Values in Cities: Urban Heritage in Twentieth-Century Australia

Description

Examining urban heritage in twentieth-century Australia, James Lesh reveals how evolving ideas of value and significance shaped cities and places. Over decades, a growing number of sites and areas were found to be valuable by communities and professionals. Places perceived to have value were often conserved. Places perceived to lack value became subject to modernisation, redevelopment, and renewal. From the 1970s, alongside strengthened activism and legislation, with the innovative Burra Charter (1979), the values-based model emerged for managing the aesthetic, historic, scientific, and social significance of historic environments. Values thus transitioned from an implicit to an overt component of urban, architectural, and planning conservation. The field of conservation became a noted profession and discipline. Conservation also had a broader role in celebrating the Australian nation and in reconciling settler colonialism for the twentieth century. Integrating urban history and heritage studies, this book provides the first longitudinal study of the twentieth-century Australian heritage movement. It advocates for innovative and reflexive modes of heritage practice responsive to urban, social, and environmental imperatives. As the values-based model continues to shape conservation worldwide, this book is an essential reference for researchers, students, and practitioners concerned with the past and future of cities and heritage. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements Foreword Chapter 1: Introduction: Conservation, Cities, and Values Australia’s Heritage Cities Conservation in Twentieth-century Australia Notes Chapter 2: Settler-Colonial Foundations, 1900s–30s Australia’s Nineteenth-Century Cities Enthusiasts Architecture Planning Legacies Notes Chapter 3: The Establishment of the National Trust, 1940s–60s Establishment Promotion and Advocacy Identification and Classification Legacies Notes Chapter 4: The Modern Field, 1950s–60s Modernism and Cities Architecture Planning National Policy-making Legacies Notes Chapter 5: The Heritage Movement, 1960s–70s Changing Cities Heritage Movement Battlegrounds Conservation Transitions Legacies Notes Chapter 6: National Estate Visions, 1970s Genealogies The Inquiry New Policy Directions Priorities Legacies Notes Chapter 7: Professionalisation and the Burra Charter, 1970s Australia and the Venice Charter, 1964 Remaking the Field, 1973–75 Challenges in the Field, 1975–76 Establishing Australia ICOMOS, 1976–78 From Guidelines to Charter, 1978–79 Adopting the Burra Charter, 1979– Legacies Notes Chapter 8: Frameworks, Tools, Criteria, 1980s–90s Adopting Frameworks Refining Values Archaeology and Scientific Value Architecture and Aesthetic Value History and Historic Value Social Value Management Tools and Documentation Standardising Criteria Legacies Notes Chapter 9: Changing Cities, Evolving Values, 1980s–90s Neoliberalism and Postmodernism City Centres Residential Areas ‘Heritage Mafia’ Revising the Burra Charter (1999) Legacies Notes Chapter 10: Conclusion: The Past and Future of Conservation Evolutions in Conservation Legacies Notes Afterword Index