Challenges and Priorities for Action in Urban Conservation

The threats to historic urban areas generated by modern urban planning have been of concern to the conservation community since the mid-1960s. Since that time, evolving concepts of urban heritage conservation and its role in urban rehabilitation and regeneration have been addressed through international, regional and local principles and guidance, driven largely by conservation practitioners. Over the last decade, the urban conservation challenge has grown critical due to rapid urbanization and the resulting growth and transformation of cities worldwide. Conserving historic urban environments is currently one of the most universally urgent and challenging cultural heritage conservation issues. This paper makes an effort to enumerate the key challenges in conserving historic cities and urban settlements and understand how these challenges have had an impact on these cities; to examine the role of heritage professionals and others involved in interrelated disciplines such as social and economic development; to recognize the most critical theoretical and practical conservation needs of the field; to discuss specific tools needed to better plan and conserve historic fabric, to improve practice, and to support professionals and decision makers in addressing conservation threats