ABSTRACT
The city of Sanaa has inspired travelers, historians and architects for centuries from medieval geographers and travelers, to present day devotees of 'vernacular' architecture and heritage sites. The UNESCO Campaign for Sanaa has been internationally recognized, most notably by an Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1995. The idea of the old city as a functioning city of the Islamic ages still resonates with many in Sanaa. In the postwar period conservation emerged as a distinct profession, separate from architectural and planning practice. Critics of the World Heritage Convention fall into two camps: 'insider' critics, mainly professionals concerned with the definition of authenticity; and scholars who focus on the discourse itself, and its application at specific sites. The globalizing tendencies of heritage, then, must be considered alongside those of high modernism and the related discourse of modernization.
