Brian Goodey

Townscape heritage initiatives evaluation: Methodology for assessing the effectiveness of Heritage Lottery Fund projects in the United Kingdom

As a result of various social and economic factors, many historic townscapes in the United Kingdom and elsewhere have declined over the last half century. There have been many attempts throughout the world to revitalise such urban heritage areas, but the actual effectiveness of few of these schemes has been systematically evaluated. Good public policy choices would greatly benefit from such evaluation. The UKs Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) decided in 1999 that their Townscape Heritage Initiatives would be an exception. A research team from Oxford Brookes University was engaged to undertake a ten-year study of the £52 million being spent in about sixty British towns and cities. A sample of about one third of projects receiving HLF support are being scrutinised. The evaluation methodology is outlined, along with explanations of some challenges faced in such a large programme. The four mechanisms for gathering research data are explained, the origin and rationale for the sixteen indicators being employed are described, and the approach to overall evaluation outlined. Finally there is an overview of the baseline stage of the work, highlighting key issues from a research perspective, and briefly reflecting on findings to date.

New Britain, new heritage: The consumption of a heritage culture

Abstract Each month in Britain marks a further, official, distancing from the past and its memorials, as we move closer to the selected Millennium marker. Heritage has a particularly low profile at present with policies for destruction of the House of Lords encouraging increasing ridicule aimed at legacies from the past. In terms of media coverage, at least, the heritage bubble has burst, as indeed it had to. As soon as modest, individual or community, breaths were marshalled into corporate puff, the sheer size of the national preservation and presentation enterprise hinted at its own demise. Nicholas Howard, he of Castle Howard, provided an appropriate caution in 1993, when he noted:

Spreading the benefits of heritage visitor quarters

Abstract Heritage has come to play a very significant, though largely unrecognised, role in the evolution of urban design. Central city heritage quarters are a major response to the development of the urban fringes, and have developed an internationally recognisable form. This paper examines the characteristics and assets of such quarters and also considers their impact on the urban populace, and their implications for future urban design work in the intermediate zone.