On Monday 21st June UNESCO in Paris held a Zoom meeting on the topic of the Historic Urban Landscape initiative for World Heritage Sites in urban locations. A team from the Durham Castle and Cathedral World Heritage Site and the City of Durham Neighbourhood Plan Working Party were invited to speak. They presented a case study ‘Neighbourhood Plans: supporting a World Heritage Site‘.

You can read the Durham presentation.

HUL-Anniversary-Durham-presentation

The meeting was recorded and is available on YouTube.

Previously the City of Durham Parish Council submitted the Neighbourhood Plan to UNESCO as an example of management practices, events, and activities related to World Heritage and historic cities. The Neighbourhood Plan contains policies to protect and enhance the World Heritage Site and the heritage and green and blue assets within the setting surrounding the World Heritage Site.

Theme 2(a): A beautiful and Historic City – Heritage
Theme 2(b): A Beautiful and Historic City – Green Infrastructure

The Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) is an approach to the management of heritage resources by recognising the wider context in which they are placed. This includes the broader urban context and its geographical setting, the social and cultural context and the interconnections between all these tangible and intangible elements.

In support of the City of Durham Parish Council’s aims for the future of the parish, our logo celebrates the forces that have helped shape the Durham we see today.

its nationwide contacts via north- south road and railway routes
its unique townscape shaped by the river banks
its past associations with the black diamond of coal
its reputation as the ‘jewel in the crown’ forged by religion, university and commerce
its protection by the encircling green belt of open countryside.