VIRTUAL Barcelona

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to indicate the most important aspects of the protection and management of the authenticity value of urban heritage subject to international and country protection in the context of contemporary functioning on the example of Toruń in Poland. This is a city which has its medieval historic centre inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, but which also has other urban monuments subject to preservation and management – together they are larger area than the UNESCO property: the residential district (over 20,000 inhabitants): Bydgoskie Przedmieście (Bydgoszcz Suburb) (3 times larger than the historic centre), whose urban planning and architecture was mainly shaped in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the area of the Nicolaus Copernicus University campus from the 1970s. (where over 12,000 students study). These areas are in close proximity and are also linked by a historic military architectural and urban complex: the Fortress of Toruń from the 19th/20th century, which is planned to be protected as a monument of history. This special form of historic monument protection in Poland is granted to heritage of supra-regional value and makes it possible to apply for listing on the WHL. Each of the above-mentioned areas has its own specific characteristics and problems, the solution to which is expected from the city authorities and conservation services: the former have the task of taking care of sustainable development and carrying out land-use policy, the latter of preserving the authenticity not only of individual buildings, but also of the entire landscape (buildings, layout) of the said complexes.