Comment – heritage.city by james lesh

Values-Based Heritage Conservation: Historical Origins and Future Directions

14 September 2023 admin Comment

The Burra Charter and its values-based model is embraced within Australian heritage conservation. For policymaker Max Bourke, it forms ‘the ethical basis for a contemporary “philosophy” of Australian conservation practice [becoming] a sort of “bible”’. Historian Graeme Davison reflects, The Tablets of the Law handed down from Burra have now been translated, like a colonial Book of Leviticus, into the values-based model and an ever-expanding grey literature of heritage statutes, conservation reports, management protocols, and tribunal rulings that are, today, the multi-million-dollar industry of urban conservation management. The entrenchment of values-based heritage means the heritage industry – comprised of consultants and

Lecture on Fed Square: Public Space, Community and Heritage in Melbourne

4 September 2023 admin Comment

On 20 December 2017, the Victorian State Government and Apple Corporation announced plans for a flagship Apple store for Melbourne’s leading public space: Federation Square. The proposal involved the demolition of an original building on the civic square and its replacement by a generic complex. There was an immediate public backlash against the Apple proposal to enter this public space (which had been managed by a government-owned private company). A new advocacy group called Citizens for Melbourne established a campaign called ‘Our City, Our Square’. A key strand of the campaign involved nominating Federation Square for a state heritage listing,

YIMBYs and NIMBYs unite! You can have both heritage protection and more housing

10 July 2023 admin Comment

Heritage conservation has been blamed for making the housing crisis worse by standing in the way of new, higher-density housing. But protecting heritage and increasing housing should be complementary objectives.

Melbourne, Sydney, and the Population Prize

24 April 2023 admin Comment

You’ve probably heard that Melbourne has overtaken Sydney as Australia’s most populous city. This demographic milestone has come about earlier than predicted due to the re-drawing of statistical boundaries, somewhat deflating the weightiness of this momentous moment. But Melbourne overtaking Sydney in population terms is still history making. Since Sydney first overtook Melbourne in population around 1901, both cities have swelled ten-fold to almost 5-million people today. These evolutions speak to enduring contests around cities and rivalries.

Frozen in time, we’ve become blind to ways to build sustainability into our urban heritage

29 September 2022 admin Comment

Adopting new perspectives won’t only preserve our historic buildings and places by enabling us to shape them for today’s needs. It will also mean urban heritage can contribute to cities becoming more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.

Establishing Australia’s Heritage Mafia

14 September 2022 admin Comment

How was Australia’s heritage mafia established? To answer, let’s unpack urban heritage in 1990s Australia.

Conserving Melbourne’s creative heritage: The Nicholas Building

19 January 2022 admin Comment

In mid-2021, the owners of the historic Nicholas Building in the heart of Melbourne put the landmark on the market.

Slave names have no place in modern Melbourne

2 December 2021 admin Comment

The City of Moreland in Melbourne’s inner north is named after the late 18th-century Jamaican slave plantation of the McCrae family. Including the suburbs of Brunswick, Coburg and Pascoe Vale, the municipality’s name valorises slavery and colonialism. Moreland’s councillors are considering a new name for the local government area after being made aware of the links.

War on the demolishers? Probably not, and timing of NSW heritage review is curious

25 May 2021 admin Comment

The New South Wales government has released a discussion paper expressing its ambition to review and “modernise” the Heritage Act (1977).

Stuck in the past: why Australian heritage practice falls short of what the public expects

2 March 2021 admin Comment

If communities don’t understand and support local heritage protections, perhaps that’s a reflection on how the system works and not just evidence of a need for public education.