Value in the View

All over the world, cities are facing growing pressure todevelop upwards with tall buildings that have a direct impact upon their visualcharacter. In reaction, systems of view protection have been developed toconserve the familiar visual experience of cities. Such developments, and theeffectiveness of systems of view protection, continue to be both politicallyand financially risky for developers, architects, planners and politiciansalike. Controversy highlights the lack of both a scholarly and practicalunderstanding of the ideas that underpin view protection policy – where didthey originate? What do they mean? How do they work? And what are theirconsequences?Value in the View: Conserving Historic Urban Views presentsreaders with a comprehensive study of the ideas and philosophies at work inpolicies of view protection. The power of UNESCO’s policy of view protection isinvestigated through six studies of contemporary cities (London, Dresden, StPetersburg, Istanbul and Vancouver). With the idea of ‘the view’ at its core,this book examines how dominant international ideas of heritage areconstructed, maintained and reinforced, and explores how they exert power overthe urban and architectural form of contemporary cities. It’s a highly engagingguide that will aid practitioners in the implementation of policy and design ofdevelopment within historic urban contexts, as well as contributing toscholarly debate on the protection of views in architecture and planning.