Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
identify 'urban growth boundaries', outside which
no new urban development is permitted. Not only
does this help to protect 'the wider historic
landscape' from continued sprawl and 'edge cities',
but this tactic concentrates the tax dollar within
the city and thus permits expenditure on more
traditional preservationist concerns.
Capacity
'The fundamental planning problem facing
historic cities is the tension between the need to
conserve the physical fabric of the city (both its
core and its setting) and the demands of the
activities currently taking place within it or
attracted to it' (Ove Arup
et al
. 1994: p. 6). How
much capacity for continued growth do historic
centres have, particularly in the face of continued
pressures for business and retail use in the central
business district (CBD), suburban expansion and
intensification, and recreation and tourism—and
all of the transport needs that such uses generate?
Pioneering research in Chester (
ibid.
: p. 14) has
developed a methodology to explore these issues
for historic centres. It explores the concept of
'carrying capacity' in terms of
Culture and conflict
Culture is central to issues of conservation and
heritage. Cultural processes through time produce
the urban landscapes that we choose to
conserve—itself a cultural phenomenon. In this
sense, townscape conservation reflects many of the
concerns of contemporary cultural geography in
that culture is seen as a major, rather than residual,
factor in social (especially urban) life; and at issue
is the nature of relationships between the cultural,
economic and political processes leading to the
production, use, representation and modification
of townscapes. But one key problem is that
cultures change through time: war, conquest,
disease, exploitation, as well as periods of rapid
cultural evolution such as the Industrial
Revolution, are difficult at the time and result in a
range of heritages and heritage choices. If 'history
is written by the victor' then so, too, is heritage
selected by and interpreted for the victor,
conqueror, exploiter or survivor. Box 24.3
examines conservation in a post-colonial city,
where there was much scope for conflict in the
selection and interpretation of heritage—
although, in the event, these conflicts have been
minimised.
•
physical capacity,
the amount of space available
for an activity;
•
ecological capacity:
the ability of the space to
absorb the uses; and
•
perceptual
(or
behavioural
)
capacity:
estimates of
capacity in terms of personal satisfaction.
The approach first carries out a range of
quantitative technical assessments of key
indicators, including emission levels, traffic flows,
noise levels and pedestrian density, and comparing
them to tolerance thresholds. Second, a range of
perception studies of local residents and
organisations, using a variety of techniques, gains
qualitative data on what is liked or not liked about
the city. Combining both approaches produces a
capacity framework. This may then be tested
against a range of scenarios showing the different
long-term ways in which the city could develop
and function, resulting in planning and
management guidelines. However, as Strange
(1997) concludes, despite widespread interest the
Chester example is the only such study to date;
and the wider applicability of the capacity
concept, and its use in generating sustainable
development policies, is not yet completely clear.
A closely related theme, developed more in the
USA, is that of 'growth management'. State and
local ordinances may stipulate that settlements
Townscape conservation and perception
Too often, 'arguments for the social, psychological
and aesthetic significance of the conserved
townscape are taken for granted and rarely
addressed in any explicit manner…. As such,
conservation policy is shackled by the stigma of
subjectivity and is open to accusations of elitism'
(Hubbard 1993: p. 361). Studies of those who
actively participate in conservation, through
membership of organisations of activities,
