ABSTRACT
This book has discussed the revitalization of historic urban quarters. These quarters have a significant sense of place — a particular ambience — that derives from their history, architecture and townscape. Over the past two or three decades there has been an increasing awareness of the inherent qualities of such places. The change of attitudes described in Chapter Three, has made them a desirable, but scarce, commodity. Indeed some cities, such as Sacremento, have tried artificially to manufacture historic character to attract people and investment. To ward off the threat of large-scale clearance or gradual decay and demolition, informal, often middle-class, pressure groups have campaigned to raise public awarenesss and consciousness, and also to have these historic areas preserved. Thus, rather than being demolished and redeveloped as was often the case in the 1950s and 1960s, many historic urban quarters are now being revitalized to become lively, vital, animated parts of cities (Figure 8.1). This new lease of life may often be the result of having acquired new functions, such as housing, tourism and related facilities. The quarter once again becomes an attractive and desirable place in which to invest, live, work and play.
