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ABSTRACT
The concept of sustainable development continues to influence urban planning, and one of the strategies planners use to generate sustainable urban growth is the densification of urban districts. Because densification projects often take place in historic environments, however, this model might represent a challenge to the preservation of cultural heritage. With its emphasis on economic, social and environmental concerns, the popular tripartite sustainability model has achieved hegemony. This paper provides a discussion on what may be considered a fourth pillar of sustainability: cultural sustainability. By incorporating concepts from cultural economics, we will draw attention to how cultural heritage represents cultural value and can be considered alongside other sustainability concerns. The cultural value represented by heritage will be illustrated by referencing three ongoing Norwegian urban densification projects. The discussion leads to the conclusion that it is preferable in urban planning strategies to operate with a clear cultural component. This conclusion calls for adding a distinguishable fourth cultural pillar in the sustainability model.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. For example: Mouratidis, “Rethinking How Built Environments Influence Subjective Well-being”; Næss, “Urban Planning and Sustainable Development”; and Troutman, “A Growth Machine’s Plan B.”
2. For some exceptions, see: Ernston and Sörlin, “Weaving Protective Stories”; and Dovey, Woodcock and Wood, “Regulation Place-identity in Inner-city Melbourne.”
3. Næss, “Urban Planning and Sustainable Development,” 507–508.
4. Burton, “The Compact City,” 1987.
5. Molotch, “The City as a Growth Machine,” 320.
6. Neuman, “The Compact City Fallacy,” 23.
7. World Commission on Environment and Development.
8. Elkington, Cannibals with Forks.
9. Skrede, “What May Culture Contribute to Urban Sustainability?” 416; and Benton-Short and Short, Cities and Nature, 442.
10. Campbell, “Green Cities, Growing Cities, Just Cities,” 296–298.
11. Mayer, “Contesting the Neoliberalization of Urban Governance,” 92; and Andersen and Skrede, “Planning for a Sustainable Oslo.”
12. Næss, “Urban Planning and Sustainable Development,” 510.
13. Dryzek, The Politics of the Earth, 132.
14. Skrede, “What May Culture Contribute to Urban Sustainability?” 418–419.
15. Throsby, “Culturally sustainable development?” 135–136.
16. Hawkes, “The Fourth Pillar of Sustainability.”
17. Nurse, “Culture as the Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development.”
18. Hawkes, “The Fourth Pillar of Sustainability,” 3–7.
19. Skrede, “What may culture contribute to urban sustainability?” 418.
20. Nurse, “Culture as the Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development,” 38.
21. See note 19 above.
22. Dessein et al., Culture in, for and as Sustainable Development, 6.
23. Ibid., 25.
24. Ibid., 14, 25.
25. Ibid., 29.
26. Ibid., 30.
27. Stevenson, Rowe and McKay, “Convergence in British Cultural Policy,” 261.
28. Dessein et al., “Culture in, for and as Sustainable Development,” 29–31.
29. Hawkes, “The Fourth Pillar of Sustainability”; and Skrede, “What May Culture Contribute to Urban Sustainability?” 418.
30. Campbell, “Green Cities, Growing Cities, Just Cities,” 296.
31. See note 26 above.
32. Gibbs and Krueger, “Containing the Contradictions of Rapid Development?” 96.
33. Neumayer, Weak versus Strong Sustainability, 20, 21.
34. Ibid., 21–24.
35. See note 32 above.
36. Throsby, “Heritage Economics,” 50, 51.
37. See note 36 above.
38. Throsby, The Economics of Cultural Policy, 135.
39. Berg, “Cultural Heritage as a Resource for Property Development,” 314.
40. Ready and Navrud, Valuing Cultural Heritage, 3, 4.
41. Throsby, “Heritage Economics,” 52.
42. See note 40 above.
43. Hølleland, Skrede and Holmgaard, “Cultural Heritage and Ecosystem Services,” 222.
44. Towse, A Textbook of Cultural Economics, 9.
45. Belfiore and Bennett, The Social Impact of the Arts, 7; and Skrede, “What May Culture Contribute to Urban Sustainability?” 421.
46. Bandarin van Oers, The Historic Urban Landscape, 7–10.
47. Myklebust, “Kulturminnevernets begrunnelse,” 12.
48. O’brien, “Livable Historic City Cores and Enabling Environments,” 12.
49. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Destination Culture, 152.
50. Throsby, “Heritage Economics,” 54.
51. See note 50 above.
52. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, “World Heritage and Cultural Economics,” 30.
53. Throsby, “Heritage Economics,” 55, 56.
54. Fredheim and Khalaf, “The Significance of Values.”
55. Darvill, “Value Systems and the Archaeological Resource,” 60–62.
56. Yrstad and Schofield, “Remembering Høyblokka,” 60.
57. The Directorate for Cultural Heritage, “Anbefaler bevaring av Høyblokka.”
58. Yrstad and Schofield, “Remembering Høyblokka,” 63.
59. See note 58 above.
60. See note 56 above.
61. Yrstad and Schofield, “Remembering Høyblokka,” 65.
62. Elton, “Riv skiten!”
63. Lund, “Regjeringskvartalet.”
64. See note 63 above.
65. The Municipality of Oslo, “Smart, trygg, grønn”; and The Municipality of Oslo, “Kommuneplan for Oslo.”
66. Klette, “Osloborgerne møtte byrådene.”
67. The Municipality of Oslo, “Smart, trygg, grønn,” 37.
68. Fredrikstad Municipality, “Fredrikstad mot 2030.”
69. 14 July 2017.
70. Aldridge, “Studenthus, kunstsenter eller grønn lunge?”
71. For example: Smith, Uses of Heritage; Jones, “Wrestling with the Social Value of Heritage”; and Schofield, “Heritage Expertise and the Everyday.”
72. Throsby, “Cultural Economics,” 50, and Neumayer, Weak versus Strong Sustainability, 1.
73. Næss, “Urban Planning and Sustainable Development,” 8; and Skrede, “Sustainable Urban Development in a Neoliberal Age,” 8.
74. Holman and Ahlfeldt, “No Escape?”
75. Zahirovic-Herbert and Chatterjee, “Historic Preservation and Residential Property Values,” 369.
76. Dovey, Woodcock and Wood, “Regulation Place-identity in Inner-city Melbourne,” 2597.
77. Jones and Evans, “Rescue Geography.”
78. Neumayer, Weak versus Strong Sustainability, 3; and Throsby, “Cultural Economics,” 51.
79. Moro et al., “Does the Housing Market Reflect Cultural Heritage?” 2900, 2901.
80. Alawadi, “Place Attachment as a Motivation for Community Preservation,” 2973.
81. UNESCO, “Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape.”
82. Khalaf, “A Proposal to Apply the Historic Urban Landscape Approach.”
83. Harvey, “The Art of Rent”; Zukin, “The Social Production of Urban Cultural Heritage”; and Chang and Huang, “Reclaiming the City,” 2096–2099.
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Notes on contributors
Joar Skrede
Joar Skrede (PhD) is a sociologist working primarily with Urban Studies, Heritage Studies and Discourse Studies.
Sveinung Krokann Berg
Sveinung Krokann Berg is a human geographer primarily engaged with Urban Studies, Heritage Economics and the Heritage Industry.