Historic Cities and Urban Settlements

The conservation of historic cities and urban settlements is one of the greatest challenges the field is currently facing. The rapid urban growth of existing cities and deurbanization of rural settlements are both examples of the complex challenges that result from continual evolution of urban areas and place enormous pressures on historic cities and settlements, threatening their integrity, authenticity, and heritage values.

Solutions cannot focus on individual buildings and their settings, but must seek a holistic approach to conservation that appropriately manages change, growth, and development. Since the early 1990s, Buildings and Sites has conducted research and carried out a number of projects related to the conservation of the historic urban environment.

Current projects include:

Contemporary Architecture in the Historic Environment
Historic Cities and Urban Settlements Initiative
Seismic Retrofitting Project
Urban Conservation Planning in Malaysia

Page updated: April 2020