Urban Heritage Management: Planning with History – A Review

Abstract

Through its stability, continuation of use, the visible and tangible s uperpositions of historical layers, reuse of historical elements, cont inuous reframing of meaning and by both accumulation and selection, th e city centre is (and arguably always was) a source of identity for co mmunities and individuals. This historical superposition of layers (fo rmal, social, economic, political, etc.) has to be studied and deciphe red when dealing with an urban planning project. How do we acknowledge , interpret and use as a tool in the urban planning process all the la yers that form what we define the cultural heritage of a place? How do we deal with areas with archaeological traces, especially when they a re overlapping with the subsequent layers of the city up to the presen t day? How do we integrate all these layers in such a way that they ar e protected and preserved but enjoyed and used as well?