Speaker
Description
Urban transformation addresses the evolving needs of present and future cities while inherently being shaped by elements of the past, particularly urban heritage. The field of “urban heritage” has been traditionally studied from a conservation and restoration perspective, focusing on materiality and the preservation of building fabric. However, this notion was challenged in 2011 by The “Recommendations on Historic Urban Landscape” by UNESCO, that called for viewing heritage tenets as catalysts for sustainable development rather than barriers. This paper therefore performs a scoping review to explore what transformation really means in the context of preserving urban heritage while also ensuring it contributes to sustainable development. While many pathways to “sustainable development” exist, this study particularly focuses on climate adaptation of urban areas.
To begin with, the study synthesizes and elaborates on different perspectives of “transformation” in the field of urban heritage, such as, conservation, restoration, transition, and revitalization, and how these narratives have evolved since 2011. Thereafter, the study intersects this informed understanding of “heritage-led urban transformation” with climate discourses in urban planning to highlight potential synergies and conflicts arising from this nexus.
The methodology employs a systematic and iterative process, involving keyword searches and manual abstract screening to compile a body of knowledge informing the three urban themes investigated in this study- transformation, heritage, and climate adaptation. Scientific articles extracted from SCOPUS and grey literature, such as reports from international organizations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations World Heritage Centre, and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), form the basis of literature screened during the scoping review. The method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is employed to triangulate existing narratives and achieve the study’s aims. The result is a collation of synergies and conflicts between built heritage and climate discourses in urban transformation, and its implications in practice. These are mapped using the three dimensions of the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape Approach: natural, built, and socio-cultural.
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
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