concrete tool to facilitate management of the historic (world heritage) city.
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​This short but focussed report is a product of the HerO transnational partner meeting in Vilnius in May of 2010. One of the major concerns in the development of historic urban landscapes to achieve a viable city model corresponding to the needs of today, is how to avoid compromising the visual integrity of the prime resource , namely heritage. Using Vilnius as a case for study, the report sets out conclusions on this issue. These result from the confrontation of partner experience and practices with the reality and methodology applied in the Lithuanian capital.

This 17 page document reports on the partner exchanges programmed to examine the social aspects of urban renewal and eco-restoration. The transnational meeting attempted to address how inhabitants expect and want to live in historic centres and how this can be matched with the determination of objectives (including economic) for revitalisation of historic city cores. From the often different perspectives of citizens and policy makers/practitioners the workshop develops some key considerations in relation to citizen involvement, quality and use of public space and attitudes towards motorised transport in our historic urban environments.

  • Final Outputs of the HerO project

To coincide with the  Final Conference of the network, organised in Regensburg in April 2011, the HerO Project produced a final set of documents, presenting the conclusions of 3 years of transnational partner exchange.  Building on the (EU) Strategy Paper published earlier in January 2010, these include the following highly relevant and useful reports providing guidance, recommendations and detailed information on partner city Local action Plans:

- HerO "The Road to Success" Integrated Management of Historic Towns GUIDEBOOK

The culmination of the HerO project  is confirmed with this publication, a guidebook for  the integrated management of historic towns. The extension and development of methodology associated with World Heritage Sites to historic urban landscapes, and historic towns in general, has been a constant  feature of the exchange and dialogue between transnational project partners over the last 3 years. The end result in the form of a practical instrument for city policy makers and practitioners is a professionally produced and coherent step by step manual – tried, tested and refined by the HerO European cross-section of cities. It is strongly recommended as compulsory reading for all stakeholders involved in the management and development of the historic city heritage which characterises the European urban dimension.  

- HerO "The Road to Success – A New Approach to the Management of Historic Towns" POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

In the Strategy Paper prepared at the beginning of 2010 in association with the European Association of Historic Towns and Regions, the message was clearly set for EU level policy makers. In this supplementary advice note highlighting 4 key Policy Recommendations, the HerO partner experience is directed to encourage and assist Local policy makers and practitioners to use cultural heritage as an opportunity and a resource on which to construct integrated, sustainable and multi-functional historic cities, responsive to the needs of citizens and wider stakeholders.

- HerO Partner's Local Action Plans and "HerO List of Flagship Projects"

As a final reporting of network activity each of the 8 partner cities have prepared a short but detailed description of their Local Action Plans, initiated or supported by the URBACT exchange process and development of practice(14-36 pages). Furthermore in this "fast track" project , the  partners have also looked to the future in creating an annotated list of "flagship projects" where the intention is to continue to structure the treatment of the historic urban landscape, following the methodological framework of Integrated Heritage Management Plans developed and refined during the HerO lifecycle.

LAP Regensburg - PDF
LAP Naples - PDF
LAP Vilnius - PDF
LAP Sighisoara - PDF
LAP Lublin - PDF
LAP Liverpool - PDF
LAP Poitiers - PDF
LAP Graz - PDF
HerO List of Flagship Projects - PDF

  • Final Outputs of the REPAIR project

The REPAIR project held its final conference in Avrig and Sibiu (Romania) on the 15th and 16th of June 2011. In the lead up to this event the network has produced a number of documents which consolidate results of partner exchange and actions, providing results in the form of recommendations (targeting the EU level) and documenting partner Local Action Plans and Good Practice examples. Specific to the project are the two outputs describing Pilot Regeneration Actions initiated in Florence (Italy) and Paola (Malta).

- REPAIR Policy Framework "Capitalising on military heritage: EU strategies and local tactics"
 
This document provides an invaluable reference set covering the range of different policy areas with relevance for the conservation and sustainable regeneration of military heritage sites, and referring to the 4 pillar themes of the project (preservation, energy, accessibility, employment). The material was accumulated incrementally throughout the pattern of network exchange activities and forms the background to the formulation of Policy Recommendations which are reproduced here in the beginning of the report. 

- REPAIR "Thematic Report Pilot Regeneration Action – Le Murate, Florence" and  "Thematic Report Pilot Regeneration Action – Corradino, Paola (Malta)"

The network deliberated and selected two Pilot Regeneration Actions from partner case subjects to develop and test further the integrated approach and the criteria involved in accessing funding. These reports give a detailed account of the initiatives undertaken on two coincidentally former prison complexes in Florence and Paola. Both seek to introduce a multi-functional solution responding to the needs of the neighbouring community and opening the sites in synergy with the surrounding  locality. These model projects allowed the network to explore the consultation procedures with Managing authorities and key stakeholders while feeding partner activity to develop Local Action Plans.

- REPAIR "Pilot Regeneration Actions Funding Annex"

A short and useful 11 page network overview of possible funding sources linked to the pillar themes of the project  and from the experience of building Pilot Regeneration Actions.

- REPAIR: Synthesis of Local Action Plans

A 46 page report bringing together all the Local Action Plans devised by the project partners as a result of the REPAIR transnational exchange experience . Each plan is reproduced an a concise and comparable format but these can also be consulted as individual stand alone document.

LAP Avrig - PDF
LAP Florence - PDF
LAP Malta - PDF
LAP Opava - PDF
LAP New Dutch Waterline - PDF
LAP Karlskrona - PDF
LAP Kaunas - PDF
LAP Rostock - PDF
LAP Medway  - PDF

- REPAIR : Partner City Good Practice Examples

A set of 21 good practices provided by the project city partners to feed the process of transnational exchange and transfer of experiences.

While awaiting a fuller thematic report on this issue the LINKS project has produced a summary report detainling the thematic exchange on the topic of Eco-restoration organised in the Greek city of Veria in May 2011. This short overview of discussions gives a real flavour of the thematic workshop with some eye-catching illustrations, revolving mainly around 2 questions:
What do we have to know about ancient buildings to restore them to improve their energy efficiency while respecting their intrinsic qualities?
How can we solve the conflict between heritage conservation and sustainable development?
The full 114 page report by Lead Expert, Antonio Borghi is also now available for consultation  containing an extended analysis of experiences in Veria , methodological notes and partner city cases addressing the topic.

Throughout the progress of network activity the City Partners have been mobilised to produce short (+/- 1 page) syntheses of Good Practice Examples and  Pilot Projects. Of course this is insufficient to know the full details of the initiatives undertaken but these provide highly useful reference points for the project and for those interested in eco-conservation with contact details for those who wish to find out more.


4. URBACT CASE STUDIES – Cultural Heritage and City Development

The "Buildings at Risk" programme in Liverpool set out to record and identify examples of under-performing properties with historical significance. From this it has been possible to develop effective procedures either to force or actively encourage their urgent reinsertion in the multi-functional historic urban landscape of the city. The case study provides a valuable overview of the successes and operational difficulties involved in applying such a strategy - unique in the UK, but with important lessons for adoption of comparable measures in other city contexts. 

The City of Regensburg produced the HerO network's second case study in 2010. It explains the process of introducing a key new function into a specific historic monument on a central location in the city.

In contrast to the earlier case study on Liverpool's "Buildings at Risk" strategy which was an area wide initiative, the Regensburg case describes the treatment of a single historically important building. Of course the way in which the building is part of the wider urban heritage is in this context a major consideration.

One of the most significant aspects of this initiative is the decision not only to showcase and explain the evolution of the city itself but rather to highlight the wider aspect of World Heritage. Through this combination of global and city level, the "Visitor Centre World Heritage" becomes a unique physical portal to explain the worldwide UNESCO programme and how monuments, sites and ensembles contribute to this. No other World Heritage city has taken such a step, so this could provide a useful model for cities in similar situations across Europe if not across the world.

5. URBACT EVENTS – Cultural Heritage and City Development

  • LINKS Transnational Meeting – Technical aspects of Eco-restoration
    Citizen involvement to improve quality of the urban environment
    22 - 24 February 2011, Almeria
  • LINKS Transnational Meeting
    24 - 26 May 2011, Veria
  • HerO Final Conference
    13 - 14 April 2011 - Regensburg
  • REPAIR Final Conference
    15 - 16 June 2011 - Avrig, Romania
  • LINKS Transnational Meeting – Eco-restoration as asset for local economy
    12 - 14 October 2011, Bayonne

6. Other EVENTS relevant for Cities concerned with Cultural Heritage and City Development

  • Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings
    9 – 11 February 2011 – Visby (Gotland University, Sweden)
  • Fortifications at Risk Symposium
    8 – 9 March 2011 – National Army Museum , London
  • Heritage 2011 - Conservation of Architecture, Urban Areas, Nature and Landscape: Towards a Sustainable Survival of Cultural Landscape
    13 – 15 March 2011 - Amman
  • Energy Management in Cultural Heritage
    6 – 8 April 2011 – Dubrovnik
  • Climate Change: a Challenge for World Heritage ICOMOS/UNESCO
    7 – 8 April 2011 – Paris
  • International Congress on Tourism Heritage and Innovation
    21-23 June, 2011 CIT 2010 Heritage and Innovation, Porto
    Symposium : Architectural History as (applied) science
    9 – 10 November 2011 – Leuven
  • World Congress of the Organisation of World Heritage Cities, Sintra 2011
    20 – 25 November 2011 – Sintra
  • " Europe and Heritage: a challenge" Conference - 9 December 2010, Bruges
  • The Heritage of the City – the Future of Europe, New Opportunities for Integrated Urban Development  8 -9 December, 2011 – Berlin
  • Retrofit 2012 Academic Conference  24-26 January, 2012 - Salford

In Europe, the preservation and management of our cultural heritage is organised at national or at regional level. In many cases this legislation is inspired by international treaties and recommendations concluded by international organisations such as Unesco and the Council of Europe. However, both movable and immovable heritage often undergo the indirect influence of various EU legislation concluded by other policy areas. Think of, for example, legislation dealing with environmental issues, labour affairs, energy efficiency or building products.

The main challenge is to take the specific interests of cultural heritage into account in this legislation. The conference 'Europe and heritage: a challenge. Towards a European heritage strategy' wants to make European policy makers aware of cultural heritage and the way in which it is very closely related to other policy areas. It wants to encourage all parties involved to cooperate on a European cultural heritage strategy by means of a declaration of intention.

"The main goal of the event is to illustrate the programs underway, whether organised by public bodies (e.g. UNESCO, European Union, National States, etc.) or by private foundations (e.g. Getty Foundation, World Heritage Foundation, etc.) in order to promote a common approach to the tasks of recording, documenting, protecting and managing World Cultural Heritage. The 3rd EuroMed Conference will definitely be a forum for sharing views and experiences, discussing proposals for the optimum attitude as well as the best practice and the ideal technical tools to preserve, document, manage, present/visualise and disseminate the rich and diverse Cultural Heritage of Mankind."


7. Useful LINKS for Cities working on Cultural Heritage and City Development

8. Additional Resources