ECONOMICS UNIQUENESS

GOVERNANCE IN HISTORIC CITY CORE REGENERATION PROJECTS ■ 149
freedom of landlords to dispose of their properties and may constrain business
owners who set up shop in heritage areas. Governments and concessionaries of
public utilities may fi nd it more costly to provide services in these areas due to the
conservation regulations. Households may either derive benefi t or be negatively
aff ected by urban heritage conservation restrictions—possibly valuing living in a
historic city core, possibly being priced out of the market by the process known
as gentrifi cation. Th e process through which the values held by each of the stakeholders
enters into the decision-making process, and the ways in which their contributions
are incorporated in the fi nancing of the conservation and development
process, are critical components of the governance process for historic city cores.
Spheres of Action for Valuing and Allocating Resources
Th e valuation of historic city cores involves actions that occur in several spheres
of social interaction. For instance, the research on the historic or aesthetic value
of a place or building occurs in the realm of the social sciences’ scientifi c inquiry.
Other actions take place in the political arena, such as the enactment of urban
land-use and building regulations to preserve an urban heritage area, and the
allocation of public resources to the conservation eff ort. Some forms of social
interactions are essentially private, such as the decision of a household to acquire a
home in a heritage area. Other actions that are essentially private are still strongly
infl uenced by public regulations. An example would be the philanthropic donation
of private resources to conservation eff orts that is encouraged by and also
bounded by tax exemptions granted by the government. Table 6.1 lists some of
the most signifi cant activities involved in the valuation of urban heritage areas
taking place in diff erent spheres of social interaction.
Two intertwined processes deserve a more detailed analysis: fi rst, the institutional
process of listing and regulating heritage assets, allocating resources for
their protection, and leading the urban heritage conservation process; and, second,
the market processes through which for-profi t private actors get involved.
Th e listing process for urban areas—those containing important or signifi -
cant heritage assets—commonly pertains to a public-private realm and involves
proponents who are usually members of cultural groups, as well as the national
heritage boards that are mostly made up of specialists, academics, and scientists
who oft en are also members of the same socio-cultural strata. Oft en this
is the case when the heritage designation process does not include the aff ected
communities. International treaties and the organizations charged with their
implementation—the World Heritage Convention managed by UNESCO and
other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as the International Council
on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)—play signifi cant roles in advocating
for and promoting the recognition and conservation of listed heritage. Th eir