Project: A Sustainable Future for the Historic Urban Core

Acronym	SHUC
Duration	01/09/2013 - 01/09/2015
Project Topic	This project proposes to establish a collaborative network of researchers with a common interest in changing practices in urban planning and management of historic cities. It brings together research on planning practices for the historic urban core from three countries to apply a common theoretical framework. It develops new comparative understandings of evolving practices and their consequences. The project asks: 1. How have varying management approaches influenced patterns of functions in, and the economic role of, the historic urban core? How can these relationships be captured in a common conceptual framework? 2. How are approaches being reformed in each country in response to changing political values, in particular the role of the state, and to what extent do underlying socio-economic and historical factors shape responses to heritage management? 3. To what extent are models and methods of managing the historic urban core transferable between countries, and what scope is there for effective policy transfer? The method of analysis is primarily to bring existing research and scholarship in the three countries into a common cross-national conceptual framework. The provisional framework is already in place and draws on theories of strategic planning and area life cycle management (Lindgren & Bandhold, 2009; Henry Mintzberg, 1994, 1996; H. Mintzberg, Ahlstrand, & Lampel, 2005) and has been employed in pilot research on managing the historic urban cores of twenty cities in the THE NETHERLANDS (Toorn Vrijthoff, 2011)
Project Results (after finalisation)	The project provided a comparative empirical understanding of the impacts of contemporary political values on the planning and management of the historic urban core in northwest Europe. It also provided practical outputs in terms of lessons on re-writing rules and practices in local strategic planning and management of the historic urban core, particularly in respect of relations between public, private and civil society stakeholders. Suitable for implementation in the education program of the universities participating in this project as well as other ones.
Website	visit project website
Network	JPI Cultural Heritage
Call	JPI JHEP Pilot Call

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	Delft University of Technology	Coordinator	Netherlands
2	Newcastle University	Partner	United Kingdom
3	University College Dublin	Partner	Ireland