New perspectives on World Heritage management in the GCC legislation

New legislative acts on heritage protection have been published in several Arab Countries in the last decade.Whilst this is a positive trend in general,what remains to be seen is the factual impact of the new legislation on the pressing issues of heritage management,including the holistic and integrated approaches,monitoring,enforcement and others.This paper compares the new legislative solutions from Gulf Arab Countries to the older ones and determines whether the new trends have potential of improving the heritage management systems.The findings of this paper are intended to increase the awareness of the still-marginal issue of heritage management in the heritage legislation of Arab region and promote the successful measures among the countries with outdated statutory heritage protection.

Negotiating Contestations for Community-Oriented Heritage Management: A Case Study of Loushang in China

Rural heritage is a living heritage of significant importance;it requires community-oriented manage­ment for cultural continuity and local development.Different social relations exist at rural heritage sites,which lead to external contestation among stakeholders and internal contestation within the community.It is essential to iden­tify the impact caused by such contestations and determine an appropriate way to negotiate solutions.This paper examines the case of Loushang in Guizhou Province,identifying the contestations by examining the social relations through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.Negotiation requires an appropriate person or social group to act as intermediary:they engage the stakeholders and induce them to collaborate;they also empower the com­munity in heritage management.The case of Loushang indicates the tools that are necessary to facilitate communi­ty-oriented management for rural heritage;it bridges theoretical research and heritage practice.

Managing the Balance: Ecological Pressures and Heritage Resources in Rungwe District, Southern Highlands of Tanzania

Rungwe district in Mbeya region is amongst the many areas in Tanzania which until recently have remained terra incognita in terms of ecological and archaeological research. Systematic archaeological investigations, based on heritage management and conservation have not been undertaken. In due regard, we decided to carry out the first systematic survey, documentation and recording of the heritage resources of this district. Our investigations emphasized public participation in the management and conservation of heritage resources with the involvement of local people the central focus. We were also motivated by the desire to launch community outreach programmes and establish the “Cultural-Ecological Research and Scientific Information Centre” in Masoko-Kisiba Ward. There were several meetings with the local people and the village officials to discuss plans. It was decided that the establishment of the deemed scientific and information centre would abide with the existing conservation laws in order to effectively address the strategies for protection, conservation and management of both natural and cultural heritage resources.

Exploration of cooperative management system of transregional cultural landscape heritage: a case study of Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes

There seems to be a general consensus that management and policy play a very signifcant role in landscape evolution,and the protection and development of cultural landscapes are considered important components of sustainable development.This study introduces an overall landscape protection framework and explores the cooperative management system of the Loire Valley cultural landscapes as a World Heritage Site.By analysing the transregional management system and the relevant policies for protecting the Loire Valley cultural landscapes,this article tries to determine how this coordinating mechanism is constituted and operated and how local authorities and stakeholders can be coordinated to implement protection and development projects that visibly infuence the evolution of cultural landscapes in the area.This transregional cooperative management system actively promotes the rehabilitation and revitalisation of the cities and territories of the Loire Valley.Thus,the article summarises key actors and ways to establish an efective cooperation management system that can provide a reference for other transregional heritage sites.

Generating a 3D Tool to Represent Graphically the Damages of Santa Barbara Castle （Alicante）

Santa Barbara castle is one of the largest fortified complexes of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Set in a strategic enclave in the city of Alicante. It has been transformed over the centuries since its origin, so that nowadays includes numerous buildings inside its area. The fortified area contains several lines bastioned and some medieval and Muslim fronts, composed of quadrangular towers. During the years 2007 and 2008, a research team composed of members from the University of Alicante, the University of Burgos and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia has developed a study on the conservation status of the Castle. This study has been funded through research grants from thc Genemlitat Valenciana （Project GV reference 2007/150）, and an agreement with Manuel PeIAez Foundation. We have generated a 3D object of the whole, composed by clouds of millions points, through laser-scanner in order to manage the analysis of the architectural element＇s conservation status that make up the huge fortified complex. This tool reduced greatly the architectural survey work, providing an extremely accurate. They were developed through the program Pointools View, generating JPEG files, which were imported from Autocad. Later we undertook a comprehensive making of photos -- some 7,000 photographs, which we linked to the 3D object. Thus we have immediate access to the photographs of each element of the Castle from the program Pointools View with a simple click on each 3D element. The graphic representation of damages was done on screen with programs Pointools View and Autocad open simultaneously. This technique has meant better accuracy in the study of conservation status and has greatly reduced the time commitment.

Promoting conservation or change? The UNESCO label of world heritage (re)shaping urban morphology in the Old Town of Lijiang, China

The UNESCO label of World Heritage can attract a high number of tourists to heritage properties for their Outstanding Universal Values(OUV).Although international studies have demonstrated the World Heritage system can contribute to stimulating cultural tourism and boosting the local economy,how this heritage-led development process promotes urban conservation and morphological changes in cities is yet to be explored adequately.This paper aims to explore the urban morphology of a historic Chinese city after its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List,taking the Old Town of Lijiang as case.The methods of spatial plan analysis and discourse analysis are used to analyse the data.The research findings have demonstrated that,theoretically,the Conzenian approach of urban morphology can be an effective framework for World Heritage OUV-monitoring.Methodologically,the analysis of spatial plans and multi-stakeholder interviews can reveal local urban morphology from macro to micro levels.Case-specifically in Lijiang,urban physical characteristics and building structures have been well maintained while traditional social fabric and neighbourhood networks have almost vanished.This research has incorporated the urban morphology approach into(world)heritage management in China,as well as worldwide,in order to maintain the balance between urban conservation and economic growth.

Community-led initiatives for the rehabilitation and management of vernacular settlements in Oman:a phenomenon in the making

Once abandoned for more than three decades,vernacular settlements in Oman are now being progressively reinvested in to foster the country’s heritage tourism sector.The present research focuses on the emerging phenomenon of community-led initiatives for vernacular heritage rehabilitation and adaptive reuse in Oman.Through an examination of three case studies,its aim is to describe this process and its modes of action and discuss its efects on vernacular settlement transformations.A mixed research methodology was designed to include(A)analyses of relevant primary and secondary data,(B)documented onsite observations,(C)interviews with local community representatives and key players in the operations of rehabilitation,and(D)extractions and analyses of quantitative data from a hotel booking website.The research sheds light on unsuspected interrelations within and between the projects being implemented in these settlements and their operating modes.It reveals the focal role of a local community in a kind of‘bottom-up’management of its built heritage,coupled with a‘horizontal cooperation’between the three initiatives studied in this research.Moreover,it shows that a heavily centralised and top-down policy for the feld of heritage conservation and management is among the main obstacles that hinder such initiatives.Furthermore,community-led operations of vernacular heritage rehabilitation are being undertaken under insufcient regulations in terms of land use,building restoration and adaptive reuse.In this context,the paper discusses some of the serious threats and concerns faced by such initiatives and proposes actionable solutions to mitigate these hindrances.

Synergies and Frictions between Mega-events and Local Urban Heritage

Increasingly,cities have turned to mega-events as part of strategies to secure much desired global recognition and attract future economic investment.These events have a broad range of physical effects on the city and can also introduce new concepts of the city.For historic cities,mega-events can potentially have a profound influence on the city’s urban heritage,both physically and how heritage comes to be understood and defined.Recent changing trends in mega-events could come to see them more closely integrated into the existing city fabric,making the potential impact of mega-events on built heritage more pronounced.One long-standing event embedded within the city fabric that serves as a noteworthy example is the European Capital of Culture(ECoC),operating for 30 years and travelling between more than 50 cities.The paper presents the European Capital of Cultures of Genoa 2004,Liverpool 2008 and Istanbul 2010 as three diverse cases with differing themes and roles for heritage in order to review the potential synergy or friction between events and heritage and calls for heritage actors to become more involved in these processes.

Impact of legislative precision in the managgement of the Casbah

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.