Knowledge is power: policy analysis of the World Heritage property of Edinburgh

Current theory defines conservation as ‘managing thoughtful change’ and recommends a landscape-based approach towards urban heritage management. The recent UNESCO (2011) recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) provides guidance on such a landscape-based approach at an international level. However, it is now up to national and local governments to implement the six steps (A-F) presented in the HUL. By means of a policy assessment, this paper aims to reveal the incorporation of the first step (A), ‘mapping the city’s natural, cultural and human resources’, within the policy of the World Heritage City of Edinburgh. For this purpose a recently (2013) developed assessment framework by Veldpaus and Pereira Roders was used. The framework is based on the HUL approach and the evolution of concepts in international standard setting documents (1963-2011) leading up to the HUL. Using the framework, Edinburgh’s heritage policies were assessed, revealing the state of resource mapping in relation to the HUL recommendation. The results will add to the discussion whether the current policies in Edinburgh are accurate and detailed enough to manage their World Heritage property.