scholarly journals Current Trends in Urban Conservation: Medieval Historic Arab City Centers

Author(s):  
Ahmed Mohamed Shehata

As Arab countries are beginning to recover from the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, conservation programs are restarting. Noticeably, traditional conservation efforts have not helped improve the poor living conditions in most historic urban centers of Arab cities due to many reasons such as a lack of funds, urban management policies, and the narrow scope of conservation projects. In 2016, the UN urban agenda recognized tangible and intangible heritage as the basis for sustainable, vibrant, urban economies. These efforts reflect the new shift in conservation activities to tangible and intangible heritage and consider urban heritage a tourist product rather than antiquity. This approach grants urban vitality and sustainability for heritage areas. Thus, this study investigates the existing trends and forthcoming changes in conservation and their implication for the deteriorated historic urban city centers of the Arab world. International urban heritage conservation trends were highlighted, objectives and bases of successful urban conservation trends were reviewed, and an assessment framework was developed. Two case studies of historic centers in two Arab cities, Jeddah, and Aman, were empirically assessed using the developed framework. The findings highlight the most common urban problems of the historic centers in terms of urban management policies and trends. In addition, the impact of urban management policies on historic urban areas' sustainability, vitality, and quality was revealed. The paper ends with recommendations for conservation authorities to define a proposed framework to embed the conservation within the urban development plans for deteriorated historic urban centers. The paper's findings and recommendations can contribute to the required knowledge related to urban heritage conservation for practitioners and decision-makers.

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 607
Author(s):  
Ahmed Mohamed Shehata

Traditional conservation efforts did not improve the conditions in most historic urban centers of Arab cities. The internationally adopted shift in historic urban conservation grants better urban vitality and sustainability for these areas. This study investigates the existing trends and forthcoming changes in urban conservation and their implication on historical centers. Urban Heritage Conservation UHC trends were reviewed, conservation parameters were defined, and quality aspects of successful historic urban conservation were identified, and an assessment framework was developed to evaluate the resulting conserved urban heritage. Two case studies of Arab cities, Jeddah and Aman, were analyzed. The findings highlight the most common urban issues such as reusing historic buildings, traffic congestion, and lack of funds. The impact of urban management on historic areas’ quality was revealed. Moreover, the paper ends with recommendations for conservation authorities. These include engaging residents in the conservation efforts, adopting more innovative traffic solutions to ease congestions, turning the historic area into a pedestrian-friendly space, attracting visitors through arranging cultural events, creating new job opportunities through heritage, and improving the image of the areas through urban regulations. The paper’s findings would contribute to the knowledge related to Urban Heritage Conservation (UHC), and its recommendations would help practitioners and decision-makers.


2020 ◽  
pp. 80-84
Author(s):  
Pongkwan Lassus

The Makkasan Train Factory, opened 110 years ago, is the first industrial estate in Thailand and used to be the biggest hub for train production in Southeast Asia. Nowadays, this huge land of 80 hectares, with direct access from the Savarnabhumi airport rail link, is considered a golden land right in the business center of Bangkok, that attracts real estate investors. A third of the land set aside at the end of last year for the development of a mixed use commercial project as a part of the High Speed Train project. As this land is the last big area of public land in the capital, civic groups for urban heritage conservation and the environment tried to point out its tangible and intangible heritage value hoping that there would be a proper master plan to preserve these values for future generations.


2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Chung

This paper examines the evolving values of urban heritage in Macau in terms of the various conservation approaches and mechanisms employed, and the shifting emphases on heritage and development within the context of continuity and change in Macau. Accumulated over four centuries of cultural interchange, the richly layered Historic Centre of the former Portuguese-administered outpost attained World Heritage status in 2005. After situating the problem pertaining to the multifaceted nature of heritage valorisation, the city's trajectory of urban conservation leading up to the 1999 retrocession will be traced, and germane issues concerning heritage management vis-à-vis effects of post-handover urban developments assessed. As the latest culmination of value imbalances and conflicts arising from urban change, the Guia Lighthouse controversy will be critically appraised to speculate on a timely re-evaluation of Macau's heritage conservation process.


Author(s):  
Walter Jamieson ◽  
Richard Engelhardt

There has been very little documentation of the Asian experience in planning and managing urban heritage areas, especially those experiencing tourism pressures. In order to better understand the challenges in these areas, 47 case examples have been authored by experienced practitioners who have worked in Asia over the past two decades in the areas of heritage conservation and/or cultural heritage tourism. The issues discussed in the case examples are those that the practitioners have identified as being of particular relevance to the heritage and sustainable tourism debate. Combined, these case examples provide geographic breadth and longitudinal depth, offering a comprehensive and credible body of data. In this chapter the case examples relate to heritage, which encompasses issues such as authenticity, integrity, heritage impact, historic urban landscapes, intangible heritage, tangible heritage and World Heritage sites.


Author(s):  
Naif Adel Haddad ◽  
Leen Adeeb Fakhoury

Tal (mount) Irbid in Irbid city, Jordan, with its continuous human occupation from the Bronze Age until the present, demonstrates the main landmark that has guided the spread of the urban growth of the city. The outcome of studies carried out at Irbid’s historic core, in relation to assessing the loss and degradation of the core’s cultural heritage, shall be analyzed, investigated, and discussed, as also concerns, obstacles, and issues of sustainability to this urban heritage conservation and tourism planning. The paper starts by defining the urban heritage for the historic core, which tends to be set aside, in the city’s rapid development. Actually, the remaining historic buildings can also provide the necessary inter-relationships between the historic core areas and the wider urban context to achieve a sustainable and integrated tourism and conservation action plan for the three heritage neighborhoods around the Tal, while building on tourism opportunities and taking into consideration the needs and the vital role of the local community. The paper concludes that urban heritage conservation and protection of the integrity and identity of the historic core city fabric can assist in its branding, promotion, and management in ways that could enhance the local community belonging, quality of everyday lifestyle, and visitors' experience. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Ghazy Aziz

AbstractThis study empirically investigates the impact of bank profitability, as a complementary measure of financial development, on growth in the Arab countries between 1985 and 2016. Using a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation to test the impact of the bank profitability on growth, this study utilises two variables in the econometric model which are return on assets and return on equity. This study reveals that both variables of bank profitability are positive and significant. This confirms that the bank profitability, beside other financial development variables, has positive impact on the growth. This study points out some important implications based on this result.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document