Social sustainability of historical districts

You are viewing an archived web page, collected at the request of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) using Archive-It. This page was captured on 17:57:49 Jan 24, 2016, and is part of the UNESCO collection. The information on this web page may be out of date. See All versions of this archived page.

Loading media information hide

Social sustainability of historical districts: Historic Districts for All

Beginning in the 1960s, formerly-abandoned city centres became once again the focus of renewed public, academic, institutional and municipal interest. Widespread revitalization projects, occurring first in developed countries and, more recently, in developing countries, began in the hope of restoring historical city centres to their architectural and cultural heritage. Large-scale reconstruction and modernization plans targeted historical buildings and dilapidated infrastructure, while the construction of new commercial, tourist, leisure and local craft activities promised to rejuvenate the city centre’s tired economy. In some cases, the arrival of the Olympic Games and other international events stimulated a frenzy of redevelopment projects in anticipation of the global spotlight. Yet these revitalization plans have not been without consequences. Rent has often doubled or tripled, making it too expensive for lower income residents to remain in their homes and neighbourhoods, sometimes leading to ‘an international epidemic of forced evictions’. The resulting cultural and socio-economic uniformity of these newly renovated historical centres can be characterized in terms of large-scale gentrification.

It is important to recognize that historical districts are not fixed in history. Centres of encounter and exchange, these socially and architecturally rich districts are not just the living testament of a single culture’s history, but a record of the intersections of diverse peoples, ideas, cultures, politics, goods and services. Historical districts are, first and foremost, inhabited districts, whose populations are actively linked to urban spaces and buildings. The challenge, then, of revitalization projects in historical districts, is ‘how to address the numerous problems without destroying the living culture and dislocating the very people who are its custodians’.

In its ongoing efforts to analyse the current trends in cities and historical districts, to encourage dialogue among diverse urban stakeholders and to work towards the development of more socially, culturally, economically and environmentally sustainable environments, UNESCO convened a range of urban experts to participate in a Round Table on the subject of ‘Social Sustainability in Historical Districts’ [PDF, 19 MB]. This Round Table, held on 13 September 2004, was organized on the occasion of the Second UN-HABITAT World Urban Forum in Barcelona.

The Round Table marked a continuation of UNESCO’s work on sustainable development in cities and historical districts. UNESCO has consistently facilitated exchanges across disciplines and cultures in an effort to create stronger linkages among mayors and municipal authorities, academics, architects, planners and international NGOs. For example, during Habitat II in Istanbul (June 1996), the Social and Human Sciences Sector (SHS) of UNESCO organized a Round Table on the ‘Renewal of Inner City Areas’ to discuss the consequences of development in historical city centres. In Venice six years later (December 2002), on the occasion of the award ceremony for the International Union of Architects and UNESCO student prize for sustainable reuse of urban wasteland, SHS followed up its investigation with a conference on ‘City Centres: Ethical and Sustainable Socio-economic Rehabilitation of Historical Districts’, where experts tackled the role of architecture in revitalization efforts. The conclusions of these two former events are chronicled in a recent UNESCO publication, From Istanbul 1996 to Venice 2002: Socially Sustainable Revitalization of Historical Districts. Architects Speak Out (also available in the series ‘Human Settlements and Socio-Cultural Environment’) [PDF, 7.4 MB].

The Barcelona Round Table led to:

the cooperation between existing research networks on Historical Districts Sustainability “Central Europe & RehabiMed”, and to
an international students competition on the theme of ‘Urban Design and Historical District Renewal Area’, launched by Carleton University, under the auspices of UNESCO and UIA. The results of this competition were presented during UN-HABITAT World Urban Forum III Conference in Vancouver, Canada, from 19 to 23 June 2006
Gangjin International Seminar: 3 April 2006 and Beijing International Seminar 21-23 January 2007. The proceedings will be published soon in UNESCO collection "Human Settlements and Sociocultural Environment."
Capitalization of the work since 1996 through the elaboration of a guide on "Historic Districts for All." An expert steering committee validated the guide (brochure, manual and video) during working meetings in 2007 at UNESCO. Experimental training sessions were held with AIMF in Hué (Vietnam) and Jeju (Republic of Korea) in October 2007 and with UN-HABITAT in Seville in May 2008 and Nanjing in October 2008.

Completed Projects

Research Networks:

Central Europe (University of Budapest)
North America (Carleton University)
See UNESCO/UIA 2006/Carleton University International Student Competition & Brief on Urban Design
Mediterranean (REHABIMED)

Social Sustainability of Historical Districts
UNESCO Round Table at the World Urban Forum II, Barcelona, 13 September 2004:
From gentrification to forced eviction – how should economic competitiveness be reconciled with social sustainability in historical districts? (proceedings available at UNESCO)

Rehabilitation of Quito's historical centre

Small Historic Coastal Cities
An inter-sectoral project on urban development and water resources.

Contact: Brigitte Colin



		UNESCO SHS Have feedback? Email the SHS Webmaster