The Heritage Commission began work on the Modern Heritage Strategy project, the main stage of the action plan of the Modern Urban Initiative launched in November 2022, which is concerned with preserving the important features of modern urban heritage. It represents key elements that shaped the memory and history of architecture and urbanism in the Kingdom.
The initiative goes through several stages, including the current phase of setting up a future strategy concerning documenting, preserving and developing modern heritage buildings and sites in the Kingdom's regions; it entails initial listing and classification, architectural and urban documentation, registration and coding, restoration and rehabilitation, development and investment, and management and operation, all of which fall under the main scientific programs identified by UN Women to activate the initiative, namely: the modern urban heritage exploration and registration program, the modern urban heritage documentation program, and the modern urban heritage conservation and restoration program.
The commission had identified eight key benchmarks that shape the pillars of the "Modern Urban Heritage Initiative" in selecting and registering modern urban heritage landmarks and buildings. They are beauty, cultural historical value, scientific and technological value, whether a building is a landmark, scarcity, spatial context, the current status and the authenticity of the site. When all or at least four of these standards are attained, the targeted building may be included in the national urban heritage register.
This initiative is part of the Heritage Commission's vision of celebrating heritage as a cultural wealth; it is driven by its mission to protect, manage and nurture innovation and sustainable development of the components of cultural heritage, and the buildings of modern urban heritage.
The initiative covers a major architectural period in the Kingdom's development that has been closely associated with changing construction patterns, coinciding with the economic and social growth that the Saudi society has experienced over the past six decades.
It also seeks to restore the memory of buildings that reflect this period, whether they still stand or have been lost or neglected in previous periods.
