Foreword

Abstract

The present issue of European Spatial Research and Policy is the first of two numbers dedicated to 'Planning systems facing heritage issues in Europe: from protection to management, in the plural interpretations of the values of the past'.The concept arose from a meeting held in June 2013 at the conference on 'Changing Cities' in Skiathos, Greece, where a group of planners decided to compare the experiences we have at the interface between heritage and planning in a range of European countries.European societies are becoming increasingly fond of the historical dimension of their cities.Traces from the past, both physical and cultural, are cherished because they are carrying territorial identities.This evolution has reached the European discourse, with the Florence convention of the Council of Europe (2000), as well as the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities, which states in its Preamble that 'Our cities possess unique cultural and architectural qualities, strong forces of social inclusion and exceptional possibilities for economic development' (Informal Council of the Ministers in charge of Urban Development of the European Union, 2007).At the global level, UNESCO promotes a similar vision.The Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (2011) defines historic urban landscape:[…] the urban area understood as the result of a historic layering of cultural and natural values and attributes, extending beyond the notion of 'historic centre' or 'ensemble' to include the broader urban context and its geographical setting.This wider context includes notably the site's topography, geomorphology, hydrology and natural features, its built environment, both historic and contemporary, its infrastructures above and below ground, its open spaces and gardens, its land use patterns and spatial organization, perceptions and visual relationships, as well as all other elements of the

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