In an increasingly urbanised world, historic settlements have been facing
tremendous urbanisation and development pressures. In this context, historic
settlements included on the World Heritage List ought to be flagships for
urban conservation. This dissertation investigates how effectively the existing
protection and management policies under the World Heritage Convention
contribute to the protection of historic urban settlements and especially their
surroundings.
The factors affecting urban settlements, and the responses adopted by the
international community for the protection of urban heritage, are investigated
– first in relation to urban settlements in general, and then in relation to
historic settlements included on the World Heritage List. To get a holistic view
of how historic settlements have been protected under the World Heritage
Convention, the monitoring mechanisms established under the Convention
are examined. The analysis of the results of the first cycle of the Periodic
Reporting exercise and of the state of conservation reports resulting from the
Reactive Monitoring process provide an overall view of the main issues
influencing the protection of World Heritage settlements.
To get an overview of the factors affecting the surroundings of World
Heritage settlements in particular, the concept of buffer zone – adopted
under the World Heritage Convention as the main mechanism for the
protection of the surroundings of World Heritage properties – is investigated
not only in relation to its use in other disciplines and to the protection of
natural protected areas, but also in the nomination files over time. To investigate how historic settlements and their surroundings in particular
have been affected by urbanisation and development pressures, and how
they have been protected under the World Heritage Convention, four case
studies are studied, namely Angra do Heroísmo in Portugal, Olinda in Brazil,
Marrakesh in Morocco and the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. In all four cases I
examine how their inscription on the World Heritage List has influenced their
protection and that of their surroundings in particular, how the existing
managements systems established for their protection have responded to
urbanisation and development pressures, and what are the main factors
affecting their state of conservation. In addition, as the Kathmandu Valley has
received enormous attention under the World Heritage system, this case
study is also analysed to obtain an in-depth understanding of how the system
has been implemented for the protection of World Heritage settlements.
The case studies shed light on five inter-related aspects. First, that the legal
and management arrangements adopted for the protection of the World
Heritage settlements are not built upon what is considered to be their
outstanding universal value, and are insufficient to effectively address
existing urbanisation and development pressures. Second, that the factors
affecting the state of conservation of World Heritage properties increasingly
originate from beyond the properties‘ boundaries, but there is nevertheless
no integration of the planning and management arrangements for the World
Heritage settlements within their wider urban context. Third, that the
surroundings of the World Heritage settlements investigated have continued
to undergo considerable change since the time of inscription and are now
much more urbanized areas, despite existing legal mechanisms for their
protection. Fourth, that although Angra do Heroísmo, Olinda and Marrakesh
present similar factors affecting their state of conservation to those identified
for the Kathmandu Valley, they have not received the same attention from
the World Heritage Committee, pointing to a lack of clarity on the selection process for the follow-up of the state of conservation of a property through
Reactive Monitoring. Fifth, in relation to the Kathmandu Valley only, that the
involvement of the international community has considerable limitations and
needs to be improved. These aspects show that the protection and
management policies under the World Heritage Convention are limited, not
effectively implemented or enforced, and only address a limited number of
the existing needs.
The dissertation concludes by articulating how existing trends influencing
urban settlements can be more effectively addressed by existing
mechanisms under the World Heritage Convention. Finally I bring forward the
policy implications deriving from the research findings and suggest broad
strategies for improving some of the processes and practices for the
protection of World Heritage settlements and their surroundings in particular