ECONOMICS UNIQUENESS

BOX 5.2
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND PROPERTY VALUES ■ 123
Comprehensive Urban Revitalization Strategies Help
Conserve Jordan’s Historic Cities
Jordan Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Urban Development Project
(Project number 081823)
Total Project Cost: US$71.1 million
Total Loan Amount: US$56 million
Approved: January 2007 – Ongoing
The objectives of the project are to support tourism development in fi ve
historically and culturally important cities—Jerash, Karak, Madaba, Salt, and
Aljoun—and contribute to local economic development. For each of the cities,
a comprehensive, multiyear strategy of investments is underway. The components
of the strategy include (1) improvements to street networks and allied
public spaces; (2) rehabilitation and cleaning of building facades; (3) renovation
and preservation of selected heritage buildings through adaptive reuse; (4) rehabilitation
and upgrading of pivotal urban spaces; (5) support traffi c and parking
management plans; and (6) detailed design guidance and supervision.
Source: Jordan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Urban Development Project Appraisal Document.
For instance, in the historic city center of Quito, Ecuador, the value of old
non-rehabilitated structures and deteriorated space increased ten-fold within a
decade, due to the spillover eff ect of the capital improvement program, as seen in
fi gure 5.6 (Jaramillo 2010).
Th e historic city core of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, was inscribed on the World
Heritage List in 1985. Th e historic city core is also on the national heritage list
and for two decades has been under the protection of a local heritage ordinance.
Within the historic center of Salvador are four neighborhoods, one of which—
Pelourinho—has been the focus of a concentrated strategy of heritage-based
regeneration for 20 years. Th is eff ort, which has included signifi cant publicly
funded infrastructure renewal and building restoration, has paid off in rising
property values. In 2010, an analysis was made of property values in Pelourinho
as compared to two other districts within the historic city core, to the historic
city core as a whole, and to a comparable commercial neighborhood not within
the center. As seen in fi gure 5.7, property values in Pelourinho topped all others
(Mendes Zancheti and Gabriel 2010).