Global Heritage Cities: Managing Complexity of Cultural World Heritage Sites in Global Cities

This doctoral research focuses on the management of historic urban areas in global cities that are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which are referred as global heritage cities hereafter. In this rapidly globalising world that is market-driven, the binary approach of managing change in historic cities while promoting their sustainable development and transmission to future generations has been a daunting task. The management challenges are especially intensified for global cities because of their exacerbating effect on urban and economic development pressures which are not always sympathetic with historic urban settings. The unique urban morphologies and historic stratification of heritage sites, the limitations of their existing administrative, legislative and planning structures, inefficient policies and management tools, and the participation of a broad range of stakeholders to the decision-making processes bring to the fore complexities for the management of global heritage cities. Thus, this study aims to understand and explain the complexity of managing cultural heritage in these cities, to assess their existing management and decision-making mechanisms, and to identify effective strategies and instruments for coping with these challenges in the future. In the contemporary era of globalisation, the traditional planning and heritage discourses fail to provide a convincing framework for values and roles attributed to historic cities by modern societies, while addressing to the interests of global actors, as well as governmental bodies, citizens and users. The theoretical contributions have thus far mostly focused on general definitions and toolkits imposing a one-size-fits-all approach intending to embrace all urban scales. The case studies, moreover, which are limited in scope, scale and geographical distribution, have clearly showed that practices vary considerably based on the size and geo-cultural background of the sites. Hence, there has been a compelling need to define a particular term and conceptual approach that position urban conservation within the overall urban management process specific for global cities. In response to this gap in literature, a new conceptual framework has been developed in this study that defines global heritage cities, and addresses their conservation and management challenges. Relying on this conceptual framework, a multiple-case study is employed where the multi-layered historic urban landscapes designated as World Heritage Sites within the global cities of Mexico City, Istanbul and Paris are selected as case cities based on a set of criteria. Then, the broad scope of these cities is narrowed down to specific cases, which are designated as large-scale development projects that threaten the heritage attributes, integrity and authenticity of these sites, and are recognised as a concern or threat by the World Heritage Centre, thus stipulating the development of certain actions and tools by the local actors. The examination of both effective and ineffective strategies, policies and instruments employed in these three cases makes an original contribution to literature by introducing the size, scope and complexities of global cities to the heritage management discourse. In sum, the study has contributed to knowledge by developing a conceptual framework relevant to urban heritage management in key cities of the global urban network, which has been practically tested, and can be used by other researchers. The research has also contributed to knowledge through the development of methods to investigate and illustrate the complex management and decision-making mechanisms operating at such cities. Being the first study to address the management practices of global heritage cities, hence it makes an essential contribution of practical relevance that address the issues of complexity and attempts to integrate urban processes in ways that will allow management planning and public participation in creation of alternative management systems

Youth participation in cultural heritage management:a conceptual framework

The management of cultural heritage is no longer exclusive to heritage professionals. The engagement of various stakeholders, particularly underrepresented groups in communities, is crucial to promote inclusiveness in heritage management practices. As future decision-makers, youth are vital to be engaged, yet their participation remains at a low level due to the underestimation of youth capacities and a lack of motivation among youth. Little research has been done to comprehensively conceptualise youth participation and frame it in the context of cultural heritage management. To fill this gap, an integrative literature review was conducted using academic and grey literature from participatory urban planning, design, governance, and heritage management fields. The results show that existing theories have made valuable insights into approaching youth participation by identifying the definition and roles of youth, levels of participation, and methods of engagement. However, they have so far failed to fully address the fluid nature of youth engagement and lack reflections from youth perspectives towards their initiatives to participatory practices. Drawing on the results, we propose a new conceptual framework consisting of four dimensions: purpose, positioning, perspectives, and power relations, which define youth participation theoretically and methodologically in cultural heritage management

Emerging strategies for regeneration of historic urban sites:a systematic literature review

The importance and effectiveness of adaptive reuse as an alternative to the demolition of cultural heritage is well-studied. However, increasing demand in cities to redevelop larger scale urban historic sites requires new strategies to benefit from their inherent values. This paper focuses on strategies of regeneration for historic urban sites. The paper presents a systematic literature review of 45 papers, with case studies geographically concentrated in Europe and Asia, and a focus on residential, commercial, and industrial areas. From the case studies, 46 different regeneration strategies have been deduced. The various strategies are, via content analysis, dissected into a select number of drivers to find commonalities. These key drivers are user participation, top-down, genius loci, sustainability, and conversion. Based on the reflections of the reviewed authors, a performance evaluation assesses the outcomes of these strategies. Further data analysis is conducted at the level of individual drivers as well as their combinations to deduce the most positive-evaluated strategies. Findings show that genius loci contributes to the most positive-evaluated strategies, while top-down driven strategies contribute to the most negative-evaluated strategies. Furthermore, strategies are assessed positively when three or more drivers are considered regardless of their combination. This paper acts as a starting point for further research into the formation of regeneration strategies and into the specific drivers and their combinations or underlying relations. Moreover, it can be of contribution to the practice, to support decision makers and urban planners in developing the appropriate regeneration strategy for historic urban sites

Doomed by the dam?:right to shared heritage in the ancient frontier city of Hasankeyf

A complex array of political and socio-cultural logics contributes to the representation and protection of shared heritage, often through various expressions of conflicting interests, emotions and interactions among a wide range of stakeholders. this paper will focus on the case of Hasankeyf, a still-inhabited ancient frontier city in southeast Turkey that is due to be fully submerged by floodwaters of a dam project and thus planned to be relocated to a remote settlement with its local inhabitants and several cultural properties. It will thus explore the actors involved in the protection of this living frontier heritage in case of urban change, analyse their expressions of conflicting priorities and reactions to the case, their involvement in the decision making and will assess their impacts on reclaiming their right to shared heritage. Hasankeyf is a cultural landscape of universal significance that sparks ongoing debates about the management of change in cultural landscapes, methods of preservation, ongoing salvage campaigns, as well as the diversity of contested urban histories and discourses. Going beyond the concern for architectural conservation limited to the protection of the built heritage, this paper will further examine the various narratives and oral histories of the actors concerned about the safeguarding of this historic landscape. In this way, a new methodology incorporating social network analysis and decision modelling into ethnographic methodology will also be introduced to assess the interpretation, presentation and protection of the shared built heritage inherited from culturally and ethnically distinct communities. In sum, this paper will contribute to the field of cultural heritage through the introduction of a novel case, an innovative methodological approach and a distinct perspective that examines the interactions among a wide range of actors, their reactions to change and\u3cbr/\u3eimpact on the right to shared heritage at frontier

Smart decision making for global heritage cities:innovative community engagement and management tools for historic urban landscapes

This paper focuses on the management of historic urban landscapes (HUL) located within global cities,referred as global heritage cities hereafter, and explores the means of employing innovative technologies toengage local communities and enhance their active participation in the decision making. For their effectivemanagement, decision-makers need to concentrate on the emerging management challenges induced byglobal development processes, along with the increasingly complex nature of existing legislative,administrative and operative systems. The UNESCO HUL Recommendation presents a wide range ofinterdisciplinary tools, including civic engagement tools, to be adapted to cope with these challenges. Well-maintained paths for collaboration and public participation enhance better site management practices. By offering faster, easier and accessible means of communication, new technological developments facilitatespublic participation. The extent to which these management systems are equipped to address theaforementioned complexities depend on the existence of certain community engagement tools and policies,and how innovative technologies are adapted for their effective operation. By examining how different means of community engagement are practiced in certain global heritage citiesand the role innovative technologies play in them, this paper aims to explore how participatory means ofcommunication and participation are enhanced with innovative technologies and smart city policies indecision-making for historic urban landscapes of global significance. For this purpose, it will examine casessuch as the citywide participatory budget and project development strategies endorsed with digitaltechnologies in Paris and the use of online platforms to involve citizen engagement for production of thenew constitution in Mexico City. In this way, it will make an original contribution to the heritage managementdiscourse by examining how new technologies are used to build smart community engagement for effectivemanagement of historic urban landscapes.<br/