Protection of human rights to the city and preservation of Historic Urban Landscapes: Ways to coherence

Abstract

Presuming that principles of international law reflect common values and moral attitudes of the humankind, the author analyses a mutual dissociation of three fields of international law - human rights to the city, rights to cultural heritage, and preservation of historic urban landscapes (HULs) - and looks for legal models of their cohesion. Based on analysis of legal and doctrinal texts of the UN, the UNESCO, the UNECE, the Council of Europe and the ICOMOS, the author states that since historic HULs usually are both heritage sites and habitats, people related multichotomous values and interests to them. Human rights to the city are equality, non-discrimination, social cohesion, security, protection for vulnerable persons and groups, right to public mobility, housing, education, healthy environment, etc. Legislation on culture and heritage is focusing on cultural identity, diversity, and continuity; it is paying less attention to human, civil, and communal rights, therefore may even pose a threat to them. The conventions cause this mutual dissociation less than confrontations while implementing. Next, issues of HULs usually are trans-sectorial, soluble on macro-levels, and located outside protected areas. However, on these macro-levels of development heritage tends to be treated as "marginal", "out of system", and might be perceived as excess activities, causing restrictions for other vital interests of communities and individuals. Social activities for cultural sustainability create tensions between communities and developers. Globalization pressures strengthen this tendency. Under such situation, heritage preservation may even threaten other human rights. On the other hand, HULs - due to their eco-cultural qualities - can sustain human well-being, dignity, and the right to life. These urban areas tend being sociopetal, coherent, and sustaining face-to-face interactions in a familiar and secure environment. Due to an important added value, created by them, integrated legislation has a huge cross-sectional potential for preservation and continuity of HULs' in the context of human rights to the city. The new legal instruments that entered into force in 2011 - The UNESCO Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscapes and The Council of Europe Faro Convention - might be used as prototypes for cohesion of these and similar human rights.