Contestation can operate at various scales and between different interest groups – including host communities, tourists, archaeologists and heritage agendes – and creates ethical dilemmas that compound the considerable practical challenges of conserving, preserving and researching the multi-layered pasts of the places. The urban edge was not a line marked rigidly in stone but a liminal zone of the townscape characterised by specific social or ethnic groups, activities and architecture. While the image of the walled city might be outwardly be one of enclosure, cohesion and privilege, equally important but underestimated is the enduring role of walled heritage in excluding as well as embracing populations and in mediation with the world beyond the urban area. The meanings of city walls and the identities they represent are not passive but active, and have inherent potential to be written and re-written through their treatment and presentation as heritage.