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Current Trends in Urban Heritage Conservation: Medieval Historic Arab City Centers

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  • Ahmed Mohamed Shehata

    (Department of Islamic Architecture, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah al-Mukarramah 24382, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Traditional conservation efforts did not improve the conditions in most historic urban centers of Arab cities. The internationally adopted shift in historic urban conservation grants better urban vitality and sustainability for these areas. This study investigates the existing trends and forthcoming changes in urban conservation and their implication on historical centers. Urban Heritage Conservation UHC trends were reviewed, conservation parameters were defined, and quality aspects of successful historic urban conservation were identified, and an assessment framework was developed to evaluate the resulting conserved urban heritage. Two case studies of Arab cities, Jeddah and Aman, were analyzed. The findings highlight the most common urban issues such as reusing historic buildings, traffic congestion, and lack of funds. The impact of urban management on historic areas’ quality was revealed. Moreover, the paper ends with recommendations for conservation authorities. These include engaging residents in the conservation efforts, adopting more innovative traffic solutions to ease congestions, turning the historic area into a pedestrian-friendly space, attracting visitors through arranging cultural events, creating new job opportunities through heritage, and improving the image of the areas through urban regulations. The paper’s findings would contribute to the knowledge related to Urban Heritage Conservation (UHC), and its recommendations would help practitioners and decision-makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmed Mohamed Shehata, 2022. "Current Trends in Urban Heritage Conservation: Medieval Historic Arab City Centers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-30, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:2:p:607-:d:718966
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Emanuele Naboni & Simona Azzali & Massimo Imparato, 2025. "Testing a Digital Sustainable Regenerative Teaching Framework in an Architectural Undergraduate Design Studio," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-27, May.
    2. Jiaxuan Wang & Yixi Gu & Xinyi Su & Li Ran & Kaili Zhang, 2025. "Spatial Analysis of Urban Historic Landscapes Based on Semiautomatic Point Cloud Classification with RandLA-Net Model—Taking the Ancient City of Fangzhou in Huangling County as an Example," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-32, May.
    3. Mustafa Eyyamoğlu & Ayten Özsavaş Akçay, 2022. "Assessment of Historic Cities within the Context of Sustainable Development and Revitalization: The Case of the Walled City North Nicosia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.
    4. Tamara Lukić & Ivana Blešić & Tatjana Pivac & Milka Bubalo Živković & Bojan Đerčan & Sanja Kovačić & Marija Cimbaljević & Dajana Bjelajac, 2022. "Urban Image at the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Case Study Novi Sad (Serbia)," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Ahmed Mohamed Shehata, 2023. "Sustainable-Oriented Development for Urban Interface of Historic Centers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, February.
    6. Alexandru Bogdan & Dorina Chambre & Dana Maria Copolovici & Tudor Bungau & Constantin C. Bungau & Lucian Copolovici, 2022. "Heritage Building Preservation in the Process of Sustainable Urban Development: The Case of Brasov Medieval City, Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-21, June.
    7. Mohamed Ibrahim El-belkasy & Sahl Abdullah Wahieb, 2022. "Sustainable Conservation and Reuse of Historical City Center Applied Study on Jeddah—Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-21, April.

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