Historic Urban Landscapes

In the 1880s British and American planned industrial communities revealed a distinct shift in spatial practices as two discrete architecture and landscape architectural aesthetics were applied to community design: Beaux Arts, and Arts and Crafts. Two of the most extensive planned industrial communities during this decade received aesthetic attention: Pullman, Illinois near Chicago (1880), established by George Pullman, and Port Sunlight, near Liverpool (1888), established by William Lever. Both Pullman and Lever believed that by applying a distinctive aesthetic they could establish a cohesive visual ideology for social control. Lever and Pullman believed that by creating “beautiful” spaces, this would encourage and/or constrain worker attitudes and behaviors, what Henri Lefebvre calls “means of control” (1991, p 26). In addition, both Pullman and Port Sunlight became central to establishing and maintaining each company's brand identity. This paper explores the visual ideologies these two industrialists used to produce a distinctive sense of community while also revealing the inherent tensions and limitations of those aesthetics. Not only do Pullman and Port Sunlight reflect an important shift in spatial practices during the 1880s, their architects and landscape architects became influential leaders in the visual ideologies of the City Beautiful and Garden City planning movements.

This paper suggests a more critical analysis of the conflictual situations between Starchitecture and the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL). We show that their apparent antinomy is much more ambiguous than bibliography suggests.  More than the result of two opposing or even conflicting paradigms, the conservation of the historical urban landscape and the construction of iconic architectures are in fact the expression of a demand for the same "global urban product", aiming at creating a marketable image and at attracting the transnational elites. The paper is organized in four sections. The first one analyses recent evolutions of the concept of Historic Urban Landscape and the shift from a strictly heritage approach to a more managerial view. The second presents the concept of iconic architecture and of "starchitecture" and their impact on contemporary cities. The third section analyses the conflicts that often characterize urban conditions in which iconic projects are considered to be threatening to the historical context. We will focus on World Heritage UNESCO cities since UNESCO recommendations, and the risk of being on the “danger list”, or even lose UNESCO status, play a key role. The fourth section will finally propose a critical analysis of these conflicting situations. The paper will question their apparent antinomy, in order to identify and stress the common factors that are producing exclusive urban landscapes characterized both by "world-status heritage" and "world-status contemporary architecture".

Urbact II is a European exchange and learning programme aimed at fostering integrated approaches to sustainable urban development. Integrated approaches promote economic competitiveness, growth and job creation alongside social cohesion and environmental issues. The programme is jointly financed by the European Union and member states.

With the slogan ‘connecting cities; building successes’, Urbact II is directed at sharing good practice among policy makers and practitioners. It promotes partnership working to develop tools and recommendations of general relevance to European cities.

Since the advent of modern methods and new constructional approaches in architecture and landscape architecture, traditional architecture techniques which were based on utilizing natural energies have been completely set aside. In this case, the art of Iranian gardening has a great deal of valuable achievements and experiences which need to be reconsidered. Owing to its special geographic situation, the city of Shiraz includes a number of globally well-known gardens such as Eram, Jahannama, and Delgosha garden. As long as Persian gardens are considered as important parts of open and green spaces and urban landscapes in cities, the main purpose of this paper is the study of their structural features along with the role they play in improving environmental quality and comfort conditions. From this point of view in Landscape architecture, a quantitative-qualitative study was performed for the first time based on two distinct samples of Persian garden, Jahannama and Delgosha, to evaluat...

Carriage steps were important and functional streetscape features in Charleston South Carolina during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. In the summer of 2013, 105 extant carriage steps were located in the historic district of downtown Charleston. Their presence on the street today is a reminder of the long history of this place and a testament to the value of preservation that keeps them there, even though their function is no longer relevant. They represent a critical vestige of a liminal space in Charleston's self-conscious and historic presentation of itself. As transportation progresses over time so do social patterns that develop. These artifacts were not only static in assisting the high step of a carriage, they were also dynamic on the street in the way they guided people and carriages from one point to the other. When analyzed as a collection they offer insights into different architectural and social patterns that developed around early urban settings, specifically-how the private domestic and economic world of built structures addressed and interacted with the public, open environment of the street and the relationship of streets to approaching visitors.

The HUL approach envisions the city as a " layering and interconnection of values " (UNESCO 2011). This concept allows for the living component of the city to be treated as one of these layers, with value and significance equal to all other layers. The question addressed in this paper is whether the current practice of the HUL approach in Asia is in fact taking full advantage of this opportunity; is it coming to grips with the intangible living heritage of historic cities and recognizing its importance and potential? To try and answer these questions, this paper looks at the essential steps and tools of the approach and how they are being applied in different pilot cities specifically in terms of living heritage. The case studies selected include six pilot cities for the HUL programme with the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region (WHITRAP) in Shanghai, China – Zanzibar, Rawalpindi, Cuenca, Ballarat, Shanghai and Suzhou. Reviewing the case studies it is clear that the HUL approach and toolkit can be interpreted as sensitive to the particular needs of living heritage in " messy " cities: cities which " possess an order and hierarchy often visible and comprehensible only to their participants, thereby escaping common understanding and appreciation " (Chalana & Hou 2016). This is particularly the case for the first steps of the HUL approach, though less so for the tasks of integrating living culture into the urban planning process.

In the context of the broadening understanding of urban heritage, including the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape and related United Nations agendas such as the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda, this article questions the relevance of limited-focused impact assessments as a tool for the holistic management of complex urban sites in the 21 st century. The article identifies pitfalls in the use of such assessments, illustrating this principally with two cases in which retrospective assessments were undertaken post-inscription in an attempt to address conflicting interests: the visual impact study for Dresden Elbe Valley , inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004 and delisted in 2009; and the three impact assessments for Liverpool Maritime Mercantile World Heritage Site, also inscribed in 2004, and placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger continuously since 2012. The article identifies critical missing elements that are inherent in discrete assessments, and provides indicators for practical tools with relevant applicability.

The paper suggests a more critical analysis of conflictual situations between stararchitecture and historic landscape. We show that their apparent antinomy is much more ambiguous than bibliography suggests.  More than the result of two opposing or even conflicting paradigms, the conservation of the historical urban landscape and the construction of iconic architectures are  the expression of a demand for the same "global urban product", aiming at creating a marketable image and at attracting the transnational elites (Sklair and Gherardi, 2012).
The paper is onranized in four sections. The first one analyses recent evolutions of the concept of Historic Urban Landscape and the shift from a strictly heritage approach to a more managerial view. The second presents the concept of iconic architecture and of "starchitecture" and their impact on contemporary cities. The third section analyses the conflicts that often characterize urban conditions in which iconic projects are considered to be threatening to the historical context. We focus on World Heritage UNESCO cities since UNESCO recommendations, and the risk of being on the “danger list”, or even lose UNESCO status, play a key role. The fourth section will finally propose a critical analysis of these conflicting situations. The paper will question their apparent antinomy, in order to identify and stress the common factors that are producing exclusive urban landscapes characterized both by "world-status heritage" and "world-status contemporary architecture".

A research study was initiated by the CPDT in connection with the European Landscape
Convention on the Walloon heritage landscapes. Relying on the concept of artialisation
developed by Alain Roger, this study tried to determine which Walloon landscapes are likely to
become collective referents through their repeated representation and dissemination by the
different media such as painting, art photography or travel guides.

De oudste wettelijke beschermingen van bouwkundig erfgoed in België en Vlaanderen dateren uit de jaren 1930, meer dan negentig jaar geleden. Sindsdien is de onroerenderfgoedsector sterk veranderd. Niet alle beschermingsbesluiten hebben de tand des tijds even goed doorstaan, maar ze zijn wel nog steeds rechtsgeldig, wat het beheer van dat beschermd erfgoed soms bemoeilijkt. Om het behoud van wat al beschermd is in de beste omstandigheden te kunnen blijven garanderen, en het draagvlak voor dat behoud, is het dus noodzakelijk om een constructieve maar kritische blik op het verleden te werpen.

In dit onderzoeksrapport hebben we thema’s van bouwkundig erfgoed afgebakend: coherente groepen van erfgoeditems met gemeenschappelijke kenmerken, die we vervolgens kunnen vergelijken voor het volledige Vlaamse grondgebied. Elke uniek beschermd onroerend goed maakt deel uit van één onderzoekspakket. Uit de analyse zijn zes thema’s naar voor gekomen waarvan het beschermd bouwkundig erfgoed prioritair onderzocht zou moeten worden: kerken, hoeves, industrieel erfgoed, stedenbouwkundige ensembles, landgoederen en naoorlogs erfgoed. Het resultaat van deze denkoefening wordt een evaluatiekalender die de huidige regeerperiode overschrijdt. Deze studie vormt een noodzakelijke eerste stap in het evaluatieproces.

This paper deals with the city of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, as a case of urban transformation geared towards tourism development. It intends to research the main processes which took place in different eras and shaped the city as it discovered its tourist potential. After a short introduction to Cartagena's tourist space, the focus will be on the processes which effectively transformed a run-down colonial harbor city into a vibrant destination in less than a century. This is done by looking into the interplay of spatial and sociopolitical questions. This description is framed within theories of icons, iconization processes and semiological spaces. Since the city possesses an outstanding architectural heritage, it is intended to set this paper in the broader context of urban "icons" to see how the main attraction of Cartagena, namely its built heritage, has been managed and has contributed to shaping the city's tourist profile.

In our religious traditions and culture, water is given the most respectable and unique status. The rivers were considered to be divine and worshipped as Goddesses in mythological descriptions and people had learnt to use water most judiciously and with greatest admiration. Even today in our society, water is the single most important tool for performing daily religious rituals or social ceremonies and a primary means for purification of body and soul. Hindus have a belief that life starts with water, and ends in water: ritual cleansing of a newborn with holy water to the cremation and immersion of the ashes in the river. The innumerable tirthas, places of holy pilgrimage preferably located near water, on the banks and at the confluence of rivers and streams, at ponds, springs and even at seemingly mundane wells reflect the Nepalese attitude toward this sacred substance (Slusser, 1982, pp. 350). The rivers have been a source for evolution of socioeconomic and cultural patterns. The all-embracing river network covering the entire Valley of Kathmandu through the river Bagmati and its tributaries supported the traditional economic base-agriculture. In addition to this, the significance of the rivers and their network in the economic and environmental health was also reflected in cultural manifestations. This could be perceived through the construction of cultural-religious enclaves at different parts of the river networks (http://www.spacesnepal.com/archives/jan_feb09/environmental_implications). Although, most of the major religious rituals and festivals in the Kathmandu valley are closely linked to the river Bagmati and its tributaries, it is their role in absolving from life and sins, which is most significant. Running through the paddy fields from its source above Sundarijal till its exit through Chobhar Gorge, the Bagmati River has been the center of cultural and religious lifeline of the Kathmandu Valley. One could easily point out that it has been acting as a focal point for the rituals and social customs of the Valley that are performed daily in innumerable religious centers-temples, shrines and ghats-constructed along the riverbanks, especially at the confluences. The Teku Thapathali Research group (1994, pp. 7) has identified that there are altogether six most significant sites assembled along the Bagmati River that are all dedicated to Shiva. They could be enlisted as: the Sundarijal site at the source of the Bagmati; the Gokarna Mahadev Temple complex and its associated shrines and ghats; the great temple complex and ghats of Pashupatinath, and its associated shrines at Gujeswari; the temple complex and ghats of Sankhamul that serve Patan; the Teku-Thapathali temple complexes and ghats that serve Kathmandu; and the Jal Binayak temple and shrines that stand sentinel at the point where the Bagmati River leaves the Valley at Chobhar (Ibid). The religious shrines, temples and ghats were built as an effort at beautification as well as to gain religious benefaction. Among these, ghats were built for the purpose of cremation of dead bodies. The term ghat refers to a series of steps leading down to a water body, usually a holy river. They are broad flights of stairs delivering a safe and easy access to the water's edge and are usually constructed of dressed stones and bricks. Ghats are useful for both mundane purposes (such as cleaning) and religious rites like ritual bathing or ablutions that are considered to be imperative before performing numerous religious practices. The most significant role of the ghats is observed in the funeral rites. For Hindus, death is the commencement of many rituals that must be followed. Unlike many cultures, a family devotes itself to a year of respect after one dies and almost always, the person is cremated and released into a sacred river so that he or she may reach heaven.

On a January morning in 1801, Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra regarding an upcoming visit to the city of Bath, in Somerset, England. She observes, ‘it would be very pleasant to be near Sidney [sic] Gardens! We might go into the Labyrinth every day.’ The Labyrinth and gardens to which Austen refers were part of Sydney Gardens, often called the Vauxhall of the West. These gardens are today home to Bath’s Holburne Museum. Sydney Gardens is a fine example of Georgian heritage. Despite its demise as a paying pleasure destination in 1853, the gardens have otherwise been open to the public in various ways for almost all of their 219 years, and doubtless have been a source of pleasure for many. But what was it about these pleasure gardens, and the Labyrinth in particular, that held out such appeal for Austen? As an architectural historian interested in gendered spatial experience, I am intrigued by Austen’s rare display of enthusiasm for any aspect of Bath, especially one that would seem to embody all that the author disliked about Bath’s social whirl and frivolity. I am also intrigued that the Labyrinth was a destination that Austen envisioned with pleasure for herself and her sister. This articles aims to explore Sydney Gardens suggestively, using feminist readings to open up the typology of the pleasure garden, and to understand the Sydney Gardens’ design and use. My purpose is to illuminate the question of how historic pleasure landscapes of the long eighteenth century produced gendered subjects and how, in turn, female visitors to the gardens shaped this typology’s form and offerings.

This paper explores the applicability of managing cultural heritage through the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach in Valparaíso, Chile, a city that was declared World Heritage Site (WHS) in 2003.
Valparaíso is a critical case study where Outstanding Universal Values (OUV) coexist with poverty and marginalization. The city is facing significant urban transformations, its management has been difficult at different governmental levels and local communities are increasingly demanding for more participation. Thus, given the complexity of its management, in 2014 the United Nations Organization for Education,
Science and Culture (UNESCO) suggested that the HUL approach should be implemented, which implies a holistic and integrated approach to heritage management and urban planning practices. The Recommendation of the HUL (2011) is put in practice through local interpretations, while considering the specific political and socio-cultural context. Therefore, this paper will detail a research method to evaluate whether the policy framework of heritage management and planning in Valparaíso is consistent with the HUL. Following the assessment framework proposed by Veldpaus and Pereira (2013), the attributes (what), values (why), stakeholders (who) and strategies (how) are evaluated regarding the specific context. The contribution to knowledge of this paper is focused on the methods to analyze the possibility to implement a holistic theory in practice using a critical case study.

The city of Gabes has been considered an important crossroads and a center of an old commercial activity for caravans and nomads since antiquity. This is in fact because it is famous for its unique coastal Mediterranean oasis. Coastal oases are essentially sources of great biological diversity and particular natural habitations, which altogether make an essential component of the cultural identity of the region. This key element of cultural heritage is unfortunately facing a lot of challenges which threaten its existence. The present study tries to understand the context of the evolution of the oasis dwelling and the traditional urban landscapes of the city of Gabes. It seeks to identify the typology of this traditional dwelling and characterize its main components. It also assesses its current state and the profound changes it is experiencing in an atmosphere of negligence from the side of state which has avoided adopting the principles of urgent intervention to promote, enhance it and preserve this dwelling against the undesirable effects of modernization.

Аннотация. Согласно Городовому положению 1870 г., в функции местной администрации передан комплекс хозяйственных вопросов, в том числе по благоустройству города. К концу XIX в. Саратов как один из самых динамично развивающихся городов российской империи столкнулся с массой санитарно-гигиенических проблем. Вниманию читателей предлагается отклик географа на книгу о деятельности саратовской городской думы.
Abstract. The complex of economic issues, including the improvement of the city, was transferred to the functions of the local administration according to the city statute of 1870. By the end of the XiX century saratov as one of the most dynamically developing cities of the Russian empire faced a lot of sanitary and hygienic problems. The geographer’s response to the book on the activities of the saratov сity duma is offered to the attention of readers.

To make or to break, to construct or to reconstruct ... in short, intervention in a World Heritage city faces a lot of theoretical, legislative, economic and social conflicts. Our presentation aims to analyze this polymorphic reality through an operation in the Cuesta de las Armas (just ten meters from the center of Toledo - Zocodover).
The operation intended to convert an abandoned building (that was once an inn) into a modern, centralised hotel of small dimensions. In accordance with legislation, the first approximation needed to be made from an archaeological and historical point of view of the building. In this approximation several artifacts came to light that modified the plan of action for the project as much from a technical (the need to integrate the artifacts) as an economical or temporary point of view.
But the appearance of the remains was not the only problem: the location of the building impeded the use of any sort of crane in the execution of the operation; the gathering of materials required blocking traffic for which the local police established a schedule; the neighbours made a complaint about the age and the use of openings; the integration of the resulting cistern combined with the need to install a lift that was accessible from what the tank “cut off”, and a glass elevator was used… Finally the direction of the project decided not only to conserve (mandatory) but to explain and make public the uncovered remains.

This paper explores the applicability of managing cultural heritage through the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach in Valparaíso, Chile, a city that was declared World Heritage Site (WHS) in 2003. Valparaíso is a critical case study where Outstanding Universal Values (OUV) coexist with poverty and marginalization. The city is facing significant urban transformations, its management has been difficult at different governmental levels and local communities are increasingly demanding for more participation. Thus, given the complexity of its management, in 2014 the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) suggested that the HUL approach should be implemented, which implies a holistic and integrated approach to heritage management and urban planning practices. The Recommendation of the HUL (2011) is put in practice through local interpretations, while considering the specific political and socio-cultural context. Therefore, this paper will detail a research method to evaluate whether the policy framework of heritage management and planning in Valparaíso is consistent with the HUL. Following the assessment framework proposed by Veldpaus and Pereira (2013), the attributes (what), values (why), stakeholders (who) and strategies (how) are evaluated regarding the specific context. The contribution to knowledge of this paper is focused on the methods to analyze the possibility to implement a holistic theory in practice using a critical case study.

Prof. Sung-Kyun KIM's (1956-2020) death has deserted, for the time being, the noble path of ACLA- Asian Cultural Landscape Association, which together with Prof. Rana P.B. Singh (India) and Prof. Ismail Said (Malaysia) he founded in November 2011. This short essays deals with the life journey, works, leadership, and the collaborative programmes that he led in his life for the good causes of Landscape Architecture and Cultural Landscapes in Asia. He has also completed an Indo-Korean Project on the "Cross-cultural Interfaces between Gimhae (Korea) and Ayodhya (India) in March 2020. Some of the memorial photographs are also attached. For any further details or interaction, one is welcomed to contact his collaborator and partner:
Prof. Rana P.B. Singh, President- ACLA [lives in Varanasi, India];
Cell: (+091)-9838119474, eM: ranapbs@gmail.com https://banaras.academia.edu/RanaPBSINGH/Papers

Due to recent urban developments, the undesireable presence of pedestrians along urban expressways for access to public transportation facilities, daily trips and evading traffic is a typical trend. This problem decreases the urban life quality and health of citizens in a metropolis like Tehran. New viewpoints consider this daily travel along "expressway landscapes" as a kind of "everyday nature". It is important to notice that, the meaning of everyday nature and what be perceived in everyday landscape are different form a park or sites with recreation, sports goals. Review of debates over "presence of pedestrians along expressways" shows the opposing views have reduced dramatically over time. This article addresses the quality of "pedestrian connections improvements" along expressways and their related aspects of programing and design. The research is based on the case study of Resalat expressway, as one of most important population core and transportation systems of Tehran. The question is can landscape architects use bridges, existing sidewalks, parallel pedestrian, green patch and other facilities to plan a "continuous pedestrian connection" where daily travel is requested? Does experiences like Tabiat bridge in Tehran or Highline in NewYork, which both are recreational places, have a role in development and improvement of such pedestrian connections as an everyday nature of cities? The framework is based on "Forman model of landscape ecology" and "viewpoint of Kaplan about everyday nature"; through using case study/combined research strategy with synthesizing case procedure. After evidences review, phenomenon survey in the flowing steps. First is inspect and analysis of "quality-oriented approach of landscape", "landscape ecology of Forman", "Kaplan’s view point of everyday nature", definitions and principles of "pedestrian and expressway design". Second is study of real cases and acquire essential needs for design research through the production and use of a template module of analysis which is generated from the previous step. Third is case study area Pathology and quality of related improvement identifying. This step also uses the previous step structure of template module of analysis. Final step present the findings and Indicators to identify demands for improvement (table5) and some standard offer for this kind of design (table6), which can be generalized to similar problems in other situations (transferability). Findings associated with proponents of "pedestrian presence along expressways", conditionally consider "pedestrian connecting" along expressways as an opportunity. It’s important to consider this kind of request for commuters as a real aspect of today cities. This phenomenon can be "ignored", "prohibited" or "improved as an opportunity". Last approach have a holistic theory to balance the needs of city with new conditions to achieve higher quality of everyday urban life. 
Keywords
Pedestrian connection; Everyday nature; Expressway landscape; Design research

Wśród rozległych pustkowi Aragonii leży niezwykłe, zrujnowane miasto, będące wstrząsającym świadectwem okrucieństw wojny domowej w Hiszpanii. Osiemdziesiąta rocznica zakończenia walk o Belchite jest okazją do przypomnienia jego tragicznych dziejów – tym bardziej że wplecione są w nie również polskie wątki.

Carriage steps were important and functional streetscape features in Charleston South Carolina during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. In the summer of 2013, 105 extant carriage steps were located in the historic district of downtown Charleston. Their presence on the street today is a reminder of the long history of this place and a testament to the value of preservation that keeps them there, even though their function is no longer relevant. They represent a critical vestige of a liminal space in Charleston's self-conscious and historic presentation of itself. As transportation progresses over time so do social patterns that develop. These artifacts were not only static in assisting the high step of a carriage, they were also dynamic on the street in the way they guided people and carriages from one point to the other. When analyzed as a collection they offer insights into different architectural and social patterns that developed around early urban settings, specifically-how the private domestic and economic world of built structures addressed and interacted with the public, open environment of the street and the relationship of streets to approaching visitors.

Sultaniyeh is among the unique regions in Iran and even in the world which displays the mixture of historical, cultural and natural environment in one place. The historical site of Sultaniyeh as one of the rare remaining monuments from the civilization of The Ilkhanate includes the world heritage of Sultaniyeh dome and other historical and natural elements beside it in particular the historical lawn of Sultaniyeh. In recent decades, the unsuitable urban expansion has created many visual and environmental abnormalities and issues in the historical urban landscape of Sultaniyeh and in some cases, it has endangered some of the historical, natural and cultural capabilities of the works and views. In this article, presenting the results of the research on the improvement of the quality of historical urban landscape of Sultaniyeh , efforts have been made to pay attention to the significance of the role of landscape around the, works with world registration as an effective subject in improving the quality of Historical Urban Landscape. On this basis, the methodology is based on field and documents study in particular by using the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation in the descriptive-analytic study of a part of the landscape of the historical site of Sultaniyeh. Then with their expansion and adaptation with the historical urban landscape of Sultaniyeh , the human - social activities, environment visual manifestations , quality and oldness of the network of existing roads, farms and their plowing method, irrigation network , historical centers , limit protective areas and also the positions with an ability for space building and establishment of activity as the most basic elements to construct historical urban landscape and the capabilities of this city have been identified. The final result of the research emphasize.s that these elements in connection with each other introduce the historical urban landscape in an integrated form and as a type of identity and value. Furthermore, it contains tables and detached maps from the constructing layers of historical urban landscape in the southern domain of Sultaniyeh dome and distance limit of the dome to Molla Hassan Kashi tome which have been extracted based on data analysis and field studies.
Keywords: World Heritage Sites, Historical Urban Landscape, 2011 UNESCO Recommendation, Sultaniyeh,
Molla Hassan Kashi Tomb.

Il convegno “CèNTRO - l’accento sul centro storico” è un incontro, promosso dal Comune di Peccioli, che vuole essere un tavolo di confronto interdisciplinare sul tema del recupero dei centri storici. L’obiettivo è individuare un percorso finalizzato alla valorizzazione del centro storico di Peccioli: una sorta di collezione di idee pilota che potrebbero poi trasformarsi in un metodo esportabile e replicabile anche in altre realtà. Oggi forse ci sono le condizioni e le tecnologie per invertire questa tendenza: è importante quindi che le Amministrazioni locali cerchino di capire se sia possibile individuare nuove strategie per valorizzare il centro storico e restituirlo al suo ruolo naturale di luogo in cui sia piacevole e desiderabile vivere.

Interverranno rappresentanti dei Comuni di Chianni, Lajatico, Modica (RG), Ponsacco, Saluzzo (CN) e Terricciola.

http://centro.peccioli.net/index.html

What do we know about the "margin"? In which ways are the socalled "margins" of society comparable to the margins of maps, art works, or manuscript pages? How do they conceptually relate to a christian understanding of being close or alien to God? In the light of these questions, the essays in this volume discuss settings, practices, and semantics of marginal situations in the Middle Ages. As a whole, this special issue of the Journal "Das Mittelalter" aims at a historical understanding of "the margin" that allows for a transfer into other fields of medieval culture.

35 C ities are subject to constant transformation, because every society forms its own urbanity according to its value system, approach to life and principles of social organisation. Based on the conviction that the spatial identity of a community is manifested in its urban cultures and traditions, several normative guidelines and preservation principles have evolved to conserve the urban heritage and character of historic towns. Nevertheless, more recent urban transformations in North African and Middle Eastern old cities (medinas) often clash with romanticised preservation ideals and follow a strong desire for consumption, hedonistic pleasure, and an orientalised atmosphere. Since attempts to protect the urban fabric, restore buildings true to their original form and preserve former functions tend to neglect contemporary societal needs and contradict a future-oriented development of cities, they have to be reconsidered with respect to ecological, economic and social sustainability...