Urban Regeneration in Heritage Conservation Areas: Culture as a Tool of Enhancement

Abstract

In June 2017, a seminar on urban renewal in heritage areas was celebrated by the Architecture College of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain) and the General Administration of Housing Management, Refurbishment and Urban Renewal. The conference was about the analysis of the current challenge of urban renewal management of deteriorated zones that must be the object of preservation. The new points of view to undertake the discussion are based on the Historical Urban Landscape figure and the renew intervention tools proposed by the 36th Meeting of UNESCO General Conference, where public participation, knowledge and planning tools and normative and financial resources were presented, as well as the continuous concern of improving the quality of life in historical districts. During the conference several management experiences were explained by civil servants, professionals, and professors; new criteria and methodologies' evolution could be taught in such a way that have been the origin of new research that intends to put the focus on municipal management mechanisms. The evaluation of a series of successful experiences serves as a guideline to illustrate, list and classify the various instruments that the local authorities have at their disposal, resulting in a vast catalogue of feasible resources that have already been tested. Meanwhile, all this information is compared with what is being done in the city of Valencia, to easily recognize the weaknesses that the city has in terms of diffusion, promotion and enhancement of its vast heritage and therefore being able to design a series of objectives and future lines of work intended to reverse this situation. The research is being developed in five areas: municipal administrative structure, urban renewal and urban planning, economic incentives, awareness and dissemination and outer resources target. The study is in progress, and provisional results are obtained linked to the economic fields of individuals' incentives and target of private resources.

Sustainability of Housing Typologies in Historic Sites

“…But still there is work to do about preservation of original typologies and to recognize successful actions done in some other historic sites. For example, Broseta suggests improving the management of protection and urban renewal of historic districts: disseminating the good examples and practices in preservation and refurbishment, including digitalization, regarding typologies and constructive techniques [5], which is a respectable point of view.…”