Preamble

Most of the ancient cultures, especially the Asians in the ancient past ordered the natural world on cosmological principles and shaped harmonious relation with nature, which ultimately resulted into formation of Urban Cultural Landscapes. Mountains and springs, plains and rivers, were sites and channels of sacred power from historical events and timeless sacred forces in evolving the cultural landscapes. And, geographical features were inscribed by human hands to mark their achievement and accomplishments in the frame of built structures and advanced culture of urban world. Such natural and constructed places commonly became centres of advanced human activities and interaction, serving as pivot of harmonizing the world through their inherent message and underpinning meanings ensembles in the Urban Cultural Landscapes, UCL, and Historic Urban Landscape, HUL. That is how they require special care for understanding and planning, and also care for maintaining them as nexus of visioning future and fulfilling the SDGs as envisioned by the UNO/ UNESCO.

The Urgency & Vision

Cities will dominate the landscape of the future. UN projections indicate that 75% of the human population will be living in cities by 2050. The effects of urbanisation and climate change however are converging in dangerous ways. Cities are major contributors to climate change due to housing, transport and various energy consuming activities. At the same time the way cities are organised also make citizens vulnerable to the effects of climate change and extreme weather. Especially urban areas in the global South are less equipped to react fast and effective. The most affected populations are the marginalized and poor - i.e. slum dwellers in developing countries – who tend to live along riverbanks, on hill slides, near polluted grounds, along waterfronts in coastal areas, and so on.

UNO Habitat III has provoked that framing structure and understanding of Urban Cultural Landscape should be projected in the purview of culture-based regeneration, urban heritage conservation, urban landscape, cultural and creative industries, cultural values, cultural diversity, creative economy, inclusive development, social cohesion, right to cultural heritage, density, mixed-use, strategic territorial governance, and associated issues.

City Approach to Culture and Citizenship

Actually, each city has it owns economic, ecological, cultural and political reality what refers the need to understand the urban landscape and it dynamics ‘Each City Approach’ must be build ‘context specific’. But citizens, men and women, and their daily life are rarely the starting point at the design table of urban solutions. Inclusiveness is a popular term, but real inclusive urban design and implementation processes are exceptional. Active citizenship promotion, active involvement of urban NGOs, residents associations, social entrepreneurs and community groups are needed. The civility and citizenship should be further perceive and practice Culture, as defined in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (2001), i.e. “the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of a society or a social group that encompasses art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs”. We should develop and maintain the Creative cities, those defined as urban complexes where cultural activities are an integral component of the city’s economic and social functioning, for example through support to cultural and creative professionals, enhanced investments in cultural infrastructure, creative industries and new ICTs, or the adoption of bottom-up approaches to urban development.

Historic Urban Landscape is an urban area understood as the result of a historic layering of cultural and natural values and attributes, extending beyond the notion of “historic centre” or “ensemble” to include the broader urban context and its geographical setting: sites’ topography, geomorphology, hydrology and natural features, built environment, both historic and contemporary, infrastructures above and below ground, open spaces and gardens, land use patterns and spatial organization, perceptions and visual relationships, other urban structure elements. It also includes social and cultural practices and values, economic processes and the intangible dimensions of heritage as related to diversity and identity. UNO SDGs and Habitat III rightly mentions the Urban heritage conservation or urban conservation that relates to urban planning processes aimed at preserving cultural values, assets and resources through conserving the integrity and authenticity of urban heritage, while safeguarding intangible cultural assets through a participatory approach.

The planned 6^th ACLA Symposium 2017 will broadly examine the role of Urban Cultural Landscape, UCL, Historic Urban Landscape, HUL, and overall heritagescapes in harmonizing the world, with emphasis on awakening the deeper sense of regenerative strategies and measures and making policies, drawing upon the perspectives of multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural interfaces, within and beyond the world of Asia. The three broad themes are given below:

(A) Urban Cultural Landscape, UCL: Spirit of Place: Evolution of Urban Cultural Landscapes, UCL: historicity and cultural continuity; growth and representation of UCL: symbolism and archetype; cosmological principles: spatiality of time and temporality of space; UCL as nexus of global understanding and harmonizing the world; Assessment and appraisal of UNESCO Reports the issues of UCL and HUL, Historic Urban Landscape; Urban Cultural Landscape as System; Values and images of UCL: archaeological, architectural, historic, scientific, aesthetic, socio-cultural or ecological point of view.

(B) Historic Urban Landscape, HUL: Morphology of Urban Landscapes; attributes and representation: tangible and intangible heritages; Regulatory system of UCL and HUL; Ritual landscape as Urban Heritage: ritualisation process, cosmogram and complexity; Architectural approach to urban heritage and cultural landscapes; Sacred city and cosmic order: Issues of UCL and HUL; Strategies for Urban Development; Quality management.

(C) Regenerating Urban Cultural Landscape: Urban Conservation; Public Policy and Urban Conservation; Urban Heritage Management: Changing scenario; Approaches to Regenerating UCL; Greening the City: Urban Ecology & Urban Foresty; Management of Urban Environment; Issues of preserving heritage in Urban Century; Use of HUL and UCL in alternative cultural and heritage tourism and City planning; ‘Interfaces’ and cultural interaction: sharing the experiences of different groups from different parts of Asia, role of NGOs in mass awakening, and public participation in heritage regeneration programmes; ‘Interfaces’ among urban planners, policy makers, and integrated approach to fulfil SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals; issues of Habitat III and their linkages in planning HUL and UCL.