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.
Author(s): James Lesh
Series: Routledge Advances in Urban History
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 337
City: New York
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
