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U. Herbig, C. Jäger-Klein, G. Styhler-Aydin:
"Historic Urban Landscapes and World Heritage Status - Reflections on Experiences gained In Vienna (Austria) and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)";
Vortrag: Urban Cultural Landscape: Past, Present, Future. 5th International Cultural Landscape Conference, Teheran; 17.11.2014 - 18.11.2014; in: "Urban Cultural Landscape: Past, Present, Future", (2014), 18 S.

Urban landscapes are subject to continuous change and development. And if planning within an urban context is a challenging task in itself, this is all the more true for planning in historic urban landscapes, where even more care has to be taken. In some cases, the development of a historic urban fabric often has to begin with the rehabilitation of an area which has been neglected.
Saudi Arabia is renowned as the cradle of Islam and as one of the main oil-exporting countries. It is also a land rich in culture, with an exceptional architectural heritage that is at risk. A group of researchers from the Vienna University of Technology had the opportunity to be involved in the recording and documentation of examples of the historic architecture in Al Balad, the old city centre of Jeddah. In close cooperation with representatives of the municipality of Al Balad and academic partners at the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, ideas for the rehabilitation of this outstanding historic city centre were. The basis for this exchange of ideas was the experience with the development of the historic architecture of the capital of Austria. Today, Vienna is well known for its urban landscape; the city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and it is visited by millions of tourists every year. Although the path to the development was not always smooth, and has had its share of obstacles and setbacks and is an ongoing process, challenges are a fruitful ground for developing new ideas and approaches and could be applied to Jeddah, which has very recently attained World Heritage status.
This paper will outline suggestions for the sustainable rehabilitation of the old city centre of Jeddah, based on the development in Vienna and experience gained during the project in Al Balad, to safeguard an exceptional part of the world´s cultural heritage.

Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah; UNESCO World Heritage; Historic Centre of Vienna; Restoration; planning within existing structures