BCD 2018

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 1 27 C AT H E D R A L COMMU N C I AT I O N S C E L E B R AT I N G T W E N T Y F I V E Y E A R S O F T H E B U I L D I N G CO N S E R VAT I O N D I R E C TO R Y 1 9 9 3 – 2 0 1 8 England as ‘the process of managing change to a significant place in its setting in ways that will best sustain its heritage values, while recognising opportunities to reveal or reinforce those values for present and future generations’ (see Further Information, Drury). It is also often agreed that assessing the values attributed to heritage is a very important activity in any conservation effort, since values strongly shape the decisions that are made (see Further Information, Torre). A useful definition of heritage-led urban regeneration is ‘investment in the city’s historic fabric, its buildings and spaces, in order to help secure physical, cultural and economic regeneration in that city for the benefit of all those living, working and visiting there’ (see Further Information, EAHTR). However, in some cases, the regeneration of historic areas has resulted in standardisation and gentrification when associated values and cultural contexts were not properly considered. Moreover, heritage- based regeneration projects can falter for a wide range of reasons, including unexpected costs which undermine viability, difficulties finding a beneficial use for a listed building, or abortive attempts to attract sufficient public interest (see Further Information, EH). Recently, the acceleration of development pressures has focussed attention on the spectrum of major challenges facing the process of safeguarding and protecting world heritage sites. Two sites in the UK, both of which were inscribed on the World Heritage List, have highlighted these challenges in different ways. Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City was listed in 2004 but moved to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2012, while the city of Bath was inscribed on the list in 1987. Although both are facing the challenges of large-scale developments, Bath seems to be more successful than Liverpool in safeguarding its outstanding universal value along with socio-cultural and economic developments. A brief overview of the world heritage context of both cities and corresponding management plans is presented below to illuminate the different approaches. Bath’s World Heritage Site Bath became the only complete world heritage city in the UK in 1987. The decision was attributed to three of the ten criteria used to assess outstanding universal value (see http:// bc-url.com/whs for the full list): Criterion (i) (human creative genius): Bath’s neo-classical Palladian crescents, terraces, circus and squares, spreading out over the surrounding hills and down to its riverside centre, demonstrate the integration of architecture, urban design and landscape setting, and the deliberate creation of a beautiful city. Criterion (ii) (interchange of human values): Bath exemplifies the 18th-century move away from the inward-looking uniform street layouts of Renaissance cities and towards the idea of ‘planting’ buildings and cities in the landscape to achieve picturesque views and forms – a style echoed around Europe, particularly in the 19th century. Criterion (iv) (significant stage in human history): Bath reflects two great eras in human history: Roman and Georgian. Liverpool’s World Heritage Sites Liverpool was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004 by the designation of six areas in the historic centre and docklands which met three of the criteria: Criterion (ii) (interchange of human values): Liverpool was a major centre generating innovative technologies and methods in dock construction and port management in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. It thus contributed to the creation of international mercantile systems throughout the British Commonwealth. Criterion (iii) (testimony to cultural tradition): the city and the port of Liverpool are an exceptional testimony to the development of maritime mercantile culture in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, contributing to the building up of the British Empire. It was a centre for the slave trade until its abolition in 1807, and for emigration from northern Europe to America. Criterion (iv) (significant stage in human history): Liverpool is an outstanding example of a world mercantile port city. It represents the early development of global trading and cultural connections throughout the British Empire. Subsequently, both cities began to attract more visitors and new development promoting tourism and other economic benefits. In Bath, the major development projects are the Bath transportation package, western riverside redevelopment, Southgate project and public realm enhancement. Previous management plans of the Bath World Heritage Site identified a range of socio-economic, physical and structural challenges facing the sustainable future of the site, and identified the city as a home for residents, businesses, education and visitors. The current (2016–2022) management plan of Bath is structured in a way that it recognises the site with its inclusive tangible and intangible elements, past and current, and integrates well with local policy guidance. The current management plan explains the attributes of outstanding universal value and links them with other natural, intangible and tangible values associated with the sites and its communities. Similarly, a number of heritage-led regeneration projects have been delivered in the Liverpool World Heritage Site. Examples include the restoration of Albert Dock, the Canning Georgian Quarter and Bluecoat Chambers, in addition to a number of tall buildings in the heritage areas of Liverpool. However, more challenges have emerged and were underlined during the World Heritage Committee’s 30th session in 2006. The dominant scale and intrusive design of the substitute projects at the Pier Head, the waterfront Museum of Liverpool and three buildings on Mann Island raised concerns and the committee urged the UK government to set in place clear strategies for design briefs and for the overall townscape, skyline and river front. The first joint UNESCO/ICOMOS Monitoring Mission to Liverpool in October 2006 stressed the importance of producing guidance documents for future development. Consequently, Liverpool City Council issued the Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City World Heritage Site Supplementary Planning Document in 2009 as a key tool for managing the WHS. This document identified opportunities for high-rise buildings immediately adjacent to the WHS and inside the buffer zone, in effect anticipating Liverpool Waters. However, during the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2011, extreme concern at the proposed development Nicholas Grimshaw’s roof-top baths of limestone and glass, slotted neatly into the Georgian townscape of Bath alongside the conserved and regenerated Cross Bath, top right (Photo: Jonathan Taylor)