Lessons from Island of Mozambique on limits of acceptable change

This paper recalls the eternal dilemma between transformation and protection. It argues on the assumption that protection is a challenging form of transformation, instead of being opposites, as often echoed in cultural heritage management. Follows a plea for more exact global targets on the protection of cultural heritage, elaborated into an introduction to the notion limits of acceptable change, and particular trends on its application. Next, this paper discloses the lessons learned from a case study on the Island of Mozambique, in Mozambique, with particular attention to the application of limits of acceptable change in urban planning, and the subsequent impact on the protection of its cultural (World) heritage. The conclusions recall the reality of applying such limits, and end recommending a roadmap towards the sustainable urban development of Island of Mozambique

How can urbanization be sustainable? : a reflection on the role of city resources in global sustainable development

This article is a contribution to the debate on the role of city resources in global sustainable development. It discusses the evolution of models in which urbanization is defined to be sustainable, as well as, their relation to the conservation of city resources. Further, it provides an in-depth reflection on the UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, reviewing its elaboration and implementation, both in practice and research. The results are expected to help government officials, academics, activists, or interested citizens identify and address the sustainability of urbanization, as well as, discuss the role of conservation of city resources in global sustainable development

Interventions in built heritage: Managing which risks and for whom

This paper aims to illustrate the fundamental dichotomy involving interventions in built heritage. On one side, the influential factors; and on the other side, the resultant risks. Both researchers have decided to join the knowledge acquainted in the last years of research and present to their field of expertise an essential state-of-the-art on which are presented the risks that normally require management when intervening in built heritage, as well as, the respective beneficiaries. This literature survey allowed the researchers to verify that even if most frequently risk management is directly related to ‘financial losses’ and ‘human being losses’, there are also other fundamental losses which deserve equal attention. Those are ‘heritage losses’ as well as ‘material losses’. Further research should be undertaken, so that it is better understood per fundamental factors what and who exactly could contribute to the reduction of uncertainty and probability, together with the risks that normally require management

Reusing built heritage resources with sustainability

Many old cities spread all over the world, face obsolete buildings, quarters or areas that urge for maintenance, re-adaptation or demolition. Among time, built heritage has always been re-used or recycled, suffering adaptations related to the living needs of its inhabitants and contemporary society context. Commonly, building’s lifespan regarding its survival and eventual disappearance, either partial or total, has scarcely been taken into consideration. But now, with the Ecological concerns as an imperative XXI century claim from our devastated planet, Society has to face existent buildings as a liable construction resource, that already occupies a considerable area of our cities and that would be foolish to waste. Re-Architecture: Lifespan Rehabilitation of Built Heritage, born in 2002 as a concept and is now being developed in a PhD research; coordinated by Prof. Ir. Jouke Post and Dr. Ir. Peter Erkelens. This renewal system under development, will not only contribute for the quality improvement of existent buildings interventions; in flexibility, sustainability and lifespan assessment, adaptive to consumer/user expectations and needs; but also for the preservation of both built and environmental heritage

Tackling tourism-driven development in World Heritage cities: A comparison between Macao, China and Evora, Portugal

World Heritage cities, all over the world, are a centre of tourist attraction. In many of these cities, tourism is one of the main driving forces of local economies. As a result, these cities come under intense pressure to accommodate tourism-driven developments; summed up with the pressure to fulfil the needs of local communities. How development in World Heritage cities can be tackled is, thus, an important issue for both heritage management and urban development. This paper presents two World Heritage cities – Macao, a former Portuguese colony in China and Évora, the capital of Alentejo region in Portugal - as case studies and discusses and compares the way tourism-driven development is being tackled in these cities. Macao’s economy depends almost entirely on tourism-driven activities. While the World Heritage status has added additional attractiveness to Macao, the main attraction there is gambling. On the other hand, Évora is much less dependent on tourism. Similar to Macao, the World Heritage status has raised the attractiveness of Évora as a tourist destination; however, the university plays also a fundamental role. Consequently, despite the efforts of the local authorities, the city is losing its local community. Even if for different reasons, in both case studies, heritage is often sidelined in the urban development agenda. The case studies identify the raise of cultural-driven tourism and the consequent urban developments and illustrate the role of legislations and regulations and the impact of their variation per heritage protection zones. Moreover, it identifies the resultant urban development scenario that enhance or diminish the heritage values of the cities and, therefore, help retain or cause destruction to the very cultural capital that has brought and can bring many more benefits to these cities of outstanding universal value

Tackling tourism-driven development in World Heritage cities: A comparison between Macao, China and Evora, Portugal

World Heritage cities, all over the world, are a centre of tourist attraction. In many of these cities, tourism is one of the main driving forces of local economies. As a result, these cities come under intense pressure to accommodate tourism-driven developments; summed up with the pressure to fulfil the needs of local communities. How development in World Heritage cities can be tackled is, thus, an important issue for both heritage management and urban development. This paper presents two World Heritage cities – Macao, a former Portuguese colony in China and Évora, the capital of Alentejo region in Portugal - as case studies and discusses and compares the way tourism-driven development is being tackled in these cities. Macao’s economy depends almost entirely on tourism-driven activities. While the World Heritage status has added additional attractiveness to Macao, the main attraction there is gambling. On the other hand, Évora is much less dependent on tourism. Similar to Macao, the World Heritage status has raised the attractiveness of Évora as a tourist destination; however, the university plays also a fundamental role. Consequently, despite the efforts of the local authorities, the city is losing its local community. Even if for different reasons, in both case studies, heritage is often sidelined in the urban development agenda. The case studies identify the raise of cultural-driven tourism and the consequent urban developments and illustrate the role of legislations and regulations and the impact of their variation per heritage protection zones. Moreover, it identifies the resultant urban development scenario that enhance or diminish the heritage values of the cities and, therefore, help retain or cause destruction to the very cultural capital that has brought and can bring many more benefits to these cities of outstanding universal value

Nonlinear sigma model of a spin ladder containing a static single hole

In this letter we extend the nonlinear sigma model describing pure spin ladders with an arbitrary number of legs to the case of ladders containing a single static hole. A simple immediate application of this approach to classical ladders is worked out.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure