Conservation and Sustainability in Historic Cities Book Review

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    CONSERVATION ANDSUSTAINABILITYINHISTORICCITIES

    Written by: Dennis RodwellPresented by:

    Salma MohammadAbouldahab

    Presented to:

    Prof.Dr.Sami Shaker

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    CONTENTS:

    Introduction viiAcknowledgements viiiDefinitions: Conservation and Sustainability ..ix1 Conservation: Background .....1

    2 Urban Planning Context .....................233 Sustainability: Background .474 Conservation: International Initiatives and Directions ..645 Conservation: United Kingdom Position and Directions 866 Sustainable Cities and Urban Initiatives ..111

    133..Managing World Heritage Cities: United Kingdom78 Managing Historic Cities: the Bottom-Up Approach ....161

    9 The Coincidence between Conservation and Sustainability18310 The Challenge and the Opportunity .204Sources 217Bibliography .243List of Figures ..251Index 255

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    INTRODUCTION:

    Aims of the book:

    Identify weaknesses in current practice in urban conservation;

    Set out the relationship between successful architectural conservationand agendas of sustainability and cultural identity;Extend the achievement of the goals of sustainability in the context ofhistoric cities; and

    Highlight the opportunities for conservation and sustainability to workin a partnership of profound strength and mutual achievement.

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    CONSERVATION:

    Over a period of several centuries, architectural conservation has developed

    from an elitist interest in key monuments of major stylistic periods to

    a broad discipline that recognizes values in a spectrum of building types

    and epochs, in the range of scales from the rural vernacular to the

    historic city, and attaches importance to geocultural diversity.

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    CONSERVATION:

    Turning points:

    Nineteenth century

    Anti restoration movement, in England, this movement inspired thefoundation of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

    (SPAB) by William Morris, is often cited as the formal basis forarchitectural conservation.

    St Albans Cathedral,England, was substantiallyremodelled in the name of

    restoration

    Second World War and its aftermath in EuropeEmergence of campaigns to save individual historic buildings andwhole cities after the destruction of the historic hearts and

    appearance of modern movement in architecture and planning

    1975European Architectural Heritage Year

    Led by the Council of Europe, European ArchitecturalHeritage Year constituted a Europe-wide campaign ofawareness-raising and action

    Brussels, Belgium: the Grand-Placein 1971. The elimination of parked

    cars was one of many key projectsof European ArchitecturalHeritage Year

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    CONSERVATION:

    The language of architectural conservation:

    Heritage(UNESCO) defines heritage broadly and well: heritage is our legacy from the past,what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations

    Preservationmeans maintaining the fabric of a place in its existing state and retarding deterioration.Restorationmeans returning the existing fabric of a place to a known earlier state by removing

    accretions or by reassembling existing components without the introduction of newmaterial.Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, defined restoration as follows: to restore a building is

    not to preserve it, to repair it, or to rebuild it: it is to reinstate it to a condition ofcompleteness which may never have existed at any given point in time.Conservationmeans all the processes of looking after a place so as to retain its cultural significance.AuthenticityIs defined in an ICCROM (international center for conservation in Rome) publication (essentially in aEuropean context) as: materially original or genuineas it was constructed and as it hasaged andweathered in time.

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    CONSERVATION:

    Conservation charters

    Common to all of the charters is their focus on the protection of selected buildingsor groupings that are characterized as monuments whose origins relate to culturalexpressions, Later charters expand the concept of values beyond the purely cultural

    into the social and the economic.The contradiction between charters is in the design of new buildings in the surroundingsof historic monuments and within historic areas.

    The 1931 Athens Charter urges respect; the 1933 Charte dAthnes condemns thereproduction of historical styles; the 1964 Venice Charter insists that new structures

    should be distinct and contemporary; and the 1975 European Charter promotes the useof traditional materials. Only in the 1987 Washington Charter is the potential forcontemporary elements to contribute to the enrichment of a historic area expressedthat they be in harmony

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    CONSERVATION:

    Marais quarter, Paris, France

    During the nineteenth century the Marais became an artisan quarter, and the formerhtels particuliers the town mansion houses of the rich were taken over and

    subdivided into workshops and apartments, their courtyards often built over to formwarehouses

    Urban conservation: museological beginnings

    The original plan for the secteur sauvegard was a highlyinterventionist one aimed at the restoration of the entirequarter to its former glory:1-The restoration of all of the historic buildings externally and

    Internally.

    2-The opening up of the spaces between buildings and withincourtyards that had been built over.

    3-And the recreation of the gardens.

    Hotel le Rebours: the courtyard.

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    CONSERVATION:

    Marais quarter, Paris, France

    Urban conservation: museological beginnings

    Sites and Historic Monuments at the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs : the onlysolution for the revitalization of the 300 large residences in the Marais is to use themfor embassies or head offices of large companies. Museums and government officeswere also considered compatible uses

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    CONSERVATION:

    Urban conservation: museological beginnings

    Ancient Reserve, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

    The over-riding policy being torestore and apply cultural uses to

    them, uses that make themaccessible to the public for highereducation or as visitors but detachthem from the everyday life ofthe majority of citizens

    There are only so many artgalleries, museums, libraries, andinstitutes that any city can support.The Ancient Reserve has taken onthe aspect ofan open-air museum,with its associated complement ofsouvenir shops and stalls

    Around half of the more than 200 monuments in the AncientReserveare underused, in poor condition or derelict; someare in ruins. Detaching this historic area from theeveryday life of the modern city has seriously limited theoptions for using these monuments, and therefore the

    investment to restore them.

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    SUSTAINABILITY:

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    SUSTAINABILITY:

    Sustainability: beginnings

    The starting points for concern are numerous. Theyinclude modern warfare; population growth;deforestation and desertification; loss of habitat,

    animal species and biodiversity; drought and famine;diminishing reserves of natural resources; toxicwastes and air pollution; industrial accidents; acid rainand ozone depletion; global warming and climatechange; and health and global equity

    The changing focus and accumulating priorities may be

    summarized by characterizing the 1980s in generalterms as the decade of energy audits, the 1990s ofenvironmental assessments (including EnvironmentalImpact Assessments), and the 2000s as the decade ofsustainability plans (including Local Agenda 21s) inwhich the concepts of finite resources, life cycle,biodiversity, livability, health and safety, and socialequity have increasingly come to the fore.

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    SUSTAINABILITY:

    The language of sustainability

    Sustainable developmentBrundtland definition: Sustainable development is development that meets theneeds of the present without compromising the ability of future generations tomeet their own needs

    Sustainable communitiesAre places where people want to live and work, now and in the future. They meet

    the diverse needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to theirenvironment, and contribute to the quality of life. They are safe and inclusive, wellplanned, built and run, and offer equality of opportunity and good services for all.

    SustainabilitySir Bernard Feilden, namely, that sustainability is about prolonging the useful

    life of a building in order to contribute to a saving of energy, money andmaterials. This establishes a clear relationship with the finite resources of thenatural world, and successfully embraces the three components of sustainability:environment, society and economy.

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    SUSTAINABILITY:

    Relevance to historic cities

    If historic cities are considered in terms of their functionality within communities, thenatural resources of materials and energy that have gone into their construction, and thefinancial means that have been invested in them often over several generations, then the

    relationshipto the three core issues of sustainability becomes more evident.Approaches to historic cities:

    -Modern town planning (top down approach) : simply devising blanket solutions that arethen imposed universally; seeking to rebuild or at least very substantially remould them toa particular set of preconceived notions that are time dated

    -Contradicting approaches (bottom up approach) : understanding how individual citieswork within their communities, with the view to devising and implementing tailor-madestrategies to suit their particular socio-economic and environmental circumstances andto take best advantage of their inherited investments in place and people, and give respectfor, and continuity of, cultural identity and diversity.

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    SUSTAINABILITY:

    Urban conservation: strategic beginnings at the metropolitan scale

    London, England

    Monocentric city

    Problem:

    1-Increase in the population of the region

    2-An accelerating increase in the number of mostlyoffice-based service jobs and their concentration inthe heart of the capital3-A shortage of building land for housing close tothe capital.

    Proposed solutions:A series of counter-magnets to the capital in the form of three new cities and thesubstantial expansion of six others, all of which were located a considerable distancefrom London itself, attracting employment and population away from it.

    BUT:The major components of this plan were dismantled one by one, and commuters to Londonnow travel daily from distances greater than the farthest of the projected counter-magnets.

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    SUSTAINABILITY:

    Urban conservation: strategic beginnings at the metropolitan scale

    Paris, France: Five new regional centersDecentralization

    of population and employment were identified,and have been substantially successful in

    siphoning development pressures away fromthe city centre.Additionally, the protection of central Parisfrom the pressures of commercialredevelopment by the establishment in 1958of the new business and administrative centre

    of La Defense.

    ; to balance the movements of people to andDistribute the pressures for developmentfrom different parts of the city and its region thereby increasing the efficient useof the transport infrastructure; to create favorable environmental and economicconditions for the protection and conservation of the historic areas of the city; andto provide positive outlets for major new developments that do not conflict with the

    historic core and its buildings.

    Polycentric city

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    SUSTAINABLE CITIESAND URBANINITIATIVES:

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    SUSTAINABLE CITIESAND URBAN

    INITIATIVES:

    Sustainable cities

    Is one in which its people and businesses continuously improve their natural, built andcultural environments at neighborhood and regional levels, whilst working in ways whichalways support the goal of global sustainable development

    Key issues

    ; thefresh water; the availability and quality ofuse of landRelationships to theairborne pollutionraw material and energy resources;renewable-consumption of non

    ofquality; and theof wasteand its effects on health; the origination and disposalurban environments

    Characteristics

    Compact, high density and mixed-use, proximity and accessibility.

    is efficient and; public transport; walking and cycling are prioritizeddaily travel is reducedviable; energy consumption, the emission of pollutants, and the production of wastes are

    .less roads; and economy in the use of land is assisted by the need forsubstantially loweredto their localities and to each other by public transportwell connectedAlso, they are

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    SUSTAINABLE CITIESAND URBAN

    INITIATIVES:

    Goal of sustainable city

    Self-sufficiency of the historical model without retreating into it, and at the sametime embraces the global dimension of a hinterland that was previously largely localThe reduction of its use of nonrenewable natural resources and production of wastes

    whilst simultaneously improving its livability

    For the architect-planner in historic cities, the point of departure is the establishedinfrastructure and buildings: from a sustainability point of view, irrespective of theirarchitectural and historic interest; and from a conservation perspective, as a majoradded reason for their retention and proper care.

    what exists in the natural, built andto conserve and enhanceThe sustainable city seekscultural environments. It views the city as a dynamic and complex ecosystem, one in

    regulating socio-the achievement of a balanced and selfwhich a core objective isbased on functional, structural and socialeconomic and environmental organization

    diversity.

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    SUSTAINABLE CITIESAND URBAN

    INITIATIVES:

    Urban initiatives

    use developments-explored the idea of creating mixedUrban Villagesat a small, neighborhood scale, and has wider relevance to existingcities and their communities

    The Prince of Wales wrote:I am hoping weurbancan encourage the development of

    human scale,in order to reintroducevillages. Theseintimacy and a vibrant street life

    factors can help to restore to people theirand pride in their ownsense of belonging

    particular surroundings.

    Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber,Germany. One of the modelsfor an urban village is themedievalmarket town,including for: its self-sufficiency for daily needs;its compactness and theproximity by foot of its manyactivities

    and explored key components of anbroader viewtook a muchThe Urban Renaissanceover-arching framework for sustainable urban development. It sought to inspire a revivalof confidence in cities and citizenship and to match this to increasing public awarenessof the sustainability agenda and changes in society. As such, the report may have been

    being above urban-place environmental responsibility and social wellbetter advised to

    . That citizens are more important to cities than design isdesign in its list of prioritiesattested by experience elsewhere.

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    SUSTAINABLE CITIESAND URBAN

    INITIATIVES:

    Much of the wisdom in the Urban Renaissance has been undermined by a lack

    of strategic planning at national level, and a failure to address the

    opportunities afforded by the enormous range and quantity of empty and

    underused property in English cities. Their environmental capital is one of

    the keys to unlocking the untapped potential of urban conservation to

    contribute to sustainable development.

    Unfortunately

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    MANAGING WORLD HERITAGE

    CITIES: UNITED KINGDOM

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    MANAGING WORLD HERITAGE CITIES:

    UNITED KINGDOM

    The ICCROM Management Guidelines

    ;context of the wider citythe need to treat a historic centre in the, historicstandardized planning techniques to suit local conditionsthe need to adapt

    down approach;-rather than a topup-bottomurban texture and scale, adopting acultural traditions of a historic city;respect the intangiblethe need to

    in distinguishing a historicvernacular architecturethe importance of simple buildings andcity from a group of monuments;

    and buildings (including tall buildings);scale uses-of-the prevention of outtreating the existing historic fabric on equal terms with other factorsthe importance of

    in the general planning process;should be the determining factor in transportenvironmental capacitythe principle that

    and traffic planning;through a mixture ofthe importance of securing beneficial use within the community

    residential, commercial, industrial and leisure activities

    .and architectural pastichefacadismavoid boththe need to

    In the context of cities that are on the World Heritage List, there is a lack of precision inthe guidance. The international documentation sets down clear markers as to the range ofissues and the appropriate responses. These are not comprehensive, but they represent asound starting point.

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    Catchphrases

    Think global, act local

    Sustainability: recognizes that the historical equilibrium between humans and thenatural environment has been disturbed at all levels, from the global to the local, that the

    the internationalarestarting pointsrecovery of balance is essential, and that the twincommunity as a whole and each individual in his or her community.

    characteristics ofbetween the specificrelationshipSustainability emphasizes the essentialthat inhabit or relate to themeach natural environment and the human living patterns

    are prerequisites for theauthenticity and integrityThe safeguarding ofConservation:

    continuity of both the tangible and the intangible components of cultural diversity

    Historic cities are perceived not so much as static objects to be admired for theirhistory and architecture, but as living spaces to be occupied by local communities as anessential part of the process of safeguarding those communities identity and sense ofbelonging.

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    Reduce, reuse, recycle

    an essential part ofrenewable resource and waste management form-Rs of non3The the coincidence between conservation and sustainability.

    historic environment shouldThe sustainability argument reinforces the view that the

    for its architectural and historicbe perceived in limited cultural terms onlynotinterest, but for its environmental capital, at all scales up to and including the historiccity. It implies new development that is additive and complementary, and significantly

    maintaining, reusing, adapting, and enhancing the existing builtincreased emphasis onall within an overall framework that embraces the principlesstock and infrastructure

    of the sustainable city and coordinated urban management.

    The gaps, coordination at the urban scale, andnational strategiescoherentabsence ofThe

    interdisciplinary understanding and skills. They also manifest an absence of a regardtowards historic buildings individually, and cities holistically that prioritizes minimumintervention and focuses on complementing them with additive development

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    Stonework salvaged from the

    abbey can be seen in a varietyof structures in the locality.

    Recycling building materialswithin the community

    Reusing buildings within thelocal community

    Melrose Station, Scotland. Therestoration focused on providing thebuilding with new functions within thatcommunity. offering flexible commercialspaces that have served a variety ofpurposes including craft workshops,offices, medical consulting rooms,creche, furniture showroom, retail space,

    and restaurant

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    Stay close to the source

    This catchphrase of sustainability is underscored by the concept of proximity, importantlyfor architectural conservation, of traditional building materials and craft skills to thelocalities in which they were employed historically and for which they are best suited today.Reduction in the need for travel and transport for everyday purposes, and the

    unnecessary use of non-renewable energy sources in the process, is a key beneficialconsequence.

    up-down meeting bottom-Top

    Top-down solutions in urban planning seek to impose received ideas that often originate

    in the abstract on real life situations for which they are frequently ill-suited, theyfailed to provide the results that had been forecast, The ordering of cities accordingto separation of functions and programmes of slum clearance and community dispersalgenerated a series of land use, transport movement and social problems that were notmanifest previously and which we have inherited.

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    Bottom-up solutions start from analysis and understanding of the identity of ahistoric city both in terms of the continuous evolution of its tangible heritage andof its human culture. They make specific demands on planning and buildingprofessionals to work with what exists and not to seek to impose incompatible

    received ideas and technical solutions, bottom-up solutions allow the buildings, theplot sizes, the street patterns and open spaces, together with the traditionalpatterns of use, movement and human interaction to determine the leastinterventionist approach to the environment.The conjunction between top-down and bottom-up in the over-arching process of

    empoweringofunderstanding and skill sharingis a matter of mutualsustainabilitycitizens and communities to act as environmental stakeholders.

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    The challenge:

    The city is one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century. It is thestarting point for a sustainable world.

    Pre-industrial cities offer models of sustainable urban development. The challenge is to

    in the age ofworldindustrializedanbalance inriding principle of-overtherecoverglobalization.

    They embrace.The physical and societal attributes of historic cities are inseparableenvironmental issues, tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and equity both withinand between generations. Recognising and acting upon the full range of valuesinherent in historic cities is a core component of the challenge .

    The concept of heritage and its role today

    Dynamic approach that is focused on processes that safeguard geocultural identity andsecure its continuity

    Training and continuity of employment opportunities in traditional craft skills in locationswhere demand for their services is concentrated.

    Some current issues:

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    Functional, material and cultural resource

    Establishing continuity of function, the principle of minimum intervention to fabric andcommunity alike favors uses for buildings individually and historic areas collectively thatrelate as closely as possible to those for which those buildings and areas were constructed

    Historic buildings and areas represent a non-renewable capital resource ofmaterials, energy, and financial investment as well as a cultural one

    The editor of the Architectural Reviewwrote 1970 : It is the mark of an immatureculture a demonstration of a childish attitude to valuable and historic buildings to

    be provided bycan onlyit. . .assume that if new accommodation is requireddemolishing . . . and rebuilding on the same site

    Facadism

    Is technically complex, financially expensive, andconstitutes a form of architectural taxidermy thattreats historic cities as theatrical stage sets. Itsymbolizes a failure to establish continuity offunction

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    Contemporary architecture

    Geocultural identity and sense of place are rudely interrupted when modern buildings areintolerant of their neighbours and confront them abrasively

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    The opportunity:

    Civil society is enthused about heritage. It is extensively and progressively involved in thesaving and restoration of individual buildings and building types.

    to redefine conservationto make it relevant to sustainability; to reverse the anti-urban legacy and redefine the city to make it relevant to citizensas a place in which to live as well as to work, shop and play;to adopt a resource management approach in which material and cultural resourcevalues act as mutually supportive partners; to progressively reorder existing, historic cities for a sustainable future, recognising

    that are associated withcultural valuessafeguarding all of the tangible and intangibleandthem; and

    as aconservationpositionholistically andto address the urban conservation challenge.sustainable developmentdetermining factor in

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    THANKYOU