VIRTUAL London Heritages Conference
Abstract
The effective management of socio-cultural heritage is a critical component of contemporary urban planning, particularly for cities that host World Heritage Sites (WHS). This paper explores the management system as a cornerstone for developing dynamic and adaptive management plans. A management system integrates continuous cycles of planning, implementation, and evaluation to ensure heritage preservation, while addressing the evolving needs of society, the pressures of urban development, and the challenges of rapid change. On the one hand, this work focuses on the importance of the methodologies that enable the production of knowledge, as well as the acknowledgment and inclusion of institutional complexity, participatory governance, mediation and conflict management, robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, and impact assessment, pivotal in fostering both accountability and adaptability. On the other hand, the paper highlights the importance of learning from the complex specificities of heritage, which are very diverse, with various components and subject to different dynamics, with repercussions on new ways of regarding, valuing and approaching heritage. By examining these interactions, we argue that a WHS management system is capable of incorporating a dynamic methodology with scope for innovative tactics.
Isabel Coimbra is a junior researcher at CITTA. Her main research areas pertain to the dynamics of knowledge within territories; participatory and community-led governance; the specificities of spatial justice, identity & recognition, and cultural heritage; systemic capacity building; and housing policies and instruments. Isabel was involved in the development of the study “Methodology for the development of Management Plans for Urban World Heritage Sites”, within the “AtlaS-WH – Heritage in the Atlantic Area”, an INTERREG Atlantic Area project led by the Porto Municipality, Portugal.
Isabel Breda-Vázquez is a Jubilated Associate Professor at FEUP and a researcher at CITTA. Her recent research includes urban change and the transformative potential of public policies, strategic heritage management, planning evaluation and knowledge sharing. Breda-Vázquez coordinated the study “Methodology for the development of Management Plans for Urban World Heritage Sites”.
Paulo Conceição is an Assistant Professor at FEUP, senior researcher at CITTA, and coordinator of Research Group 2 – Governance, Public policies and Housing. His research focuses on governance, public policy evaluation, housing systems and policies, institutional dynamics and scalar articulations, collective learning processes, and methodologies for evaluating transformative capacity. Conceição is co-author of a “Methodology for the elaboration of Management Plans for Urban World Heritage Sites”.
Fernando Brandão Alves is a Full Professor at FEUP, where he chairs the Spatial Planning and Environment field. He coordinates CITTA’s Research Group 1 and also the “Inclusive City and Active Ageing” Transversal Thematic Area on urban design and environmental resilience. His research spans inclusive urban design, age-friendly cities, and public space quality. Alves is co-author of a “Methodology for the elaboration of Management Plans for Urban World Heritage Sites”.
Cecília Rocha is an Assistant Professor at FEUP and a researcher at CITTA. Her current research interests include strategic environmental assessment, environmental impact assessment, acoustics – including environmental and building acoustics, – and urban sustainability. Rocha is co-author of a “Methodology for the elaboration of Management Plans for Urban World Heritage Sites”.
Ana R. Sousa is a PhD researcher at CITTA. Her participation in the project “AtlaS-WH Heritage in the Atlantic Area” led her to focus on the relationship between urban planning, heritage management and climate change instruments.
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Friday 27th June, 2025