Urban heritage is the category of heritage that most directly concerns the environment of each and every person. Conservation or the integration of the built historic environment in city planning is typically viewed as a desirable undertaking, and policies to this effect are established as an integral element of planning in many countries. Our paper investigates the complexities at play between conservation planning structures, their applications and how these vary between contexts. It asks: how does conservation compare between planning systems of the North and South and what does this suggest about heritage value? Based on a survey of conservation planning systems in 5 countries, focusing on 5 city case-studies, this paper studies conservation’s position within planning in current urban policy in different contexts. Our paper analyses how different planning systems have adopted and integrated urban heritage definitions and accordingly, how zoning techniques, governance levels and planning constraints have resulted in quite varied conservation planning outcomes not only between the North and South but between European examples alone. In exploring contexts where the desirability of conserving and enhancing the historic environment is overlooked, overturned or simply ignored despite the existence of conservation policies, this paper also explores the limitations regulation has in pinning down heritage values.

城市遗产是与每个人的环境最直接相关的遗产类别。在城市规划中保护或整合已建成的历史环境通常被视为一项理想的事业，并且在许多国家，这方面的政策被确立为规划的一个组成部分。我们的论文调查了保护规划结构之间的复杂性、它们的应用以及它们如何在不同背景下变化。它询问：如何比较南北规划系统之间的保护，这对遗产价值有何启示？本文基于对 5 个国家的保护规划系统的调查，重点关注 5 个城市案例研究，研究了保护在不同背景下在当前城市政策中的规划位置。我们的论文分析了不同的规划系统如何采用和整合城市遗产定义，并相应地分析了分区技术、治理水平和规划限制如何导致不仅在南北之间而且仅在欧洲示例之间的保护规划结果大相径庭。尽管存在保护政策，但在探索保护和改善历史环境的可取性被忽视、推翻或干脆忽略的情况下，本文还探讨了法规在确定遗产价值方面的局限性。治理水平和规划限制导致了不同的保护规划结果，不仅在南北之间，而且仅在欧洲例子之间。尽管存在保护政策，但在探索保护和改善历史环境的可取性被忽视、推翻或干脆忽略的情况下，本文还探讨了法规在确定遗产价值方面的局限性。治理水平和规划限制导致了不同的保护规划结果，不仅在南北之间，而且仅在欧洲例子之间。尽管存在保护政策，但在探索保护和改善历史环境的可取性被忽视、推翻或干脆忽略的情况下，本文还探讨了法规在确定遗产价值方面的局限性。