Heritage conservation ideologies analysis : historic urban landscape approach for a Mediterranean historic city case study

Abstract EN

This paper highlights the different ideologies in the history of the conservation movement.

It shows a long progress of theories implied through history since it started in early classical ages until the modern globalisation era, and highlights certain points as optimistic strategy to be applied in the conservation of historic city.

The ideologies' reviews both the material-based approaches in conservation applied in the beginning of the conservation movement in Europe and the later values-based approaches developed internationally.

After reviewing history of ideologies, the methodology used in this paper is carrying an evaluation for the contemporary approaches – in the first part of the research – by analysing them according to three factors: selectivity, authenticity/integrity and sustainability, in order to find the optimum ideology that counters the challenges of the 21st century in historic city's cores.

As a result of the analysis carried out, the Historic Urban Landscape approach was verified to be that optimum ideology.

The application will be in the form of recommendations that address each step considered by the theory.

The second part of the paper focuses on The Historic Urban Landscape Approach, and it includes its application specifically on a Mediterranean historic city (the old city of Tyre-Lebanon) and favours it as the optimum conservation ideology.

The research aims to validate the progress in the conservation approaches by examining its historic evolution.

The evaluation of the actual approaches in conservation projects demonstrates the positivism of the communal ideology to sustain these projects.