Valuing Immovable Cultural Heritage as a Generator of Opportunities for the Revival of Local Identity

In: Lex localis: revija za lokalno samoupravo ; journal of local self-government ; Zeitschrift für lokale Selbstverwaltung, Band 13, Heft 3, S. 719

Abstract

Value is the core of heritage conservation; it is what justifies legal regulations for conserving built heritage and financial investments for its maintenance and suggests usefulness and benefits of the heritage as a resource for regional growth and sustainability. Classifying (by means of proclamation) immovable property as being a part of monumental heritage has been the central instrument of heritage protection law. The basis of protection is identifying the (object of) public interest, and this identification ex lege commences legal protection, i.e. conservation regimes are established on proclaimed immovable monuments. Even though values are widely understood to be critical to understanding for heritage conservation, there is but little knowledge on how the whole range of values may be assessed in the context of decision-making and establishing the significance of the built heritage in question. This paper seeks to examine the role of built heritage as property development and its impact on local identity. A critical review of financial management and the attitude of state and local government towards built heritage is also undertaken. Adapted from the source document.