Further to the appeal made by the Director-General of UNESCO for the safeguard of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls in the present challenging context, the World Heritage Centre is in the process of the elaboration of an Action Plan for the Safeguarding of the Old City.
One of the major fields of intervention identified is the improvement of the quality of the housing stock and of the living conditions of the inhabitants while preserving the ordinary architectural elements of the urban fabric as an essential component of the World Heritage Site of Jerusalem. The objective is to identify tools to assist in guiding the necessary rehabilitation process, while respecting the character of historical buildings.
In this framework, the Spanish funds-in-trust has sponsored collaboration between the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the Ecôle d’Architecture d’Avignon and the College of Technical Architects, Barcelona for the creation of a manual that develops and advises upon best practices for Heritage professionals and artisans involved in the rehabilitation of the Old city of Jerusalem. The final draft will be ready by the end of 2006, whereas it has been decided to postpone the publication until initial testing has been carried out. The draft will be used for on-the-job training courses and envisaged in the next year.