The historic center of Quito as seen from El Panecillo. At the center of the image are the towers of the Spanish conquistadores-built San Francisco Church, home of one of the oldest convents in the historic city. Photo: © Françoise Descamps

A view of the Plaza de la Independencia, Quito's main square. Around the square are some of the most symbolic buildings within the historic center: the Government Palace, the cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace, and City Hall. At the center of the plaza is a column erected to commemorate Ecuador's independence movement, the first such movement in Latin America. Photo: Jeff Cody

The historic colonial city, now embedded within the large metropolitan area of Quito, is still an active administrative area and important commercial center. Photo: Françoise Descamps

Santo Domingo tower as it appears at the southern entrance to the historic core. Photo: © Françoise Descamps

Parishioners and visitors gathering in front of the eighteenth-century Church of La Compania. In the background is the former headquarters of the Banco Central built in the nineteenth century. Photo: Françoise Descamps

Cloister of the convent La Merced. Photo: © Françoise Descamps

A detail of a wall paintings fragment from San Francisco Church. Convents and churches were decorated by indigenous artists under training and direction from Roman Catholic monks. The style of these artists has come to be known as the Quitenan School. Photo: Françoise Descamps

The guilded-wood ceiling of San Francisco Church. Photo: Jeff Cody

Representatives from the Municipality of Quito, the Organization of World Heritage Cities and the GCI at a planning meeting in Quito in May 2008. Left to right are Françoise Descamps (GCI), Denis Ricard (OWHC), Rosa Alarcon (Fonsal consultant), René Pinto (Municipality of Quito), Carlos Pallares (Fonsal), Jeff Cody (GCI), Juan Carlos Malfa (Fonsal), and Lee Minaidis (OWHC). Photo: Courtesy, Fonsal

The theme of the tenth congress is "Revitalization of Historical Cities: How to Engage All the Actors?" Regeneration of the historic center through identification and integration of the site's tangible and intangible values, as expressed by both the city's inhabitants and Ecuadorians in general, is the driving force behind the actions undertaken by the municipality. Photo: © Françoise Descamps

The neighborhood of La Ronda, located at the edge of the historic core. The municipality of Quito has used public funds to revitalize the area and assist residents. Photo: Françoise Descamps

The neighborhood at the periphery of the historic core near the Hospice San Lazaro is being considered for the next stage in the revitalization process. Photo: Françoise Descamps

Project team members planning the mayors' working group and site visits for congress participants. Photo: Françoise Descamps

Capilla of the former Espejo Hospital. The hospital will be the venue for the Tenth Organization of World Heritage Cities Congress. Photo: Françoise Descamps

The World Heritage List-inscribed Kremlin in Kazan, featuring a variety of cultural and symbolic buildings, is an important example of the city's historic heritage. Photo: Jeff Cody

A view of Rakhamatullina Street, one the main thoroughfares in Kazan. Photo: Jeff Cody

GCI staff guided by historians and architects from the city of Kazan and the Tatarstan Federation during a June 2006 planning meeting. Photo: Claudia Cancino

An example of the type of building reuse to be discussed during the mayors' workshop. Photo: Jeff Cody

Students from the school of architecture and engineering at the State University of Kazan presenting their work during a working session. Photo: Kathleen Louw

Student presenting plans for the revitalization and preservation project for the island of Sviazhsk. Photo: Jeff Cody

Poster authors presenting and discussing their work with participants during the poster presentation session. Photo: Beverly Weisblatt

Panel of mayors.
In a plenary session, mayors, or their representatives from the cities of Lyon, Aranjuez, Budapest, Kazan, Hué, and Cuenca debated the prevailing question "Is tourism enough?" The discussion was lead by Eugenio Yunis from the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Photo: Beverly Weisblatt

Architect Olga Aksientieva presenting adaptive reuse projects to participants in the mayors' workshop. Photo: Jeff Cody

Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru. Cusco was the host city of the OWHC 8th World Symposium—Heritage of Humanity, Heritage with Humanity. Photo: François LeBlanc

Opening speeches of the scientific symposium in Cusco. Over one thousand delegates participated in the symposium, 650 of which were Peruvian students. The Symposium's sub-themes focused on citizen participation, intangible heritage and cultural tourism. Photo: François LeBlanc

During the workshop for new mayors, one of the key ideas to foster discussion was to break the group of 21 participants into smaller clusters. Here, Mario Castillo (Cusco architect, foreground left) and Jeff Cody (GCI, background left) note down the groups' summary points. Photo: François LeBlanc

The March 2009 experts meeting at the Getty Center brought together professionals and practitioners from different disciplines and experiences to debate on the challenges to be addressed in the conservation of historic cities and urban settlements. Photo: Caroline Cheong

Animated discussion allowed participants to share their experiences and points of view. This animated conversation was also present during revision of key ideas or in small group discussions. Photo: Caroline Cheong

Participants touring Disney Hall in downtown Los Angeles. A guided tour of Los Angeles downtown by GCI Research Associate Gail Ostergren allowed meeting participants to better understand the transformation of Los Angeles over time. Photo: Françoise Descamps