More than half of the Earth's population now lives in an urban area, and over the past three decades, due to the sharp increase in the world's urban population, historic cities have become subject to new threats.  

In order to address conservation and planning issues of historic cities, the Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscapes is being prepared for possible adoption at the 36th session of the General Conference of UNESCO in 2011.

Within this framework, the overall objective of the foreseen workshop in Zanzibar is to consider the African context in the UNESCO Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscapes. This would be the first regional expert meeting on the subject in Africa. More specifically the workshop should aim at:

  • Identifying and understanding the situation and the challenges of the World Heritage designated cities in the African Region;
  • Enhancing the foreseen UNESCO Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscape through consultation with experts and managers from the African cities of urban heritage values;
  • Developing strategies to facilitate management of the Historic Urban Landscape in the African Region.

The participants of this workshop will share definitions, challenges and tools concerning Historic Urban Landscapes in the African context, and the discussed policies and technical issues will be summarized into a set of Recommendations.

The workshop is organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre together with the Stone Town Conservation and Development Authority (STCDA), Ministry of Water, Construction, Energy and Land, Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania. Financial support is provided by the Government of the Netherlands.

Contacts:

Mr Issa S. Makarani, Director-General of STCDA, Zanzibar (stonetown@zanlink.com)

Mr. Muhammad Juma Muhammad (m.juma@unesco.org)