ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the management challenges that historic Asian cities inscribed on the World Heritage List face and the need for them to develop integrated management systems. The information is based on the outcome of the UNESCO’s Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting of World Heritage in Asia and the Pacific that was carried out between 2010 and 2012. The vast amount of information that was collected has sadly only been partially used to determine priorities in planning related to World Heritage, with insufficient research having been done on the real implications. In this chapter, comparisons are made on factors affecting urban World Heritage properties in Asia along with their protection and management. This would include urban sites of Bukhara, Galle, Lijiang, Luang Prabang, Macao, and Melaka. A detailed discussion of Kathmandu and Samarkand is also given. The need for new tools and a broader collaboration with relevant related sectors has become clearer as conservation practitioners begin a dialogue with those involved in the development sectors. This has come to a major wrangling as links are desperately made between heritage and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
