Redefining urban heritage boundaries for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): the World Heritage property of the Hwaseong Fortress, Republic of Korea

Gaon Ko and Chung Ho Kim

International Journal of Urban Sciences, 2025, vol. 29, issue 1, 151-174

Abstract: This study highlights the need to strengthen the conservation and management of World Heritage properties by redefining their boundaries for sustainable cities and communities, in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The boundaries of World Heritage properties are defined at the time of inscription and serve as the target area for protection, management, and use. However, many sites inscribed in the 1990s were designated without clear boundary definitions, which may pose a threat to sustainability due to boundary uncertainty in urban areas under development pressure. Therefore, this study discusses the essential measures for the sustainable protection and management of heritage sites by redefining the boundary of the Hwaseong Fortress, a World Heritage site. For this purpose, a qualitative content analysis using MAXQDA and an overlay analysis using ArcGIS pro were conducted to reach the following conclusions. The analysis of the Hwaseong Fortress attributes identified urban components, in addition to walls and facilities, as attributes that convey the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of this property. However, the boundary at the time of inscription does not consider the inner and outer urban components as heritage, and the boundary used in Korea also does not include them, so it was confirmed that the attributes other than the fortress are not managed as World Heritage. Therefore, it is necessary to change the perspective and consider the Hwaseong Fortress as an urban heritage site. By strengthening the Hwaseong Fortress as an urban heritage site and giving it the protection of the World Heritage designation it deserves, it will ultimately be able to contribute to the SDGs. To achieve this, it is suggested that the boundary be redefined to include all attributes of the property based on the OUV attributes of the Hwaseong Fortress, similar to the approach used in this study.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/12265934.2025.2463015

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