Conservation and development: implementation of the historic urban landscape approach in Khiva, Uzbekistan

Balancing conservation and development is one of the biggest challenges in the management of heritage cities. In 2011, UNESCO adopted the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape in order to guide conservationists, urban planners and city administrations in this difficult process. Based on an interpretative policy analysis, this paper explores the implementation of the Historic Urban Landscape approach in the Uzbek World Heritage city Khiva. It describes recent development trends in the city’s historic centre related to urban form, tourism and heritage management. These observations are then checked against the recommended ‘critical steps’ and tools from the Historic Urban Landscape Recommendation. The paper explores if recent urban developments in the city reflect a new understanding of the historic urban landscape, and to what extent the implementation of the Historic Urban Landscape approach supports the reconciliation of conservation and development in the urban regeneration of the city. The analysis shows that while some of the Recommendation’s principles have been implemented, others are barely respected. Conflicts between the interest of tourism development, heritage conservation and the needs of local residents are ubiquitous and represent a case of heritage dissonance.