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THE PROTECTION OF WORLD HERITAGE SETTLEMENTS AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS Factors affecting management policy and practice by LETÍCIA LEITÃO Thesis submitted to the Edinburgh College of Art in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh JANUARY 2011 © LETÍCIA LEITAO 2011 ABSTRACT In an increasingly urbanised world, historic settlements have been facing tremendous urbanisation and development pressures. In this context, historic settlements included on the World Heritage List ought to be flagships for urban conservation. This dissertation investigates how effectively the existing protection and management policies under the World Heritage Convention contribute to the protection of historic urban settlements and especially their surroundings. The factors affecting urban settlements, and the responses adopted by the international community for the protection of urban heritage, are investigated – first in relation to urban settlements in general, and then in relation to historic settlements included on the World Heritage List. To get a holistic view of how historic settlements have been protected under the World Heritage Convention, the monitoring mechanisms established under the Convention are examined. The analysis of the results of the first cycle of the Periodic Reporting exercise and of the state of conservation reports resulting from the Reactive Monitoring process provide an overall view of the main issues influencing the protection of World Heritage settlements. To get an overview of the factors affecting the surroundings of World Heritage settlements in particular, the concept of buffer zone – adopted under the World Heritage Convention as the main mechanism for the protection of the surroundings of World Heritage properties – is investigated not only in relation to its use in other disciplines and to the protection of natural protected areas, but also in the nomination files over time. i To investigate how historic settlements and their surroundings in particular have been affected by urbanisation and development pressures, and how they have been protected under the World Heritage Convention, four case studies are studied, namely Angra do Heroísmo in Portugal, Olinda in Brazil, Marrakesh in Morocco and the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. In all four cases I examine how their inscription on the World Heritage List has influenced their protection and that of their surroundings in particular, how the existing managements systems established for their protection have responded to urbanisation and development pressures, and what are the main factors affecting their state of conservation. In addition, as the Kathmandu Valley has received enormous attention under the World Heritage system, this case study is also analysed to obtain an in-depth understanding of how the system has been implemented for the protection of World Heritage settlements. The case studies shed light on five inter-related aspects. First, that the legal and management arrangements adopted for the protection of the World Heritage settlements are not built upon what is considered to be their outstanding universal value, and are insufficient to effectively address existing urbanisation and development pressures. Second, that the factors affecting the state of conservation of World Heritage properties increasingly originate from beyond the properties‘ boundaries, but there is nevertheless no integration of the planning and management arrangements for the World Heritage settlements within their wider urban context. Third, that the surroundings of the World Heritage settlements investigated have continued to undergo considerable change since the time of inscription and are now much more urbanized areas, despite existing legal mechanisms for their protection. Fourth, that although Angra do Heroísmo, Olinda and Marrakesh present similar factors affecting their state of conservation to those identified for the Kathmandu Valley, they have not received the same attention from the World Heritage Committee, pointing to a lack of clarity on the selection ii process for the follow-up of the state of conservation of a property through Reactive Monitoring. Fifth, in relation to the Kathmandu Valley only, that the involvement of the international community has considerable limitations and needs to be improved. These aspects show that the protection and management policies under the World Heritage Convention are limited, not effectively implemented or enforced, and only address a limited number of the existing needs. The dissertation concludes by articulating how existing trends influencing urban settlements can be more effectively addressed by existing mechanisms under the World Heritage Convention. Finally I bring forward the policy implications deriving from the research findings and suggest broad strategies for improving some of the processes and practices for the protection of World Heritage settlements and their surroundings in particular. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Herb Stovel, who supported me to take up this research area for my PhD and who recommended me to do it at the Edinburgh College of Art. I also express my sincere thanks to Prof. Brian Edwards, Prof. Ian Campbell and Dr. Miles Glendinning, my advisers throughout the research, for their valuable guidance. My sincere thanks are also due to my colleagues from ICCROM and IUCN, who have been extremely supportive and a source of encouragement in my work. I would like to specially thank Gamini Wijesuriya and Tim Badman for all the inspiring discussions that we had but also for their support in my professional work. To conduct my fieldwork in Brazil, Nepal and Morocco, I sought the help of many people and institutions, which have played an important role in the outcome of my research. Even though some of them remain unmentioned I greatly appreciate their help and contributions. I would like to particularly thank Prof. Silvio Zanchetti, for all his support with the Olinda case study and my dear friend Rohit Jigyasu for the help with the Kathmandu Valley case study and encouragement throughout my research. I am also indebted to Joe King from ICCROM, who has been my fundamental source of information all along the way. Without his support, my research endeavour would have been very difficult to achieve. His kind words of advice and caring attitude guided me on some crucial moments. iv Last but not least, I extend heartfelt thanks to the two men of my life: my father and my partner Jerome Nhan. To my father, who supported me financially throughout most of the research period. To Jerome, for having put up with so much talk about World Heritage, ever postponed vacations and for all his help. My sincere thanks to all who supported me during this long journey. Letícia Leitão January 2011 v Table of contents TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF FIGURES xi LIST OF TABLES xiv ABBREVIATIONS xv PART I INTRODUCTION 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1. Global trends influencing urban environments and challenges to historic settlements 3 1.2. The special case of World Heritage settlements 5 1.3. The research question 7 1.4. Development objective 8 1.5. Literature review 8 1.6. Methodology 15 1.6.1. Qualitative research 15 1.6.2. Case study method 17 1.6.3. Selection of case studies 18 1.7. Scope and limitations 22 1.8. Terminology 26 1.9. Thesis outline 27 PART II WORLD HERITAGE SETTLEMENTS IN AN URBANIZING WORLD 31 2. THE CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE (1972) 32 2.1. Historical and philosophical origins and main principles of the Convention 33 2.2. The concept of outstanding universal value 39 2.3. The system of protection established by the World Heritage Convention 42 2.4. Implementing the World Heritage Convention: the Operational Guidelines 45 2.4.1. The World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger 46 2.4.2. Criteria for the assessment of outstanding universal value 47 2.4.3. Authenticity and integrity 49 2.4.4. Protection and management 52 2.5. The proposal to revise the World Heritage Convention 54 2.6. Conclusions 57 vi Table of contents PAGE 3. THE STATE OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS 60 3.1. Population growth and world urbanisation 60 3.1.1. Demographic trends 61 3.1.2. Urbanisation trends 62 3.2. Changes in urban agglomerations 64 3.3. Conclusions 66 4. RESPONSES TO URBANISATION AND DEVELOPMENT FOR THE PROTECTION OF HISTORIC SETTLEMENTS 68 4.1. From environmental protection to cultural heritage for development 68 4.2. Urban conservation as a response to development and urbanisation pressures 71 4.3. Conclusions 78 5. HISTORIC SETTLEMENTS IN THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST 80 5.1. Definition of categories of ―urban settlements‖ 80 5.2. Analysis of the ―Urban World Heritage List‖ 84 5.2.1. Use of the criteria 84 5.2.2. Regional distribution 88 5.2.3. Inscription of urban settlements compared with other properties, at national level 91 5.3. What exactly constitutes a ―World Heritage settlement‖? 94 5.4. Conclusions 103 PART III THE STATE OF WORLD HERITAGE SETTLEMENTS 106 6.