Created in 1978 and currently active in 54 countries on all continents, UN-HABITAT is mandated to promote sustainable human settlements and set up programs with the goal of providing adequate shelter. Under the banner “Water and Sanitation,” this year’s program seeks to improve the health situation of more than 100 million people, especially those living in urban slums, by 2020.

“Our strategy advocates raising awareness of the importance of establishing adequate, sustainable places to live, in both rural and urban settings. Disaster awaits in the short term if we do not address the issue of urban development. In Asia and in Latin America, there is a huge, sudden influx of people toward the cities,” Ms. Gebre-Egziabher explained.

UN-HABITAT advocates participation-based planning and cooperation with national and local authorities in each of the countries in which it is active. “Partnership and Participation” are in fact two key objectives of the program. Main partners include:

• Local authorities, who play a vital role in terms of educating and mobilizing the public;
• The World Association of Cities and Local Authorities Coordination (WACLAC), which was set up to expand the role of local authorities;
• The United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA);
• NGOs, parliamentarians, private companies and foundations.

The cooperation of the League of Historical Cities is strongly encouraged, as it showcases the importance of housing with respect to built heritage, and promotes the values and principles connected to it.

“Decent housing for all is part of the notion of built heritage.
The UN-HABITAT program desires the support of the world’s historical cities
because they share in our debates and our strategy.”
Axumite Gebre-Egziabher
Director of the New York City Office of UN-HABITAT

http://www.unhabitat.org/

Heritage inventories are essential tools for learning about, preserving and soundly managing urban heritage. If made accessible to one and all, they can also be tools for enlightened decision-making and for democracy. When entered into computerized databases and disseminated via the World Wide Web, they exponentially widen the possibilities for comparative research and international exchanges.

As an example, two interrelated Web-based heritage inventories were profiled in a presentation by Anne-Marie Dufour, an architect specializing in heritage and coordinator of Web publication of Montréal’s heritage inventory with the Heritage and Toponymy Division of the City of Montréal’s Economic and Urban Development Department, and historian Gilles Lauzon, head of research for the Société de développement de Montréal and heritage inventory coordinator for the official Old Montréal Web site.

The original aim of the Old Montréal Web site [www.old.montreal.qc.ca], designed in 1998 under the aegis of the Société de développement de Montréal and the Québec Ministry of Culture and Communications, was to disseminate information for the “general public” on the district’s history and heritage. Soon, however, the site was enriched with a more technically oriented architectural inventory destined for professionals, as well as historical information on builders and artisans, archeological remains, public art, streets and squares, as well as historical personages and societies — all extremely useful to curious visitors, experts and educators.

The Web site Inventaire architectural de Montréal: Base de données sur le patrimoine [www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/patrimoine] (Montréal’s Architecture Inventory: Heritage Database), officially launched on June 19, 2003, was created pursuant to the Agreement on the Cultural Development of Montréal between the Québec Ministry of Culture and Communications and the City of Montréal.

The site does not focus solely on major monuments; rather, it lays emphasis on buildings toward which citizens have particular obligations (ownership, historical identity, cultural appropriation) in terms of heritage protection. It facilitates citizens’ links with provincial and municipal administrations by providing them with comprehensive information on permit applications, regulations and restrictions, expert recommendations, and subsidies. Offering a selective inventory of protected buildings and areas, the site covers an area extending far beyond Old Montréal, and reflecting the diversity of Montréal’s heritage.