Integrated revitalization of historical towns to promote a polycentric and sustainable development
Most project partners participating in the Hist.Urban project are from small and medium-sized towns outside metropolitan areas. The main assets of these towns are historical town centres belonging to the European-built cultural heritage (7 cities are even UNESCO World Heritage sites). Due to social and economic transformations and structural changes the cities have to make considerable efforts to maintain or regain their urban functions and to be able to act as drivers for their region. The main objective of the project is to strengthen small and medium-sized historical towns outside metropolitan areas by using the established cultural heritage as a development factor for sustainable urban development. In particular the business location "city" with its urban functions should be strengthened to support a polycentric settlement structure in the CADSES area. The project partners are composed of 19 public and private institutions as well as research institutions from nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe. A central objective of the project is also to raise awareness for the value of the established cultural heritage as a development factor and element of cultural identity.