ABSTRACT
Many of the historic quarters featured in this book were rescued from comprehensive redevelopment and various road building schemes by designation as conservation or historic preservation areas. It is only since the 1960s that historic areas and quarters of cities have had a significant re-evaluation of their positive qualities. Similarly it is only relatively recently that there has been a widespread public consensus in favour of conservation. This consensus was initially reactionary; the public had had enough of the brutal change that was an intrinsic part of post-war policies of comprehensive redevelopment and inner-area road building. They desired familiar environments to be improved but kept intact. What is equally important was an official and professional ‘desire’ in favour of the conservation of historic buildings and areas, and the emergence of publicly sponsored, systematic attempts to preserve historic environments. The rise of the lobby for conservation and policies for preservation and conservation are related to the change from an orthodox Modernism to the various strands and types of postmodernism. Thus, the rise of conservation and the fall of the Modern Movement are inextricably linked. As Barnett (1982, p. 37) states: ‘The historic preservation movement is the most important change to have occurred to architecture and urban design since the so-called Modern Movement, which can be considered its antithesis.’
