Built Heritage, Sustainable Development, and Natural Hazards: Flood Protection and UNESCO World Heritage Site Protection Strategies in Krakow, Poland

Anna Porębska, Izabela Godyń, Krzysztof Radzicki, Elżbieta Nachlik and Paola Rizzi
Additional contact information
Anna Porębska: Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Kraków, Poland
Krzysztof Radzicki: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Kraków, Poland
Elżbieta Nachlik: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Kraków, Poland
Paola Rizzi: Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 18, 1-26

Abstract: The protection of larger built-up areas that constitute sections of actively functioning urban zones is a challenge, even under favourable political and economic conditions. The case of Krakow’s historical town centre, which is protected as a historical site by national law and it was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List in 1978, clearly demonstrates how difficult it is to reconcile the passive character of current conservation doctrines with the demands of the free market and growth-oriented economy, when developer pressure is not sufficiently balanced out by public opinion and urban activist movements, when planning tools are incomplete or insufficient, and the criteria according to which strategic decisions are made are of a quantitative rather than a qualitative character. Apart from commonly encountered problems that are associated with the gentrification of town centres or the negative impact of mass tourism, Krakow must also face a growing flood hazard that stems from its specific and unfavourable hydrological and hydrogeological conditions that are compounded by the uncontrolled and uncoordinated expansion of urbanised areas, the decay of the natural environment, and the consequences of climate change. This article presents the multi-aspect site-specific conditions of the historical centre of Krakow, as well as the analysis of its protection as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the context of flood protection, while taking into consideration the environmental, economic, and social dimension of heritage. The critical conclusions that are featured in the work indicate both areas of possible immediate remedial action and the potential directions that new integrated protection strategies would take.

Keywords: UNESCO world heritage site in Krakow; Poland; world heritage site protection and management; protection and preservation of built heritage; flood protection; climate-related radicalisation of natural threats and hazards (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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