The Special Protection Plan for the Historic 'Ciutat Vella' District (Valencia, Spain). A new tool to approach heritage enhancement and management

Abstract

[EN] The Special Protection Plan for the historic district of the city of Valencia is a heritage and urban-use planning tool proposed by the City Council to protect the historic centre called the `Ciutat Vella¿ (officially known as District 1). This district was designated as a Cultural Asset of National Interest (BIC in Spanish) by the Decree passed by the Valencian Government (Generalitat Valenciana) in May 1993. This Special Protection Plan is a tool that unifies and adapts several urban planning and heritage rules in a single recast instrument. It will replace the five existing Special Protection and Inner-city Regeneration Plans (PEPRI in Spanish) for El Carmen, Velluters, Mercat, Seu-Xerea and Universitat-San Francesc, as well as those Special Protection Plans for the Buffer areas applied to the Cultural Assets of National Interest (PEP-EBIC in Spanish) of District 1. This paper analyses this protection, enhancement and management tool. The methodology for this study is based on a bibliographic review of the legal documents and the Plan itself. Likewise, consultations and interviews have been carried out with experts. In addition, field research consisting in visits to the district affected by the Plan has been conducted in order to identify the existing problems on-site. The results point out the more innovative aspects, such as: a) codifying all the heritage and urban planning legislative instruments applicable to District 1 in a single text, under the same legal standards; b) updating the current state patrimonial and urban legal system in accordance with the Valencian legislation in force; c) recognising and regulating the urban uses according to the current social situation, paying special attention to the residential and tertiary uses; and d) the enhancement and management of the architectural, urban and landscape heritage of this historic centre.