C O N T E X T 1 2 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 31 Conference report: Bamberg, Germany Reconciling conservation and development ‘Dresden Elbe Valley’ was inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list as a cultural landscape in 2004 and deleted from it in 2009. To date it is the only cultural site to be taken off the list. The spectrum of opinions varies from ‘the Dresden landscape is a work of art and the [as yet incomplete] bridge over the Elbe violates it’ to ‘the decision to delete the site was pedantic in the extreme’. Whatever the personal conclusion (the saga has already inspired numerous PhD theses), the debate has highlighted the importance of methodologies of dialogue to bring together stakeholders, local through to international. This is especially the case in sensitised Germany, where a new crossing of the Danube is planned within the direct field of vision of the historic centre of Regensburg, and a succession of controversies have implicated the distant as well as more immediate setting of Cologne cathedral. In July, the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development, in cooperation with the German Commission for UNESCO, hosted a conference focused on the growing challenges of balancing conservation with development pressures. These pressures can threaten the functional as well as visual integrity of sites, especially where they involve infrastructure, out of scale, and high rise projects. Held in the New Residence at Bamberg, the city that served as a model for integrated urban conservation in Germany in the early 1970s, the event ‘Quality control and conflict management at world heritage sites’ facilitated a valuable exchange of experiences. These included presentations of the visual analysis and impact methodologies that have been undertaken for the proposed bridge in Regensburg, aimed at ensuring a scientifically objective basis for defining solutions. There was also, a presentation from Cologne of techniques for conflict avoidance through the non-partisan moderation of workshops focused on shared objectives: ‘it is the talking to each other that is decisive’. Broadening the international flavour of the conference, a presentation by the Amsterdam urban planning department summarised the planning tools that have been honed for that city. These are founded on a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics that make up the canal district’s unique ‘DNA’ – including the historic parcellation of land and urban morphology, commercial diversity and social mix. Multi-layered research to inform continuity is coupled with a high-buildings policy that protects a two-kilometre-wide outer zone. Articulating and then safeguarding outstanding universal value is central to the world heritage brand. Susan Denyer, world heritage adviser for the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), emphasised that, whereas the definition and application of the concept would necessarily vary over time, what was fixed and non-negotiable was the assessment of outstanding universal value at the date of a site’s inscription. Fresh from Paris, where she took part in the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee, at which concerns were expressed about the latest developments planned for the waterfront at Liverpool, Denyer sent out a clear signal of the need for mediation in that city: moderation focused on shared rather than conflicting interests, coupled with a comprehensive understanding of Liverpool’s unique DNA. In her concluding remarks, Oda Scheibelhuber, director-general for spatial planning, urban development and housing at the Federal ministry, stressed the importance of protection of cultural heritage as a pre-condition of economic development. She spoke of the importance of developing and refining tools that could be adapted to cities generally, not just those on the UNESCO list. Dennis Rodwell, architect-planner, and consultant in cultural heritage and sustainable development Bamberg: the old town hall dates from the 14th century. Bamberg: a view along the river Regnitz.The city served as a model for integrated urban conservation in the 1970s.
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