ABSTRACT
The urgency is driven by the Sustainable Development Goals agenda that were recently adopted by the United Nations which include, among others, a dedicated Goal on ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’. In the context of ‘official’ historic cities, a few improvements can be noted in terms of how heritage in these contexts is conceptualized and understood. Urban heritage studies often acknowledge the challenges to managing historic cities from preventing destruction due to urban development, thus emphasizing the principles, methods, and problems regarding the protection of historical urban areas under transformation. The ‘deep city’ perspective is promoting a ‘post-rational aesthetics’ which is valuing ruins, rubbish, junk and trash as heritage. The urban heritage is visible in the city’s name, monuments, architectural details, streets, parks and urban spaces, to name just a few places. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
