Involving society in the enhancement of old city centres

Abstract

[EN] Old city centres should be known, valued and preserved as part of the history and of the cultural and architectural heritage of cities. For this purpose, it is common practice to declare them sites of cultural interest, and to list their residential buildings with different grades of protection. However, for the inhabitants of the city centres, the listing status of their residential buildings is perceived as a problem, rather than an attractive added value for their property, since it limits their possibilities of intervention (refurbishment, expansion, elevation, etc). On many occasions, the lack of recognition of this vernacular architecture or humble architectural heritage has, as a consequence, the abandonment or reduction of maintenance as well as the alteration or destruction of the specific features that make them unique (or even essential) as part of the urban scene. In order to involve both the inhabitants of the old city centres and the visitors in the enhancement of these areas and to guarantee their preservation, different educational actions can be undertaken. To clearly define these actions, the first step is to carry out a study on the perception that owners and tenants have of this type of architecture. This paper proposes a series of questions to perform a survey among the citizens in order to evaluate the social opinion. Finally, this paper suggests a set of actions to be taken to improve the conception the citizenship has about the values of old city centres.