The 21st century has brought great challenges to contemporary urban planning. Urban contexts vary widely worldwide, from small settlements to metropolises, from walled and colonial cities to modern ones. The concentration of population in cities and the speed of their growth to the detriment of rural areas are phenomena highlighted by various world organizations and specialists. This uncontrolled development largely affects cities with heritage elements and values, the weakest to adapt and survive in this situation, which affects the urban landscape and its surrounding territory. However, in the face of this global demand for urban growth, heritage is revealed on the one hand as an option for an improvement in quality of life and well-being, and, on the other, as a key element of urban, economic and social sustainability.

Therefore, the aim of this session is to review and discuss the most appropriate heritage strategies for urban development and management in order to solve the challenges facing urban heritage today and incorporate them as a resource for sustainable development. In this line, the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) puts on the table fundamental keys in heritage management: interdisciplinarity, the citizen as a protagonist in the decision-making process, and heritage valorization developed from a landscape approach. Fifty years after the launch of the World Heritage Convention, it is time to discuss how the new trends in heritage management can favor urban sustainability. The Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) Recommendation’s 10th anniversary in 2021 is an opportunity to revisit it, debate implementation difficulties and lessons learned, and to compare it to other approaches and methods that deal with urban heritage in different scales and settings at the global level.

MODERATOR: Julia Rey Perez (Spain)

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

Elizabeth Vines (Australia) OAM, FRAIA, M.ICOMOS, Adjunct Professor, Hong Kong and Deakin Universities
Topic: Urban heritage management – can our treasured historic cities be retained, sustained and prosper into the future?

Francesco Bandarin (Italy), architect and urban planner, specialized in Urban Conservation. Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (2000-2010) and Assistant director-general of UNESCO for Culture (2010-2018).
Topic: Reshaping urban conservation

Kapila Dharmasena Silva (Sri Lanka) Professor, School of Architecture and Design, University of Kansas
Topic: Conserving historic urban landscapes in the Asia-Pacific: present challenges and future trends