Figure and ground: an English view of the conservation of historic public spaces

Nigel Walter

nigelesque@gmail.com
Department of Archaeology, University of York, The King's Manor, York YO1 7EP (United Kingdom)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1152-522X

Abstract

This paper considers some aspects of the way historic public space is understood in England, drawing on a selection of relevant guidance and research published by Historic England. This builds a picture of how public spaces are dealt with in official heritage publications in England, and how this relates to international discussion, particularly the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach. This is followed by some reflections on figure-ground mapping, which leads to a brief discussion of the “Townscape” campaign of The Architectural Review. The paper concludes with reflections on the implications for conservation arising from broader perception of city as cultural landscape.

Keywords:

Historic Urban Landscape, Historic England, change, Townscape, Gordon Cullen

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Published
2023-12-16

Cited by

Walter, N. (2023). Figure and ground: an English view of the conservation of historic public spaces. Protection of Cultural Heritage, (16), 45–58. https://doi.org/10.35784/odk.3609

Authors

Nigel Walter 
nigelesque@gmail.com
Department of Archaeology, University of York, The King's Manor, York YO1 7EP United Kingdom
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1152-522X

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