Historic Urban Landscape Research Articles

The connections between Historic Urban Landscape layers in Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China

The Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach offers an innovative integrated approach to urban conservation based on layering analysis. However, adapting the HUL layering model to the East Asian context, particularly China, is problematic. This issue can be addressed by incorporating connection analysis into the HUL approach. The current study emphasises the need to consider the interwoven spatial structure of the urban landscape and treat deeper cultural-natural ties as those embodied in the traditional Chinese concept of Fengshui. Taking Jingdezhen, the historic centre of China’s traditional ceramics industry, as a case study, this study demonstrates local knowledge of natural geography and local intelligence regarding settlement location and design. The results indicate that the natural system is at the core of Jingdezhen’s HUL, and the elements of nature, function and spirit form a holistic and interactive system.

World Heritage as a balancing act: experiences from a medium-sized World Heritage City in Bavaria

The Town of Bamberg has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993 due to its medieval urban layout and its well preserved buildings mostly from the Middle Ages and the Baroque era. A large part of the historic streets and squares still exist. They make up an essential part of the city’s public space. Yet, the demands placed on this public space are currently undergoing some changes – especially under the influence of climate change and the Corona pandemic.In line with the UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, Bamberg’s urban fabric is based on the historical stratification of cultural and natural values and features. The urban fabric relates to the landscape in which it is embedded – river Regnitz and the surrounding hills – as well as to religious traditions, trade activities and building customs. The aim of this paper is to analyze recent developments in the planning and use of public spaces in Bamberg taking into account current methods of participation. In 2020, the City of Bamberg was awarded the contract by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Construction and Home Affairs, for a project period of seven years as part of the "Smart Cities Model Projects" funding programme to promote digitalization at all levels of urban development. Accordingly, the contribution of digital technologies to urban planning and of citizen participation will receive special attention.

Towards a nature-culture relationship in historic centres. Evidence of public spaces beyond tourism in Florence (Italy)

Historic centres globally are facing issues they have never encountered before, such as climate change and, for some, mass tourism. Over time, the relationship between nature and culture is one of conflict, with nature seen as a threat to the conservation of tangible heritage; at the same time, tourism has upset the reality of historic centres, compromising their fruition for both residents and tourists. In this context of great changes, the public space role of historic centres has been overturned. These public spaces, conceived as a set of elements that make up the urban scene and represent the identity of a community, have already changed significantly; on the one hand, they must respond to the needs of users who are mainly tourists and who arrive in larger numbers than originally envisaged, while on the other hand, they are experiencing the effects of climate change, with rising temperatures, heat islands, variations in the distribution and consistency of rainfall, and other site-specific issues. Historic centres and culture can contribute to sustainable development goals, and conservation plays an important role in creating projects in synergistic relationships with the natural environment. Following an overview of the themes and current literature on tourism in historic centres and on experiences with nature-based solutions applied to conservation, this paper reports two positive instances of conservation and the regeneration of public space in the UNESCO Historic Centre of Florence, which were aimed at responding to the critical issues of the area and to enhancing its historic urban landscape.

Figura i ziemia: angielskie spojrzenie na konserwację historycznych przestrzeni publicznych

This paper considers some aspects of the way historic public space is understood in England, drawing on a selection of relevant guidance and research published by Historic England. This builds a picture of how public spaces are dealt with in official heritage publications in England, and how this relates to international discussion, particularly the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach. This is followed by some reflections on figure-ground mapping, which leads to a brief discussion of the “Townscape” campaign of The Architectural Review. The paper concludes with reflections on the implications for conservation arising from broader perception of city as cultural landscape.

Wartości niematerialne i turystyka przestrzeni publicznych w starożytnym centrum Neapolu (Włochy)

The identity of the ancient city centre of Naples has been historically founded on the co-existence of tangible and intangible values underpinning a compact fabric of centuries-old architectural and urban stratifications. Their lasting character and presence in public spaces contributes to the image of Naples as an authentic and multi-layered city, recognized as Historic Urban Landscape and listed as a World Heritage Site twenty-eight years later. At the same time, preservation of these values poses a challenge with regard to the change of roles in some public spaces due to material, economic and social pressure, particularly touristification. This cyclical process determined by physical transformations of the urban configuration and new functional characterization of “overtouristic” areas is especially affecting public spaces located along the main tourist routes in the ancient centre, for example the churchyard of Santa Chiara. The article aims to reflect on the prospects of these areas, examining the role played by touristification in the conservation of their identity as crucial in the management of historic urban preservation. This is supplemented with more general reflections on significant spaces such as churchyards and gardens, which are turned into public areas, shaping both cities and their citizens, with the aim to define the right balance between the reasons behind development and the conservation of heritage and authenticity.

PARTISIPASI MASYARAKAT SEBAGAI PERANGKAT HISTORIC URBAN LANDSCAPE DALAM PENGELOLAAN KAWASAN SUMBU FILOSOFI DI DAERAH ISTIMEWA YOGYAKARTA

Historic Urban Landscape is a historic city management approach that is considered more comprehensive in balancing between social and economic development and cultural heritage conservation. UNESCO adopted the Recommendation on The Historic Urban Landscape on 10 November 2011 at the UNESCO General Assembly. As an approach that can be adopted by various countries, this approach recommends four main tools, namely civic engagement, knowledge and planning, regulatory system, and financial tools. This research aims to identify civic engagement tools in the management of the historic city area called Kawasan Sumbu Filosofi in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. This research uses a qualitative approach with a type of case study research and is descriptive in nature. Data collection techniques were carried out through interviews, observation, and literature studies. This research reveals that civic engagement in the management of the Kawasan Sumbu Filosofi in the voice area has been granted and guaranteed through various regulations. In terms of access, the government has provided a space for discussion, but the information the government provides still predominates in this forum. Concerning the aspect of control, community control over the surrounding environment has not been built. In general, the quality of community participation must continue to be encouraged to realize sustainable urban development and preservation.

RESIDENTIAL COMPLEXES BUILT BEHIND THE STATE INDUSTRY BUILDING IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE CAPITAL’S ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRE OF KHARKIV IN THE 1920S AND 1930S

The article is devoted to the history of the formation and features of three residential complexes: Chervonyi Promyslovets (1929–1931, architect S. Kravets), Budynok Spetsialistiv (1934–1936, architect L. Lemish), Novyi Pobut (1930–1932, architect M. Pokornyi), located near the new administrative centre of then the capital of Soviet Ukraine—Kharkiv. These complexes were created in the late 1920s and early 1930s and reflected the architectural and urban planning ideas, explorations, and concepts relevant in the early twentieth century. These include the idea of the garden city and the concepts of the commune house and the housing factory. The residential complexes Chervonyi Promyslovets and Budynok Spetsialistiv are a direct embodiment of the concept of a housing estate, and Novyi Pobut is a partial embodiment of the concept of socialisation of everyday life through the elements of a communal house. Looking at the overall structure of the complex of the capital’s administrative centre of Kharkiv, with its residential quarters separated from the administration and business centre by a broad green boulevard, we can note that this urban structure embodies the idea of a garden city. The article contains a compositional characterisation of all three complexes and describes their functional content and transformations through time. The article documents significant changes in the spatial planning schemes and approaches to the design of urban living environments, from perimeter development to free planning of neighbourhoods. The description focuses on documenting the monuments of modernist architecture in the capital city of Kharkiv, which is extremely important for consolidating its pivotal role in the world history of the Modern Movement. Since the preservation of architectural heritage is an integral part of the strategy of the modern European state and a prerequisite for understanding the value of the historic urban landscape and individual architectural objects, it is of utmost necessity and importance to document the architectural and urban heritage of metropolitan Kharkiv. The collected and structured material on the history of the construction and formation of residential complexes belonging to the administrative centre of the metropolitan Kharkiv, their spatial, compositional, and functional features will become the basis for preserving the historical character of the buildings and further development of the district. Keywords: Kharkiv, residential complex, house-quarter, Derzhprom.

Mixed-Methods Approach to Land Use Renewal Strategies in and around Abandoned Airports: The Case of Beijing Nanyuan Airport

Urban airports are typically large infrastructures with significant cultural, economic, and ecological impacts; meanwhile, abandoned airports are common worldwide. However, there is limited knowledge regarding transformation strategies for the renewal of abandoned airports and their surrounding regions in historically and culturally rich areas. We use Beijing’s Nanyuan Airport as a case study, combining the historic urban landscape approach, land use and land cover change, and counterfactual simulations of land use patterns to construct a comprehensive analytical framework. Our framework was used to analyze the long-term land use patterns of the study area, determine its value, and improve perception from a macro- and multi-perspective. We discovered that the traditional knowledge and planning systems in the study area have largely disappeared, but Nanyuan Airport’s impact on the surrounding land use patterns is unique and significant. By considering the characteristics and mechanisms of land use in the study area, we aimed to find a balance point between the historical context and future potential. As such, we propose optimized recommendations with the theme of connection and development engines. Our findings supplement the planning knowledge of relevant areas and provide a springboard for interdisciplinary research in landscape planning.

Contemporary Transformations of the Historic Urban Landscape of Sarajevo and Social Inclusion as a Traditional Value of a Multicultural Society

The main research question of this paper focuses on the impact of contemporary interventions on the protection of architectural heritage and the transformation of the unique historic urban landscape of Sarajevo, which symbolizes social tolerance. This study examines the tendencies that have been destroying the essence of such a landscape since the beginning of the 21st century. This research primarily relies on the method of direct observation to analyze the ongoing transformation of the urban landscape over the past 25 years. Additionally, previous research findings and relevant documentation regarding the ongoing urban metamorphosis were considered. The historical urban landscape of Sarajevo is the result of complex urban development that began in the mid-15th century. This urban form, still partially recognizable today, reflected prevailing social relationships, particularly the inclusion of different groups instead of their exclusion, which demonstrated tolerance. However, this research shows the incompatibility of today’s neoliberal concept with the preservation of an urban landscape that embodies tolerance and excludes social marginalization.

Research on the Preservation and Inheritance of CulturalLandscape in XiuRong Ancient Town, Xinzhou

This study, based on the theory of cultural landscape, takes XiuRong Ancient Town in Xinzhou as an example to deeply reveal its unique historical and cultural value and rich cultural connotation through the analysis of material and non-material cultural landscape elements. Combining current issues and the contemporary context, it proposes protection strategies such as emphasizing ecological improvement, preserving the historical texture of the ancient town, restoring the scale of streets and alleys, achieving authentic architectural restoration, compiling cultural collections, and encouraging community participation. The aim is to explore the path of sustainable development for the preservation and inheritance of historical urban cultural landscapes.

A study on the landscape and cultural space of Yulin City, China

Urban growth in China over the past 40 years has increased sharply. Following a modernist approach during this period, the historic urban cultural landscape was neglected. Recently, in response, scholars have been investigating alternative approaches whose conceptual roots spring from traditional Chinese urban planning. The theory of the ‘Science of Human Settlement Environment’ has emerged as a framework for exploring this direction. This research, drawing upon literary records, historic city maps, and field investigations, builds on this approach. Yulin City, initially developed as a high-ranking military city during the Ming Dynasty, drew upon the characteristics of the existing landscape and traditional Chinese planning strategies for its design. Noting the relationship of the city’s layout to its surrounding Shan-Shui (Mountain-Water), the development of its principal axis, the influence of the Tuo Mountain spiritual space, and the definition of the city wall, greater insight into traditional Chinese planning can be learned.

Earthen Architecture in Southern Algeria: An Assessment of Social Values and the Impact of Industrial Building Practices

Abstract Earthen architecture constitutes a significant component of cultural heritage worldwide. However, this heritage is under threat due to a multitude of factors, including social, environmental, and economic changes. In South Algeria, earthen architecture is intimately linked to the identity of historic urban landscapes, particularly in Timimoun, the chief town of the gourara region. However, the shift towards industrial construction techniques and materials, encouraged by the state, has led to the abandonment of earthen houses and a neglect of traditional building culture. This poses questions about the evolving relationship between the inhabitants and their existing built environment in the context of changing social and economic conditions. To address this issue, we conducted an ethnographic study aimed to understand the significance and value of earthen architecture among local communities. Drawing on existing literature on the positive and negative views linked to earthen architecture, we employed a questionnaire to identify stakeholders’ preferences, choices, and attitudes towards this form of architecture. Through analysing the responses to the questionnaire, we have gained insight into the current state of earthen architecture and its significance. Our research findings provide valuable contributions to better comprehend the challenges faced by the preservation of earthen architecture and the cultural heritage it represents.

Historic Urban Landscape Recommendation in Indian Heritage Management Policies

ABSTRACT This research paper explores the significance of historic urban landscapes (HUL) in the context of Indian heritage management policies. It investigates the challenges faced in preserving and managing historic urban areas and provides recommendations to enhance the integration of HUL approaches within the existing policy framework. The study draws upon a comprehensive review of scholarly articles, reports, and policy documents related to heritage management in India. The findings emphasise the need for a holistic and inclusive approach that recognises the multifaceted nature of urban heritage and fosters sustainable development while preserving historical significance. The paper offers practical recommendations for policymakers and urban planners to incorporate HUL principles into Indian heritage management policies effectively.

New Insights into the Layering Process of Urban Environment and Private Garden Transformations: A Case Study on the Bubbling Well Road Area in Early Modern Times, Shanghai

The surrounding area of Bubbling Well Road in early modern times, Shanghai, served as an important transportation hub connecting the western and central districts of Shanghai’s International Settlement. It also marked the beginning of a half-century trend of profit-oriented private gardens. The development process from rural outskirts to bustling commercial areas is exemplified by the area of Bubbling Well Road, making it significant for the study of urban transformation in early modern times in Shanghai. In this work, private gardens in the vicinity of Bubbling Well Road are examined as hierarchical elements of urban subdivision using the layering approach of the Historic Urban Landscape. Based on summarizing the trajectory of different types of private gardens under urbanization, typical time nodes were extracted and then horizontally correlated with the process of urbanization to elucidate the hierarchical logic underlying the symbiotic interaction between private gardens and cities. The results show that private gardens have created new hot spots and gathered a lot of popularity for the Jing’an Temple area, prompting this area to gradually evolve from a traditional town to a “backyard garden” of Concession dominated by the entertainment industry. Through the rapid development of the modern entertainment, commerce, and real estate industries, the Jing’an Temple area successfully embraced the trend of developing Concession to the West while achieving transformations in business models and urban style. Finally, with the assistance of the transitional entertainment space, such as profit-oriented gardens, the Jing’an Temple area has successfully undergone a transformation into a modern entertainment industry hub and solidified its commercial status as the “consumption circle” of Shanghai. We systematically investigated the significance of the urban subdivision layer in relation to the temporal changes in the urban environmental structure and the evolution of spatial organization patterns at the macro level; this helps deepen the historical urban landscape approach from an ideological framework level to the practical level.

Exploring the descriptions of World Heritage properties through the perspective of water using a narrative approach

ABSTRACT A comprehensive understanding of water systems across space and time is key, both for sustainable urban development and heritage preservation. However, so far, a clear methodology that links the exploration of the past and the protection of heritage properties to the design of the future is still missing. We argue that an exploration of heritage through the lens of water systems using a narrative approach can facilitate the understanding and protection of heritage properties and connect heritage protection to water system thinking. In this research, we established a methodology to collect, code, categorise, and interpret the descriptions of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage properties created by state members and approved by UNESCO to better understandthe role that water systems currently play in the identification and protection of heritage properties. Based on our findings, we argue that adding water to the analysis of heritage can help overcome the ‘culture-nature’ divide. It can also facilitate the systematic thinking necessary for understanding the historic role of heritage properties and facilitating their protection. A water narrative approach can give due recognition to indigenous water narratives in heritage identification and value assessment. We stress the need for a new water awareness and water narrative, considering the input of a wide range of stakeholders to help develop shared strategies for how to identify, treat, utilise, and manage water resources and make them an inherent part of the balanced and sustainable development of historical waterfront cities. The UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape approach and the World Heritage Canopy offer potent tools to tackle current challenges and to emphasise the importance of the new narrative and contribute to its composition.

Waterfront City Management to Realize Low Carbon Landscape in Pekanbaru City, Indonesia

Poor regional spatial planning makes the lack of water catchment functions and green open spaces result in environmental problems, particularly in Pekanbaru City, Indonesia. The solution is to utilise the potential of the Siak River and its historical heritage through waterfront city (WFC) management. Structuring a WFC based on a low-carbon concept can solve environmental problems by significantly reducing carbon emissions. This study aims to inventory, map, and evaluate the condition of the existing landscape, analyse public perceptions, and develop recommendations for a WFC with a low-carbon landscape concept. The methods used are historic urban landscape analysis, spatial analysis with land evaluation, community perception, and the preparation of recommendations. The results showed that the management of historical and cultural heritage is still poor. Based on the evaluation of land suitability, the WFC area has the potential to develop tourism, settlement, conservation, and pond areas with varying degrees of suitability according to the function of the area and several limiting factors. Through public perception, the level of enthusiasm of respondents is very high for applying the low-carbon landscape concept. Recommendations are made with the 15-Minute City Strategy through zoning and management programmes, namely tourism, mixed-use, conservation, and cultural preservation.

Mapping the urban heritage environment : An explorative case study of the entrepreneurial culture of Hyderabad Sindh, Pakistan

This paper delves into a location’s historiography to learn more about communities and practices that have contributed to the heritage environment, some of which has been degraded as a result of rapid expansion, megacity migration and failure to conserve the built and cultural heritage. Because of its deep and rich urban historical background, the city of Hyderabad, located in the southern province of Pakistan, was chosen as a case study. The professional communities of Sindh, which once played a vital role in the city’s splendour, as well as the region’s rich culture and economy, are of particular interest in this paper. The analysis adopted an exploratory approach to explore historicity to achieve and preserve its long-term viability, which included engaging with the people who live in those areas. This research explored the rich connections between geography, history and emotions associated with any location, and explains how mapping aids in understanding different elements through their various dimensions. According to the findings of this paper, history as an exploratory tool has the potential to play a transformative role in Hyderabad city, boosting economic development, creativity and improving the efficiency of the historic built environment. The findings of this study inform that in view of its historicity, the socioeconomic aspect of Hyderabad city has significantly generated unique trading trends, society and spaces that provide a ‘sense of place’. Five key elements of the historicity framework developed in this paper include: offshoots of old patterns with revised strategies; designing user-friendly spaces that denote true, authentic and factual claims about the past; regenerating the place using its local products as heritage environments; adopting the historic urban landscapes (HUL) approach as a tool to explore for revitalising heritage; and developing integrated planning.

Screening the stones of Venice: Mapping social perceptions of cultural significance through graph-based semi-supervised classification

Mapping cultural significance of heritage properties in urban environment from the perspective of the public has become an increasingly relevant process, as highlighted by the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL). With the ubiquitous use of social media and the prosperous developments in machine and deep learning, it has become feasible to collect and process massive amounts of information produced by online communities about their perceptions of heritage as social constructs. Moreover, such information is usually inter-connected and embedded within specific socioeconomic and spatiotemporal contexts. This paper presents a methodological workflow for using semi-supervised learning with graph neural networks (GNN) to classify, summarize, and map cultural significance categories based on user-generated content on social media. Several GNN models were trained as an ensemble to incorporate the multi-modal (visual and textual) features and the contextual (temporal, spatial, and social) connections of social media data in an attributed multi-graph structure. The classification results with different models were aligned and evaluated with the prediction confidence and agreement. Furthermore, message diffusion methods on graphs were proposed to aggregate the post labels onto their adjacent spatial nodes, which helps to map the cultural significance categories in their geographical contexts. The workflow is tested on data gathered from Venice as a case study, demonstrating the generation of social perception maps for this UNESCO World Heritage property. This research framework could also be applied in other cities worldwide, contributing to more socially inclusive heritage management processes. Furthermore, the proposed methodology holds the potential of diffusing any human-generated location-based information onto spatial networks and temporal timelines, which could be beneficial for measuring the safety, vitality, and/or popularity of urban spaces.

Potential Impact of Waterway Development on Cultural Landscape Values: The Case of the Lower Vistula

The northern (“lower”) section of the Vistula is on the route of two international waterways—E70 and E40. However, the current condition of the riverbed prevents larger vessels from passing through. Plans for the waterway date back to the beginning of the 20th century. Following Poland’s ratification of the European Agreement on Main Inland Waterways of International Importance in 2017, the general concept has been transformed into more concrete studies and has found its place in the national development policy. The scientific and political discourse primarily addresses the potential benefits of river regulation in the field of transport and energy. Against this background, studies on the impact of investments on the natural environment are published less frequently. Meanwhile, the Vistula has for centuries influenced the formation of a unique cultural landscape, which will be severely transformed if the river is regulated. On the other hand, insufficient transit depths of the waterway result in the loss of the function of the historic transport corridor, which also changes the character of parts of the area dependent on the river—in particular, the riverside areas of towns. This article aims to indicate the need for a qualitative landscape assessment of how the impact of investments is assessed and the best solution chosen. Using the assumptions of the historic urban landscape, the author analyses the potential impact of the planned investment in the lower Vistula on the surrounding cultural landscape. The potential scope for change in two dimensions is indicated at the scale of the lower Vistula and the individual towns. The possible impact of the investments on the panoramas is illustrated for selected cases.

Study on Liking and Disliking in the Historical Urban Landscape of Ibarra, Ecuador

This article presents the results of a study on opinions on the elements and spaces of the historical urban landscape in Ibarra, Ecuador. This research aimed to propose an objective way of interpreting historical landscapes based on the opinions of people who frequent those places. Our hypothesis was that personal characteristics (e.g., age, gender, educational level, and frequency of visits) condition people’s judgments of urban landscapes, and we aimed to establish which of these characteristics were the most influential. A survey was conducted in the place of study, and passers-by were asked to mention three elements and spaces that they liked or disliked. The methodology had two parts: a descriptive statistical analysis that was used to locate each point on a map and a logistic regression model to study the relationships between people’s opinions and their personal characteristics. The results show that (1) it was possible to demonstrate the elements and spaces that were liked and disliked in proportion graphs and planimetry and (2) that an explanatory analysis of opinions could be carried out using a logistic regression model to study significant characteristics. We found that the frequency of visits was the most significant characteristic for the elements and spaces that were disliked. We also concluded that the results of this study could provide objective tools for obtaining the opinions of people and combining them with planimetry. Additionally, the results could be used to establish priorities for urban authorities regarding improvements and interventions for elements and spaces that people like or dislike.