Search

Baghdad’s historical centre is Old Rusafa, which has a long history dating back over a thousand years. The area enclosed within the old wall is approximately 5.4 square kilometres and contains nearly 15,700 buildings. The city’s old core contains significant heritage buildings that belong to the Abbasid Empire (762–1258) and the Ottoman Period (1638–1917). This paper assesses Baghdad’s historical centre and urban heritage. It addresses how the urban fabric has faced irreparable damage, a weak definition of demands, and an ambiguous formulation of what to preserve. The research examines Old Rusafa’s dense irregular fabric, significant old souqs, heritage mosques, historical buildings, and traditional Baghdadi courtyard houses. The research implements various research strategies at different levels to evaluate the current condition of the built heritage in the city centre. It adopts a mixed methodological research approach that brings information from both qualitative and quantitative methods to address the research problems. The paper argues that achieving sustainable urban heritage requires considering efficient and sustainable strategies that drive urban evolution and encourage historic centre revitalisation towards sustainable heritage conservation. The outcomes of this paper raise awareness of the significance of safeguarding Baghdad’s Islamic architecture and the sustainable reuse of its uniquely built heritage stock.

Las transformaciones en las ciudades producidas desde el inicio de la revolución industrial son una de las principales amenazas para la salvaguarda del patrimonio urbano. Estas circunstancias han demandado la elaboración de estrategias y nuevos enfoques orientados a lograr un desarrollo sustentable del patrimonio cultural. Al respecto, en las últimas décadas el vínculo entre el patrimonio cultural y las diferentes dimensiones de la sustentabilidad ocupa uno de los puntos centrales de la agenda patrimonial de organizaciones nacionales e internacionales, así como de investigadores de todo el mundo. De las diferentes dimensiones de la sustentabilidad identificadas, es la sociocultural la que mayor incidencia tiene en la salvaguardia del patrimonio cultural. En el abordaje del patrimonio cultural desde la perspectiva de la sustentabilidad los procesos de evaluación mediante el uso de indicadores presentan amplias ventajas para la formulación, análisis y seguimiento de las políticas culturales y los procesos de toma de decisiones en la gestión. En este contexto, existe un amplio espectro de propuestas de indicadores de sustentabilidad que son aplicados, desde diferentes enfoques, a una diversidad de objetos y de contextos. No obstante, en general se observa que, en la mayoría de las propuestas, se formulan indicadores cuantitativos con una fuerte incidencia de las dimensiones económica y ambiental, presentando limitaciones para abordar aspectos más sensibles del patrimonio cultural, como las valoraciones y percepciones, que por tener un carácter subjetivo no son fácilmente cuantificables. Por ello, en el presente trabajo se presenta una propuesta metodológica para la evaluación de la sustentabilidad sociocultural del patrimonio urbano en ciudades medias mediante un conjunto de indicadores formulados desde un enfoque cualitativo, diseñada y testeada en una ciudad intermedia de Argentina (Olavarría). La metodología propuesta permite medir los avances y retrocesos del patrimonio en pos de su sustentabilidad en el mediano plazo. Además, facilita la integración de evaluaciones de distintas disciplinas e incorpora la mirada de los principales actores de la patrimonialización y la gestión del patrimonio, así como posibilita la realización de un diagnóstico de la situación del patrimonio urbano en las áreas de estudio. The transformations in cities since the beginning of the industrial revolution are one of the main threats to safeguarding urban heritage. These circumstances have demanded the elaboration of strategies and new approaches to achieve the sustainable development of cultural heritage. In this respect, in recent decades, the link between cultural heritage and the different dimensions of sustainability has been at the centre of the heritage agenda of national and international organisations and researchers from all over the world. Of the various dimensions of sustainability identified, the sociocultural dimension has the most significant impact on safeguarding cultural heritage. In the approach to cultural heritage from the perspective of sustainability, evaluation processes through the use of indicators have broad advantages for formulating, analysing and monitoring cultural policies and management decision-making processes. In this context, a broad spectrum of proposals for sustainability indicators is applied from different approaches to various objects and contexts. However, in general, it is observed that most of the proposals formulate quantitative indicators with a substantial incidence of the economic and environmental dimensions, presenting limitations to address more sensitive aspects of cultural heritage, such as valuations and perceptions, which are not easily quantifiable due to their subjective nature. Therefore, this paper presents a methodological proposal for evaluating the sociocultural sustainability of urban heritage in medium-sized cities through a set of indicators formulated from a qualitative approach designed and tested in a medium-sized city in Argentina (Olavarría). The proposed methodology makes it possible to measure the progress and setbacks of heritage in pursuit of sustainability in the medium term. In addition, it facilitates the integration of evaluations from different disciplines. It incorporates the viewpoint of the main actors in heritage and heritage management, as well as making it possible to diagnose the situation of urban heritage in the areas of study.

The relationship between heritage, conservation and tourism has determined countless actions on the historic centers of several cities in the world. In Latin America, governmental entities have set guidelines for urban heritage interventions through plans, programs and a variety of projects implemented in recent decades. The predominant emphasis of these actions has been on safeguarding tangible aspects of heritage, adhering to international conservation guidelines, and promoting tourism as a means to stimulate sustainable local development. However, a critical point of these efforts lies in the neglect of adverse social consequences imposed on local residents and communities. In this paper we consider a representative case: the heritage area of Cuenca in Ecuador, where an intervention took place starting with the UNESCO Declaration of the case study in 1999 until 2019. We characterize the process, analyze the incidence of planning instruments and identify the attributes that were enhanced as well as those that were suppressed through a historical review of current plans and executed projects. The results reveal the persistence of a conservationist and orthodox vision of heritage, which leads to the displacement of vulnerable groups. Hence, it is imperative to reevaluate intervention policies in the urban heritage context of Latin American cities like Cuenca.

Gentrification, as a new domain for research and analysis, is a theoretical process which has debatable impacts. Many researchers may study gentrification process within international cities; however, there are few attempts to identify gentrification indicators. The main goal of the paper is to clarify and identify what is happening in Downtown Cairo nowadays; and to address the complex issue of the gentrification of existing buildings towards their conversion to a modern contemporary use. It focuses as well on the current and former applications in the local Egyptian case on the basis of its particularity. In order to attain this goal, the paper examines the relevance of the gentrification indicators developed by Phillip Clay in 1979, Peter Moskowitz in 2017, and others trying to implement it on Downtown Cairo, in order to recognize the ongoing gentrification procedure, then to consider the possible precautions to control gentrification development, and avert its negative impact while using its positive ones to upgrade the gentrified urban zones. This paper starts by introducing the history of the term gentrification, its advantages and disadvantages; then it also reviews different theoretical approaches outlining its stages. Next, the paper inspects the Egyptian legislations related to conservation, followed by analysis of the Downtown Cairo’s case study firstly through the Egyptian Government ’s project to develop Khedivial Cairo, secondly through the private sector initiatives. This paper ends with an indicator tool which could be applied in Downtown Cairo and heritage zones areas to anticipate in which stage it is gentrified. إن التحسين، يعتبر مجال جديد للبحث والتحليل، وهو عملية نظرية لها تأثيرات نقاش جدالية. قد تم دراسة العديد من الابحاث لعملية التحسين داخل المدن العالمية؛ ومع ذلك، هناك محاولات قليلة لتحديد مؤشرات التحسين. الهدف الرئيسي من هذا البحث هو توضيح والتعرف على ما يحدث في منطقة وسط المدينة في الوقت الحاضر؛ ومعالجة القضية المعقدة المتمثلة في تحسين المباني القائمة وتحويلها إلى استخدام حديث معاصر. ويركز أيضًا على التطبيقات الحالية والسابقة في الحالة المصرية المحلية انطلاقًا من خصوصيتها. ولتحقيق هذا الهدف، تبشير الورقة البحثية الي مدى أهمية مؤشرات التحسين التي وضعها فيليب كلاي عام 1979، وبيتر موسكوفيتش عام 2017، وآخرين يحاولون تنفيذها في وسط القاهرة، من أجل التعرف على إجراء التحسين المستمر، ثم النظر في الاحتياطات الممكنة للسيطرة على تنمية التحسين، وتجنب آثارها السلبية مع استخدام الإيجابيات للارتقاء الاجتماعي في المناطق الحضرية المرموقة. يبدأ هذا البحث بالتعريف بتاريخ مصطلح التحسين، مزاياه وعيوبه؛ ثم يستعرض أيضًا مناهج الحفاظ النظرية المختلفة التي تحدد مراحله. ثم تتناول الورقة التشريعات المصرية المتعلقة بالترميم، يليها تحليل دراسة حالة وسط مدينة القاهرة، أولاً من خلال مشروعات الحكومة المصرية لتطوير القاهرة الخديوية، وثانيًا من خلال مبادرات القطاع الخاص. وتنتهي هذه الورقة بتحديد أداة مؤشريه يمكن تطبيقها في مناطق وسط القاهرة والمناطق التراثية لتوقع المرحلة التي سيتم فيها الارتقاء بها

This study validated the theoretical keypoints obtained from a previously published scoping literature review within the context of three Norwegian World Heritage sites: Røros, Rjukan, and Notodden. The cross-sectional table of the urban heritage facility management (UHFM) framework, which is based on interviews and correspondence, demonstrates the connection between the tasks of the six clusters of technical departments responsible for the provision of urban-scale support services and the modified critical steps of the Historic Urban Landscape approach, in which an additional step for “monitoring and evaluation” was included. UHFM operates at the intersection of heritage preservation, urban-scale facility management, and stakeholder coordination, which requires a careful balance between urban heritage conservation and sustainable urban management practices, thus enabling the preservation of World Heritage status that, among others, fosters sustainable tourism. The three case studies highlighted the significance of UHFM in preserving heritage value, authenticity, visual quality, and significance. Besides providing comprehensive support services that extend beyond the daily tasks of conservators and World Heritage managers, UHFM also allows feedback mechanisms for continuous improvement. This study highlighted the complex relationship between the provision of urban-scale support services and the preservation of Outstanding Universal Value as the core business of World Heritage sites.

Abstract Urban heritage is a vital resource that connects communities to their local identity. Unplanned developments and rapid urbanisation often harm the authenticity of historic areas, disrupting the cultural fabric and altering their character. This study introduces the Relative Positive Impact Index (RPII), a novel technique for assessing the socio-cultural impacts of urban revitalisation. The significance of RPII lies in its ability to quantitatively evaluate the impacts on the cultural fabric and integrity of historic urban areas, which is crucial for sustainable urban development. The study’s objective is to apply RPII in evaluating qualitative socio-cultural characteristics in historic urban areas, with a focus on four main criteria and 16 sub-criteria, in the case of the Kuttichira precinct. The methodology integrates the analysis of published literature, a quantitative survey mapping the stakeholders’ perception, and qualitative insights. This approach facilitates an in-depth understanding of how urban revitalisation affects local socio-cultural dynamics, preserving the authenticity and character of historic areas. The study reveals that the revitalisation project in Kuttichira positively impacts the socio-cultural fabric of the area, maintaining cultural integrity and addressing social challenges. These findings offer valuable insights for sustainable urban development and policymaking in historic areas. The study recommends the application of RPII in other urban precincts for comparative analysis and further development of urban development practices, contributing to informed urban policy and planning decisions.

Cultural heritage is a reflection of a community’s adopted ways of life. It comprises customs, behaviors, settings, physical objects, artistic expression, and ideals. As an impact of the Earthquake in 2015, the heritage building suffered catastrophic damage. This research examined the Thimi community’s approach to urban heritage construction through conservation, reconstruction, renovation, and restoration, and shares problems, success stories, and lessons learned in the cases of Phalcha (Rest House) and Dyo (Temple). The Thimi Municipality provided all required technical and financial support for these renovation and reconstruction activities. Conducting a depth literature review and understanding the process of both qualitative and quantitative methods of rebuilding, renovating, and restoring the urban cultural heritage structure, this research uses a case study approach. Locals, consultants, and technical employees involved in the rehabilitation and planning work provided most of the materials for all case studies. This study finds that the residents of Thimi feel pride in having their heritage structures restored by local community participation. Despite the local community efforts, there are a few shortcomings with the financial, technical, social, and administrative constructions and understanding of customary practices. The Madhyapur Thimi Municipality has developed measures to support communities willing to lead urban heritage conservation.

Many studies acknowledge the significance of assessment frameworks for urban heritage sites in preserving their identities. Due to the pandemic and its impact on heritage sites and visitors, the spatial features and identities of many heritage sites have undergone inevitable shifts, challenging the current assessment frameworks. As numerous urban heritage sites are being revitalised post COVID-19, this study aims to explore how heritage-assessment frameworks can be adapted during the pandemic to sustainably capture the identity of urban heritage sites, particularly from a spatial perspective. Methodologically, the study first examines existing urban-heritage-assessment frameworks, including typologies, embedded spatial attributes, and analysis methods, through a literature review. The research adopts the methodology framework for collecting and assessing evidence to demonstrate the cultural significance outlined in the ‘Guidance on identifying place and object of state-level social value in Victoria’ under Criterion G by the Heritage Council of Victoria. Chinatown, Melbourne, serves as the case study to address the research questions, utilising qualitative data from archival review and field observation. The results highlight the shortcomings of current heritage assessments, particularly in urban contexts, emphasising the overlooked importance of spatial attributes for understanding urban identity. This is exemplified by the exacerbated identity crisis in Chinatown, Melbourne, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the study recommends future heritage assessments incorporate spatial attributes with a thematic approach tailored to diverse cultural-heritage backgrounds in the post-pandemic era. The study acknowledges the sample size and encourages future studies to test the framework with case studies of varied backgrounds.

This article aims to identify spaces of order in dispute in the Historic District of Florianópolis and critically analyze the relationship between this material heritage and discourses of power; problematize the stances and recent interventions of public authorities that aim for a new identity for this District; recognize the articulation of a critical infrastructure and debate its influence on public opinion and political decisions in this central area.

This study examines the transformation of the urban fabric by analyzing changes in both structural and numerical parameters of spatial organization, with a particular emphasis on the hierarchical relationships between streets, blocks, and buildings. The research utilizes Bursa, the former Ottoman capital in Turkey, as a case study to explore these dynamics. The elements of streets, blocks, and buildings are posited as fundamental components in conceptualizing cities as layered palimpsests, where successive historical layers coexist within the urban fabric. The research establishes a conceptual parallel between the methodologies and analytical tools of urban morphology, particularly through the shared notion of the palimpsest. In the case of Bursa, the architectural remains and urban form of the Early, Classical, and Late Ottoman periods and of the Republican period are superimposed. In particular, the late Ottoman reform era, the Tanzimat period of the 19th century, brought great change. Historical maps from this era serve as primary sources for comprehending the evolving character and spatial configuration of the city. This research presents a novel methodological contribution by extending the analytical framework of urban morphology to integrate both qualitative and quantitative data. It employs Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and statistical methods to quantify changes in the urban fabric, assessing both pre-modernization and post-modernization phases. Historical maps from the 19th century are utilized as primary sources to trace and compare transformations within the urban fabric, with clustering techniques further aiding this analysis. The findings provide a deeper understanding of the dynamic processes that shape the historic structure of cities, offering a dual approach to urban transformation that harmonizes historical continuity with modern development.

The text emphasizes the growing global need to integrate ecological and sustainable urban planning with contemporary demands for circulation and transportation. The importance of university education based on serious research for architects and urban planners is highlighted, promoting collaboration among all societal stakeholders. The increasing urban concentration poses challenges in mobility, sustainability, and commerce, making it essential to address these issues in education and professional practice. The "door-to-door" trend in consumer-oriented societies underscores the need to reconcile mobility with sustainable designs. ESTOA's editorial reflects on these aspects, advocating for academic forums discussing sustainable projects tailored to user needs. The issue features theoretical and practical articles exploring architecture from various angles, ranging from heritage studies to evaluations of post-COVID-19 public policies. The text underscores the importance of education and teaching in developing synergies in eco-urbanism, emphasizing the need for innovation in architectural and urban education.

This article focuses on the problem of local communities’ awareness of heritage values in terms of urbanism, architecture, and construction and the traditions of place within a historic town. To study this problem, the authors conducted qualitative and quantitative research using the questionnaire method. They were carried out in the area of two selected small historic towns located in southern Poland in the Małopolska region: Muszyna and Piwniczna-Zdrój. Their aim was to determine the level of awareness of the cultural heritage values of both towns among their inhabitants. The results of the research are expected to identify areas of real educational needs in terms of the knowledge and a sense of value of local monuments. The authors believe that social participation and involvement of local communities is essential in the process of protecting and caring for monuments of indigenous cultural heritage.

The aim of the essay is to analyse the ways in which institutions use an artistic practice such as Street Art for the self-description of their culture, as in the case of the Taranto Regeneration Urban Street. In a socio-political context characterised in recent years by strong conflicts due to the effects of pollutants from one of Europe's largest steelworks, the Municipality of Taranto promotes a vast Street Art operation involving dozens of facades. The documentary describing the project is a useful text for understanding if and how institutions promote memories, define oblivion and narcotize conflicts.

Urban architectural heritage and its social manifestations are immersed in dynamics beyond their origin and conservation vision. Contemporary society reinterprets, reconfigures and resignifies it according to its own logics of empowerment. In this context, this article addresses the case of a bridge in the Historic Center of Cuenca (Ecuador) known by the names of Mariano Moreno Bridge, La Escalinata Bridge or Vivas Nos Queremos Bridge. It describes its patrimonial situation in terms of its values and its relationship with gender. Because of its social implications, this study is divided into two parts: a bibliographic analysis of the historical evolution of the monument, followed by a discussion of its heritage status, and the presentation of the design, validation and application of a qualitative tool to determine the values associated with the property. This tool is used in a focus group of actors to analyze the feminist activism developed on the bridge between 2020 and 2022. This research shows how cultural heritage can be known, valued and used from an inclusive perspective and how public space can be subject to processes of resignification. This bridge became a non-place, a forgotten and a meaningless site. However, due to the struggle for the vindication of women’s rights and freedom of expression, it has taken on a new meaning, becoming an integral part of the contemporary collective imaginary, regardless of its uncertain nomenclature.

Abstract The historic centre of Algiers (Casbah) presents a state of severe decay. Laws and legislative measures have been promulgated in the past three decades to provide an adequate framework for the conservation of the old city. This paper investigates the law and subsequent legal instruments used in heritage management and the impact of legislative provisions on the management of the living historic centre of the Casbah of Algiers. Before the issuance of Algerian Law n°98–04 relating to the protection of cultural heritage, the role of the various entities managing the Casbah was rather unclear. This law provides more details about the structure of urban heritage management. Additionally, a new heritage protection tool came into existence (the PPSMVSS, i.e., the Permanent Plan for Safeguarding and Enhancement of the Safeguarded Sector). Difficulties encountered in the field concerning the application of legislative tools caused considerable delays in preservation actions on the ground. This paper provides an analysis of the contradictions between text enforcement and conservation plans to understand the main reasons that led to the degradation of the historic area. Accordingly, the paper proposes a number of solutions to be implemented by the Algerian authorities.

This research introduces an experimental framework based on 3D acoustic and psycho-acoustic sensors supplemented with ambisonics and sound morphological analysis, whose objective is to study urban soundscapes. A questionnaire that highlights the differences between what has been measured and what has been perceiveSd by humans complements the quantitative approach with a qualitative evaluation. The comparison of the measurements with the questionnaire provides a global vision of the perception of these soundscapes, as well as differences and similarities. The approach is experimented within the historical center of the Tunisian city of Sidi Bou Saïd, demonstrating that from a range of complementary protocols, a soundscape environment can be qualified. This framework provides an additional dimension to urban planning studies.

By the end of the Second World War, many of the Polish cities—and especially their historic centres—were in ruins. This was caused by both bombings and sieges conducted by the Nazis and Soviets. The particular group of cities is associated with former German lands—now called the “Recovered Territories”—which were incorporated into the borders of Poland as compensation for its Eastern Borderlands lost to the Soviet Union. These cities started to be gradually rebuilt after the end of the war, although one can distinguish certain stages and types of interventions, varying from the restoration and idealisation of the pre-war townscapes (so-called “Polish School of Conservation,” which was developed along principles contradictory to the urban conservation theories of these times) to late modern as well as postmodern (called the “retroversion”) principles. This process is ongoing, meaning the reconstruction of the historic cities is not yet completed. At the same time, these processes were embedded within the changing political perspectives—varying from “restoration of destroyed heritage” through “providing modern living environments” up to the “theming urban spaces.” In some cities, various stages and approaches overlapped, creating unique palimpsests. The article focuses not only on the evolution of both politics and design paradigms but mostly on the interplay between them and, as a result, on the doctrine’s evolution. Consequently, these considerations allow presenting the similarities and differences in the evolution of the reconstruction of Polish cities to the cases known from Western Europe and provide the framework for understanding the contemporary urban design paradigms of Central and Eastern Europe.

Characterizing geological heritage sites (geosites) available in Russia remains an urgent task. The present study focuses on two geosites from the vicinity of Kazan—a large city on the Volga River. They are attributed to the standardized geoheritage types and scored by means of several criteria. It is found out that the Pechischi geosite represents nine geoheritage types, from which the stratigraphical type (stratotype section of the Upper Kazanian regional unit of the Guadalupian) and the geohistorical type (history of the Permian System studies) are the most important. This geosite reaches 675 out of 750 maximum possible scores, and it is ranked globally. The Cheremushki geosite represents six geoheritage types, from which the stratigraphical type (reference section of the Urzhumian regional unit of the Guadalupian) and the paleontological type (locality of diverse fossils, including tetrapods) are the most important. This geosite reaches a score of 250 and is ranked nationally. The undertaken study allows for recommending several actions for the effective conservation and exploitation of these geosites. The innovative interpretation is that the presence of geosites at the urban periphery makes its general (not only geological) heritage value comparable to that of the city’s center.

Alfama, a neighborhood whose history dates to Lisbon’s origins, held simultaneously the power and burden of representing the “old Lisbon.” It is recognized as a territory that was never a part of the efforts to modernize the city but also through its inherent values. The latter derives exactly from the nostalgic images it projects and through which the city’s history is kept alive. As part of a city’s ecosystem and embroiling global phenomena, the neighborhood faces inevitable changes, affecting both the closely intertwined urban fabric and socio-cultural aspects to shape a landscape of tangible and intangible heritage. Based on a multidisciplinary and humanistic approach, the article portrays the urban change in the neighborhood through a spatial and ethnographic lens, along different scales and angles, contributing with a critical dimension to understanding urban development processes. We examine how Alfama has been dealing with political intentions steered by economic prosperity and global influences. Thus, we look at policies fostering urban regeneration and tourism development and describe impacts on the territory and responses where traces of the community’s resilience emerge. We further discuss how increased tourism led to a “touristification” scenario and implied local responses. Namely, the community has been activating specific mechanisms and leveraging certain socio-spatial features to cope with the process of change. Some examples highlight how the community is adapting practices of space and social interactions to take advantage of the new possibilities brought up by tourism, while defending its core socio-spatial networks, in a continuous process of heritage creation.

Climate change, natural hazards, and human actions are threatening cultural heritage in urban areas. More than ever, building regulations’ procedures and criteria are essential to guarantee the protection and safeguarding of urban areas and their buildings. These procedures and criteria are crucial to assist stakeholders in decision-making, especially when facing rapid transitions and transformative changes in urban heritage areas. Several institutional stakeholders in charge of urban heritage protection strengthen the need for a better implementation of building regulations through flexible criteria to support intervention procedures in buildings with different features and in different contexts. Under this topic, the present study uses a twofold method. Firstly, the authors analyze and compare the urban and building regulations of three Southern European countries, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, concerning procedures and criteria directed to the built heritage; secondly, they highlight and compare the views of different institutional stakeholders from the same three countries, at different levels (national, regional, and municipal), to understand the impact of the implementation of the regulations on the ground. The findings show the relevance of the institutional stakeholders’ views to improve the regulations and their practice. They highlight the need to promote inventory and cataloging procedures, as well as flexible criteria when dealing with urban heritage buildings.

Urban heritage is at the core of the process of many changes observable in the cities today. The pace of urban change in heritage contexts, however, differs widely across the globe. In some areas, it goes slowly, in others it is astonishingly rapid. In some cases, change is coupled with risks of erosion of heritage and urban areas of value and in others change is synonymous with prosperity and positive impacts. Change in urban heritage areas is not only confined to the physical and tangible aspects, but needs to be regarded as mirroring changes related socio-political practices, economic implications, and cultural impacts. In this regard, the present thematic issue looks at various patterns of the interrelationship between heritage and urban change from both the physical and the non-physical perspectives. This editorial presents the topic of urban heritage and patterns of physical and non-physical transformation in urban heritage contexts and introduces the thematic issue “Urban Heritage and Patterns of Change: Spatial Practices of Physical and Non-Physical Transformation.”

Urban revitalization is a viable approach to revive historic temple precincts which imbibe physical, social and cultural aspects of not only bygone times but the present, woven seamlessly into the precinct's functioning, offering a rich cultural milieu. This paper discusses the case of one such revitalization project of the 'Tali Temple Tank Precinct' in Calicut City, Kerala; to demonstrate the value added to society through such initiatives. A mixed-methods approach was adopted to gauge socio-cultural factors contributing to perceptions of success and failure of the project. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 20 key stakeholders within the temple tank precinct. Thematic analysis of responses suggests that a relatively high percentage of respondents appreciate the revitalization, as it contributes to maintaining the cultural character and integrity of the temple heritage precinct while solving societal challenges and issues. The study underscores the need for community stakeholder participation during developmental stages of the project, and to carry out subsequent community perception assessments. This will allow successes or failures to be monitored and measured for sustainable development or remedial interventions and improvements. Such a cyclic process of management for the urban revitalization of sacred precincts will enable it to be genuinely appreciated and successful.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the potential transfer of a metamodel for heritage-based urban development (HBUD) in a postcrisis urban recovery scenario. Design/methodology/approach After an introduction to the field of cultural heritage as a resource for urban development, the research question is elaborated, and the current understanding of urban heritage is explored. The use of the metamodel in a postcrisis urban recovery setting is described as a potential solution. The proposed metamodel is introduced along with the grounded theory and design research methodology through which it was developed. The specific qualities of metamodels and how they can contribute to the proposed use are highlighted. The scenario is then developed further, and specific ways in which the metamodel could contribute are elaborated. Finally, the metamodel is compared to other methods, such as the historic urban landscape (HUL) approach, and the limitations are discussed. Findings The metamodel can potentially be used in a postcrisis urban recovery scenario. The metamodel cannot be used directly, owing to the nature of metamodels; however, it can be transferred to a specific context and help to structure successful heritage-based urban recovery (HBUR) processes. Practical limitations/implications One limitation is that it can be difficult to understand the differences between models and metamodels. Only with a comprehensive understanding of the nature of metamodels can this metamodel be applied, for example, to select appropriate models for HBUR. The metamodel can help to ensure that all relevant ‘elements’ are part of the processes designed for HBUR and emphasise the need for thorough planning, or scoping, of such processes. Originality/value Metamodelling has not previously been used for HBUD or HBUR.

Cities have been expanding over the years, transforming and evolving with all the new technologies being introduced, and this has affected the layout of the city physically, culturally, and environmentally. In certain regions, such as the Sultanate of Oman, this has resulted in the creation of urban sprawl, abandoning some buildings, neighborhoods, and villages, and losing the urban and architectural qualities that represent the original identity of the place. Research has shown that multiple initiatives by the community have been made to rehabilitate some of those structures. This study aims to examine two case studies in the Sultanate of Oman and show the transformation in the urban and architectural context of the existing structures over the past decade. A combination of qualitative data collection methodology was used, including on-site observations, analysis of primary and secondary data, and interviews with locals experiencing the changes over the years. The results showed that there was a strong interrelation between the desire of living in a high-tech environment and rooting for their origins. Also, the built structures and their uses reflected the awareness of the different generations about the quality of space. Further research would help identify the factors that could create the right balance between a contemporary living quality and the original character of the place.

Many unique ethnic enclaves have been established in Australia due to the country’s rich and diverse immigration history. Chinatown Melbourne is one of the oldest and most iconic examples that date back to the gold rush period in the 1850s. Previous studies have examined many aspects of the precinct, such as its architectural styles and demography shifts. However, there is a lack of research investigating the enclave’s urban characteristics and the consequent urban identity. This knowledge gap can lead to unfeasible heritage conservation decisions with a lack of emphasis on the precinct’s unique identity. Hence, this study aims to scrutinize the precinct’s past urban evolution and its present characteristics to better understand its heritage value and enhance future urban policies. Qualitative data are collected using archival and literature review, map analysis, and field observation. Overall, by elucidating Chinatown Melbourne’s urban characteristics and key urban movements, the study depicts the precinct’s identity, addressing elements like the main, laneway, gateway, and public space. The output of the research provides insights into how future heritage policies and initiatives can benefit from the case study in enhancing heritage protection and sustaining its urban identity. Further research is recommended to incorporate quantitative research methods and compare results with this study’s findings.

Rapidly growing research in urban heritage studies highlights the significance of incorporating participatory approaches in urban transformation projects. And yet, participation tends to be limited, including only certain segments of the population. It is also acknowledged that cities are ‘dynamic’ and ‘complex’ systems. However, there is extremely limited research that captures the dynamic transformation mechanisms in historic urban environments. This paper aims to illustrate a novel, mixed-method and dynamic approach to unfold the dynamics of urban heritage areas. We do so by focusing on the historic area of Woolwich, a South-East suburb in London, UK. To do so, we apply ‘critical system dynamics’ for the analysis of a mixed dataset which incorporates architectural surveys, interviews, online surveys, social media data and visual observations of material change through light archaeology. Within the framework of ‘deep cities’, the article argues that the transformation of a place is a complex process that can be captured not only based on ‘what we see’ but also on ‘what we cannot see’. In other words, the invisible (values, emotions, and senses) is as significant as the visible. This is of paramount importance as most urban planning policies tend to be based on material, visible remains and less on the spirit or soul of a place.

The recent technological development in many fields has made a significant contribution to the reconstruction of a historical buildings. The matter becomes complicated when the buildings are destroyed, and it is required to collect as many different sources of information as possible. The research problem lies in the absence of studies on reconstructing the lost historical landmarks in the old Mosul city in an interactive 4D modelling. This study aims to develop a strategy to reconstruct historical cultural landmarks in an interactive digital way, based on the collection and integration of multiple sources of information, in addition to an attempt to extrapolate the lost elements based on similar data and various available information, and all this using available software techniques to create interactive environments. To produce documents that can be used in the process of restoring the real origin as an advanced engineering document, used for future periodic maintenance and preservation purposes. The study seeks to reconstruct the military Qishla building in the completely destroyed in Mosul, as a case study, using multiple tools and techniques, in parallel with the techniques Modern digital, and various CAD programs for engineering and parametric drawing and Ar-media augmented reality app.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) assure the importance of protecting and safeguarding the world’s cultural and natural heritage. Furthermore, culture is now considered the fourth dimension when addressing sustainability after the environmental, social, and economic dimensions. This paper investigates cultural heritage-related dimensions in Port Said City in Egypt, focusing on the Arab district, and addresses the relation between the tangible and intangible heritage to achieve sustainable urban development. These dimensions are embedded in the distinctive architecture, urban settings, and the famous resistance festival under threat, “The Allenby festival” The authors argue that perceiving the intangible festival’s heritage is strongly connected with perceiving the urban and architectural heritage and building a cultural management framework that guarantees the sustainable urban development of the Arab district precisely and Port Said city. This paper aims to point out the unique values related to cultural heritage and community, given the critical role in linking contexts and tangible urban heritage with the intangible experience.

Due to their authentic urban and architectural character, the Medinas of Tunis and Marrakesh became listed among the United Nations educational, scientific, and cultural organization (UNESCO) heritage sites in 1979 and 1985, respectively. Nowadays, the urbanization of the surrounding green areas and the climate change impacts on cities are degrading the Medinas’ livability and their characteristic heritage. On the other hand, scientific knowledge and data about the green system in the dense urban cores of Medinas in the Maghreb region is still not a widely apprehended theme in the scientific domain. This research objective is to initiate nature-based and sustainable solutions in these cities by demonstrating the application of the urban green infrastructure (UGI) approach. As a research methodology, an analysis of the historical green system development in the Medinas is given to highlight their tangible and intangible values. The analysis goes over three periods: first, the medieval Islamic era, then the modern period during the French colony, and the contemporary city as a unique urban landscape. Finally, the study proposes a design guideline to prove the applicability of the UGI in the given historical morphologies by implementing the retained historical values of the historic green heritage in Medinas and the aspects of the site.

The methodological approach of the study proposes an innovative yet adaptive way to define and preserve heritage sites and their elements. In the case study, the proposed methodology guides the design/planning research of heritage sites by linking the perceptual behaviour with the information of the built environment. Visibility is the tool to measure the level of exposure of specific urban elements from a particular perspective. While isovist analyses define visibility in the built environment, fields of view from the periphery of heritage sites are applied to calculate visible or invisible areas by the observer. The purpose of the current study is the evaluation of the identification of the elements to be protected, by modelling both the heritage environment and the heritage elements according to the visibility criteria. For this purpose, I illustrate my approach by using visibility analyses and Space syntax analysis in the case of the Sulukule neighbourhood, the leading renewal project, in Istanbul. This area used to have notably cultural–historical assets–historic land walls, the lifestyle of Roma people—but now the renovation works carried out in the Sulukule case study site have affected the identity of the “visible” and “known” space of the historic quarter.

The material extant of the fortifications of Jaffa, the physical markers of memory, narrates the contrasting status and evolution of one of the oldest port towns in Israel: from grandiose to decline, from thriving multicultural neighbourhoods to immigrant communities over time, from town centre to marginalised significance and shifting centralities in the wake of political and economic events. Its town centre, propagating social interaction, existed through complex and evolving agricultural, industrial, and residential land uses. This port town bears a testimony to the dynamic and enormous shifts in land use, communities, and collective social memory. The alternate port of Tel Aviv came into existence during the revolt in 1936-39 by Arabs of Mandatory Palestine. The drastic decline of the Arab population in Jaffa and its environs and the rise in the Jewish population in the new modern city of Tel Aviv was an antagonistic process of negation and exclusion. The asymmetric planning of Tel Aviv that emerged in the early 1900s identified it as uncivilised geography, turning into a dilapidated district. Communal and national identities were built on the premise of antithesis giving rise to significant demographic transformations. This socio-spatial metamorphosis of Tel Aviv-Jaffa became a representational space leading to physical and cognitive boundaries evident in the planning policies. Since the mid-1980s, the spatial overturns have led to the radical restructuring of the urban space through gentrification with political and socio-economic implications such as population displacement and the production of urban alterities. This oxymoron of creative destruction suggests the tensions at the heart of urban life that embodies the erasure and re-inscription of culture and economics. This article will explore the historical evolution of the old port town, cultural geography, and the current state of exclusion and gentrification in Jaffa, and underlines the need for discourse on socio-spatial analysis and assessment for decision-making processes for urban heritage design.

Acre is a port city in the north-western part of Israel, with a history that goes back more than 4000 years. Being inscribed on the World Heritage List, the Old City of Acre preserves the urban and architectural elements of a historic town. Its outstanding value relies on the Crusader remnants preserved under the Ottoman city, showcasing the dynamism and continuous change of Mediterranean port cities. Moreover, the presence of various religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Bahai, adds to its complexity, expressed as monuments and religious sites that enrichen Acre’s cultural heritage. The dramatic change in values over the past decades has a direct impact on the built environment and the citizen’s lifestyles, in some cases jeopardising the physical elements and drastically influencing people’s lives. This paper aims to analyse the changes linked to the sea: livelihoods, tourism, and recreational use; and the change of use of the khan, as both the sea and the khan are constant elements in the city. The analysis of these processes serves as the starting point to identify changes in values which can enhance development or promote gentrification, and in the case of Khan Al-Umdan and its vicinity, we aim to recognise the lights and shadows that followed the adaptive reuse evaluation procedure, and the influence of the multiple narratives in its development. The conclusions will provide a solid base on which to develop a methodology on the one hand, identify changing processes, such as gentrification; and on the other, to evaluate adaptive reuse alternatives of cultural heritage in contested societies and changing values.

Nel diciassettesimo secolo il Simkeşhane era il palazzo della Zecca ottomana costruito sul Forum Tauri (il Foro di Teodosio), il più grande forum di Costantinopoli nel quarto secolo a.C. Le vicende relative all’edificio e al suo contesto urbano sono caratterizzate da conflitti tra diversi attori e istituzioni. Negli anni Trenta del ventesimo secolo, il governo repubblicano aveva invitato Henri Prost (1874-1959) per il progetto di un nuovo piano regolatore urbano per Istanbul. Tra gli obiettivi di piano vi era la valorizzazione dell’Arco di Trionfo del Foro, situato nel cortile del Simkeşhane che Prost prevedeva di demolire. Il progetto di dismissione per favorire la città bizantina a scapito di quella ottomana fu definito dal Comitato per la Conservazione dei Monumenti Storici (Eski Eserleri Koruma Encümeni). Negli anni Cinquanta, il potere del governo repubblicano però passò in mano all’opposizione per un decennio, dunque si abbandonò l’obiettivo di secolarizzazione della società turca. Il nuovo governo, con il supporto degli Stati Uniti nella seconda metà degli anni Cinquanta, lanciò un nuovo ambizioso progetto urbano per Istanbul che prevedeva la distruzione di interi quartieri storici. Il Simkeşhane fu pertanto totalmente demolito per la creazione della grande arteria stradale del corso Ordu (Ordu Caddesi), pur restando una delle azioni più controverse del programma filostatunitense.

Windows display give a lot of examples on architecture and cities showings. Used as images in windows display, recreated as models or showing buildings with the layout of the products themselves, these urban environment creations are full if imagination. The use of urban landscapes and monuments for the commercial purpose points out the importance of architecture and urban areas in a popular heritage composition that could be considered as an architectural museum.

The world is undergoing dramatic change in its social and physical environments, resulting in cultural confrontation and conflict. Rapid urban growth, displacement, and gentrification increase urban pressure while jeopardising social cohesion, multicultural values, and local economies. In addition, environmental factors associated with climate change challenge how our cities respond and adapt, prompting the need for urban centre regeneration to confront the urban century challenges (Sassen, 2011). However, adaptation to these changes is also a source of conflict, as urban policies lack citizen engagement in the redefinition of public space, resulting in more disagreement and inefficient use of resources. One way to respond to this ongoing crisis is adaptive reuse, repurposing an underused system for a new use. This process can enhance positive environmental impacts, encourage social and participatory processes, and promote economic dynamism through culture. However, the success of such an intervention will depend on the underlying approach. The paper aims to explore how Jem Bendell’s ambitious four-pronged Deep Adaptation strategy (Bendell, 2018) combined with the cultural resilience approach can result in adaptive reuse processes that act as development catalysers and peace-building mechanisms.

The world is undergoing dramatic change in its social and physical environments, resulting in cultural confrontation and conflict. Rapid urban growth, displacement, and gentrification increase urban pressure while jeopardising social cohesion, multicultural values, and local economies. In addition, environmental factors associated with climate change challenge how our cities respond and adapt, prompting the need for urban centre regeneration to confront the urban century challenges (Sassen, 2011). However, adaptation to these changes is also a source of conflict, as urban policies lack citizen engagement in the redefinition of public space, resulting in more disagreement and inefficient use of resources. One way to respond to this ongoing crisis is adaptive reuse, repurposing an underused system for a new use. This process can enhance positive environmental impacts, encourage social and participatory processes, and promote economic dynamism through culture. However, the success of such an intervention will depend on the underlying approach. The paper aims to explore how Jem Bendell’s ambitious four-pronged Deep Adaptation strategy (Bendell, 2018) combined with the cultural resilience approach can result in adaptive reuse processes that act as development catalysers and peace-building mechanisms.

Urban heritage sites are valuable assets that promote sustainable development and innovation in cities. Yet, various detrimental effects on the environment, including pandemics, crowding, climatic changes, lack of awareness, and failed waste management, caused by certain human activities and the introduction of non-viable projects do not only impact sustainability per se, but also harm the significance and fabric of heritage assets. In order to cope with these challenges, more potent approaches to heritage conservation should be investigated. This paper provides a thorough analysis of approaches, integrating traditional models of sustainability with urban heritage charters. The proposal of a framework for regenerative policies in heritage sites, based on the above-mentioned analysis, is presented subsequently. Benefits of applying the model are discussed afterwards, with reflectionson similar case studies and findings. The ultimate goal is directed towards resilience and sustaining the human dimension within urban heritage sites, as well as the city scope.

his paper is an attempt to converse about urban heritage preservation and its experience. To converse is to colloquially discuss ideas that comes to mind while we are looking back at the 2019 photographs of some parts of Kota Tua Surabaya (The Old Town of Surabaya) and reflect upon our knowledge background, one of architecture, the other of history. This conversation is created through a form of creative writing, creative nonfiction, where we begin with our personal thoughts, one of experiencing ruination and the other of witnessing complexity of urban heritage preservation, one of decay and the other of paint. We involve relevant discourses and the use of visual materials such as collages, diagrams, and drawings as a form of visual inquiry and visual illustration, showing the interpretation, reality, and the imagination of fragments of Kota Tua Surabaya. The process involved in creating this conversation could be one of the ways to creatively build collaborative knowledge and have the writings and the visual materials based on personal voice, expanding the academic form of writings.

Since the 1960s, post-war modernist heritage has been largely criticised and victimised by the public opinion because of its material failures and elitist social projects. Despite these critiques, post-war modernist heritage is being reassessed, revalued and in some places successfully rehabilitated. There is a growing recognition that most of the critiques have often been the result of subjective and biased value and taste judgments or incomplete assessments that neither considered the urban design nor the users’ experiences. This paper aims to contribute to these reassessments of post-war modernist urban heritage legacies. To do so, it places the user’s social experiences and uses, and the urban design at the centre of the analysis, by using a combination of ethnographic methods and urban design analysis and focusing on the public spaces of Southbank Centre in London, the UK’s largest and most iconic and contested post-war modernist ensemble with a long history of conservation and regeneration projects. Taken together, the findings demonstrate the importance of including the users’ social experiences and uses in the conservation and regeneration agendas if we want to achieve more objective and inclusive assessments.

This article proposes to broaden the discussion of the threatened identity of the Urban Heritage, perceived within a culture of body reification, from the viewpoint of ephemeral arts. The ongoing research, from which this article derives, is interested in investigating authors who question documental representations, who recover forgotten cultural spaces and who propose a review of historical memory. The analysis of works that trace the genealogy of this ethnographic turn in art history contributed to the understanding of an artistic practice based on the sensitive world, related to its surroundings, in addition to providing clues about the artist capable of summoning others to a new kind of public experience.

The “Socialist Modernism” Project is part of an initiative by B.A.C.U. Association focused on protecting built heritage in the former socialist bloc. In that respect, we have launched a campaign for the preservation of buildings that are specific to the socialist modernist period (1955–1991). The architecture of the socialist period, more precisely the modernist tendencies in 1955–1991, is a specific trend in the evolution of architecture in the former socialist bloc. There is increasing international awareness for this trend, as indicated by the creation of scientific communities (the SocHeritage Platform, part of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee for the 20th century). The chosen period in our study was set by historic events that led to this new architectural tendency. At the time, the approach was inspired by modernist architecture, which came to the capitalist states in Western Europe with a set of principles. In socialist countries, modernist trends first influenced the professional sphere, and through that influence, they were able to penetrate borders and the limits imposed by ideology.

The northern area of Bucharest has experienced a more recent urban development by including in the administrative limits, in successive stages, throughout the twentieth century, some suburban communes transformed into neighborhoods of the capital city as a result of the increasingly accelerated trend of the socio-economic development of Bucharest. This evolution was also favored by the construction of infrastructure elements (Băneasa Airport, Băneasa Railway Station), but also of cultural heritage elements (villas of Romanian cultural personalities), buildings that have a certain historical architectural and cultural value. The aim of this study is to analyze the cultural heritage of the northern area of Bucharest, based on a multicriteria evaluation (functional-chronological criterion correlated with the territorial one), of the historical monuments, in order to outline a series of measures of optimum capitalisation from the cultural and tourist perspective. Because the Northen area of Bucharest is individualized by cultural obiectives that represent symbolic elements of the capital city due to the functions they perform (representative museums, presidential station), the authors proposed several cultural routes in order to bring to light these valuable cultural objectives and to better capitalize them.

Drawing their inspiration from the urban environment, window displays offer many examples of architecture and cities being used as images, recreated as models, or else reproducing the form of buildings using the products themselves. The use of urban landscapes and monuments for commercial purposes highlights the importance of architecture and urban areas in a popular heritage that could be considered as an architectural museum in itself.

Digital technologies provide novel ways of visualizing cities and buildings. They also facilitate new methods of analyzing the built environment, ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) to crowdsourced citizen participation. Digital representations of cities have become so refined that they challenge our perception of the real. However, computers have not yet become able to detect and analyze the visible features of built structures depicted in photographs or other media. Recent scientific advances mean that it is possible for this new field of computer vision to serve as a critical aid to research. Neural networks now meet the challenge of identifying and analyzing building elements, buildings and urban landscapes. The development and refinement of these technologies requires more attention, simultaneously, investigation is needed in regard to the use and meaning of these methods for historical research. For example, the use of AI raises questions about the ways in which computer-based image recognition reproduces biases of contemporary practice. It also invites reflection on how mixed methods, integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches, can be established and used in research in the humanities. Finally, it opens new perspectives on the role of crowdsourcing in both knowledge dissemination and shared research. Attempts to analyze historical big data with the latest methods of deep learning, to involve many people—laymen and experts—in research via crowdsourcing and to deal with partly unknown visual material have provided a better understanding of what is possible. The article presents findings from the ongoing research project ArchiMediaL, which is at the forefront of the analysis of historical mediatizations of the built environment. It demonstrates how the combination of crowdsourcing, historical big data and deep learning simultaneously raises questions and provides solutions in the field of architectural and urban planning history.

This paper presents the urban vulnerability assessment as a complementary resource in heritage preservation policies, through the analysis of the thirty-nine medium-sized cities that have been listed as Historical Ensemble in Andalusia (Spain). The research seeks to make a sequential approach that addresses, from the general –the conceptual framework on urban vulnerability and the characterization of the analysis sample– to the particular –the analysis of the socio-economic, socio-demographic or residential vulnerability applied to the intermediate scale which has not been in-deep studied yet–. For this, it proposes to adopt the methodology implemented by the Spanish Ministry of Development in the Atlas of Urban Vulnerability, providing a territorial lecture of the results. The study concludes that medium-sized cities do not present a level of vulnerability lower to the largest ones but detecting specific urban weaknesses that should be addressed to improve the response of these cities to heritage preservation.

Current works have focused on the role of urban heritage to sustainable development in postwar cities and have highlighted the significance of participatory and inclusive approaches that involve citizens and key stakeholders in the conservation and regeneration of heritage areas. However, this task is rather complex and challenging, especially in areas inhabited by multiple ethnic groups. Skills in negotiation and building trust are as important as skills in restoration and conservation of the physical fabric. However, the current literature lacks in-depth understandings of how negotiations in these contexts work and what we can learn from the past. The aim of this paper is to explore this issue by using a case study analysis, in particular, that of Kosovo. This paper looks at how the process developed during the implementation period of Annex V of the Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement (CSP) related to cultural heritage preservation. We analyze the sociocultural and political dynamics on the ground by focusing on Article 4 that deals with protective zones. With a critical examination of the approaches taken by stakeholders, including the public discourse and the example of the historic centre of Prizren, we suggest rethinking the implementation of Annex V as a sustainable option, rather than looking at other (beyond Annex V) alternatives that could potentially undermine the inter-community rebuilding efforts, and instead of creating the basis for sustainable cultural heritage preservation and reconciliation would eventually contribute to escalation and deepening of the conflict.

In examining the urban heritage, which has often been fragmented in Belgrade as a result of different social and political circumstances, the issue of the choice of methodology is often raised in urban conservation. The present paper will propose to consider along these lines the role of high (second) Modernism in the architecture and urban development of Belgrade. The strategies of urban conservation focusing on the main issue of the synthesis of the historical and planned structure would be directed towards the Modernist phenomena which are established as a platform structure of the urban conservation of Belgrade's spatial cultural and historical units. The present research analyses the potential and possibilities of implementing the postulates of the Modernist creative efforts in the contemporary architectural, urban planning and conservation theory and practice, with the analytical basis in the seminal work of architect Milica Šterić (1914-1997) - the Energoprojekt building (1956-1960), located in Zeleni Venac Square in Belgrade. This study, which is based on certain aspects of the high Modernism, namely rationalism and neutrality, aims to point out a number of issues in the current globalist textualism, in which concepts of high Modernism and internationalism are evidently manipulated in the historical urban contexts of the city.

According to the United Nations (UN), about 70% of the world’s population projected to live in urban areas by 2050. Therefore, cities are experiencing an enormous urban transition the world has ever seen, accounting for 80% of global carbon dioxide emissions, consuming over two-thirds of the world’s energy, and producing 1.3 billion tons of waste per year. Leaders, governments, architects, urban designers, developers, planners and business leaders need to make decisions and find solutions for how billions of urbanites will live in the future. Therefore, future cities will require new design principles to face their urban challenges and problems such as pollution, poverty, poor environment, land use management, green-house gas emissions and socio-economic and environmental risks. In this context, the case study area of this paper will be El Raval district, which is in a medieval quarter of Barcelona. This area considered as one of the oldest and a significant part of the city that contains many heritage buildings and unique traditional urban context going back to hundreds of years. The district has an influx of immigrants, which has transformed its label from an industrial neighbourhood into a residential one and low rents that have attracted many people of low income, making it a vibrant and multicultural community. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to address the implementation of innovative solutions, advanced technologies, ICT and IoT that might enhance people participation in the urban design processes and respond to urban futures challenges. The result of this research will lead to creating a platform to resolve the conflicting values of architectural heritage and smart cities principles, sourcing new sustainable technologies and the integration of the smart infrastructure systems.DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.23.2019.14

When the dominion of the sacred is read against the light, what are the morphological and urban implications of spaces, architecture and religious presences that must give way to logics and policies that dominate them? As an interesting key study, we can analyse the demolition of the cathedral in Mondovì, a flourishing cultural centre in Piedmont, when it was decided to transform the magnificent temple into a military structure in 1573. The overall architectural and urban dimension of the building was totally transformed. The civil and religious architecture, that was consolidated in the post-Tridentine period, underwent disruptive transformations when the city was the seat of Bishop Michele Ghislieri (later Pius V). Mondovì was characterised by exceptional intellectual vivacity, if compared to other Piedmontese centers, with the university, an avant-garde typography, the Jesuit college. At a time when the choices and priorities regarding the urban vocation were renewed, new real estate and demographic dynamics were defined, linked to the resilience of religious orders and new social groups. This paper deals with the analysis and comparison between different documentary and iconographic sources, which are not a homogeneous corpus but allow the study of the religious presence in the city and the verification of urban policies. The essay also tries to focus on dynamics not yet explored and by direct comparison with other cities, in particular with Savona and its transformations after the loss of autonomy in 1528.

The Indonesian city of Banjarmasin, Borneo, is widely known as the ‘city of the thousand rivers.’ Residents live and work in urban settlements that occupy the river and its banks. However, modern road-oriented urbanization, overpopulation, illegal building activity, and pollution have a devastating impact. Without adequate management, Banjarmasin’s impressive river-related identity would lose its cultural and socio-economic significance. Therefore, the city government is searching for solutions to revive its river culture and to revitalize riverine settlements. In 2019, a workshop was carried out by following the HUL Quick Scan method, which is inspired by UNESCO’s Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach. This paper focuses on the outcomes of the workshop in Banjarmasin in relation to participatory revitalization of urban riverine settlements.