Jeff Cody and Francesco Siravo have captured the crisis confronting historic cities and issued a call to action in “Historic Cities: Issues of Urban Conservation.” The book consolidates thinking about, investigations into and actions taken that embarks us on a journey to educate us about and rescue historic cities for the value they represent to us now and into the future. The world is now URBAN and as much as the Development Set still romanticizes rural development at the expense of urban areas, it is cities - all sizes and kinds of cities - that are the future.

The book is divided into eight thematic parts preceded by an introduction from the editors, and concluded with illustrative images in the shape of visual summaries. These different sections address the changing nature of historic cities, their geographical diversity, the transformation of traditional cities, how to read the ciy. They address the issues of continuity, identifying heritage values of cities, the challenge of sustainable urban conservation as managing historic cities. For each part, the editors have selected a range of key authors from the early nineteenth century to 2017, from different professional backgrounds, and regions of the world to offer as wide as possible a panorama. The format allows the reader to take in slowly the sequence of chosen Selections. The Selections track and illuminate thinking that is bringing change to how we consider historic cities and integrate them into the future. The short bursts of input allow the reader to digest what is presented and the cumulative effect brings home a clarity of why and what has to happen now to make historic cities the resource they are.

From the outset we are presented, through variegated sources, disciplines and perspectives with clear admonitions to not ignore the multiple values and purposes historic cities hold. Most importantly historic cities reflect and provide backdrop to our humanity if only we would look. The book calls out the human aspects pushed aside in discussions of a new and different value system that threatens historic cities - the market value of land and the restive impacts of societies in change. From the very first page we are told “the historic city demands that we understand the profound disconnect that occurred in city building since the industrial revolution … … … we need to recognize and appreciate the subtle clues that set historic places apart from the look-alike sameness of most present-day urban developments.” P 1.

The book points out that the world economy since the industrial revolution has changed the rules of the game. The slow evolution that created cities historically has been taken over by a different set of values and pace of development. Historic cities have become commodities and it is land value and space for new-world toys – cars – that rule and despoils the humanity of places relegated to a footnote by new-world developers and politicians. There is more to cities and neighborhoods than returns on investment.

The sense of loss that permeates the book is palpable in the first Parts. It calls on those working in the field to balance and move from theory to practice. One of the more poignant expressions of that loss exposes the impacts of the quest for misguided “modernity” and the mass-tourism made possible by prosperity that has made frivolous places once regal and sacred. Salvatore Settis in his Selection “If Venice Dies” Cuts no slack in his assessment of what has happened in Venice. Seyyed Hossein Nasr forcefully states “Euro-centrism also sees its view of the world as the only worldview …. Not even Genghis Khan could do what we are doing through ‘development’ …. There is nothing more important than to realize that what remains of our historic cities, of our sacred sites and sacred places, is significant not only for national identity or archeological records but also for our own identity as human beings.” P20/21.

This book records the results of the wonton destruction of exceptional places destroyed in the name of Modernism and economic development. The book puts into perspective and helps explain this reviewer’s personal sense of loss, and perhaps that of others who may read it, who have been witness to the destruction of wondrous places and their cultures as a result of the overriding forces of change that Cody and Siravo explain. Examples abound but the two that won’t leave me alone are St. Louis, Missouri where I grew up and studied architecture and Cartagena, Colombia where I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1960’s. In St. Louis, it was to see one of, if not THE best, Victorian housing stock knocked down to be replaced by the then award winning Pruitt-Igoe Project. The other is Cartagena, Colombia overtaken by tourism. Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis was designed for the urban poor that became the most dangerous place to live in the city and was ultimately dynamited in a huge implosion to remove the entire development from existence. It forced the residents, who never made the transition to high-rise living, to disburse and left a gaping wound in the fabric of the city that to this day has never quite healed. The “reason” was the new modernity of Corbu’s Garden City that only masked the racism behind the decisions to rebuild downtown St. Louis.

Cartagena, Colombia painfully displays what the Selections emphatically lament - the danger of mass-tourism and its impact on what was once one of my favorite places on earth. The16^th century city was the gateway to exporting the gold plundered from the societies the Spanish conquered as well as the gateway of slavery into the Andean region. Once Cartagena La Heroica, the Heroic, for its defense against Vernon the pirate among others; it is now Cartagena La Turistica, and that is not an improvement. It lost its soul as “economic” pressures drove out the people and destroyed the lively, inclusive central market that really gave the city its flavor to make room for the International Convention Center, surrounded by a determined fence to keep the “Cartageneros” out with a design not unlike the Kunsthaus blobstyle, the Friendly Alien - or not so friendly – in Graz Austria. Settis clearly states, “Citizens – and not tourists – are the real life blood of the city.” P. 189 Poor Venice! Poor Barcelona! Poor Cartagena!

The book provides through a diverse, inclusive chorus of authors a new way of thinking about historic cities that changes the static concept of conservation as monuments to a dynamic one that requires the rethinking of historic cities as living resources for future urban growth. Local context is key. Senam Okudzeto, provides an African voice that reminds us that “anti-colonialist movements identified Ghanaian urban heritage very closely with social uses of space and on going cultural traditions. Historic structures, including recent ones, are the physical vessels in which social traditions can survive.” p 436–7.

Non Arkaraprasertkul and Matthew Williams reflect on the irony of the events in Shanghai, that now, after wonton destruction, “regards historic preservation of selected sites, including the traditional alleyways of Shanghai, as essential to the branding of a city with global ambitions.” P. 444′ The book highlights that the destruction in Shanghai of the Alleyway Houses, not unlike the destruction of the shop houses in Singapore only to be rebuilt “modern,” is mirrored in the Selections on urban renewal of the 1950’s and 60’s in the USA. Gratz with Mintz build on Jane Jacobs’ struggle against car-induced demolitions, slum clearances and urban renewal projects from the 1930s to the 1970s. Cederna offers a glimpse of positive thinking “We must fix in our minds on the conviction that integral preservation of the old and creation of the new in cities are complementary tasks …. That ancient and modern have distinct material and spiritual prerogatives and are mutually necessary.” P10.

What needs to be made clear is that for all the good that the book points out that historic cities can contribute to the quality of life of the people of a city, it is and will be the political will of those that govern, that foment “development”, that provide the guidance a local culture values, and that invests in the maintenance of historic cities that will make the difference. The battle is on and is far from over. The latest assault that misses the point altogether is the reverence for technology and the new systems that would have us believe that they are an improvement in our lives. Shannon Mattern shatters that notion stating clearly “The city is not a computer and technologists and political actors speak as if they could reduce urban planning to algorithms” p575. “Smart Cities” are but a distraction and were they Smart the future of historic cities, as this well conceived book militates for, would be bright.

In sum, the book’s length and/or cost might be daunting for some readers, but that it is well worth the effort to take the time to savor the prose, learn from the graphic examples, and determine how to take the lessons implied by the book and apply them to actual challenges. In our post-Covid world, with so many unknown changes to come in historic cities worldwide, this book’s importance and significance is even more critical than it was, before Covid-19 came into our lives, when Cody and Siravo assembled such a stimulating cluster of readings, comments on those readings, and images that complement them.

Not Applicable.

The Author would like to thank Plácido Gonzalez Martinez for his support.

Not applicable.

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   Earl Kessler

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Kessler, E. Historic cities: issues of urban conservation, edited by Jeff Cody and Francesco Siravo. Getty conservation institute, Los Angeles, 2019. 610 pp. $60.00. ISBN9781606065938. Built Heritage 5, 4 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43238-021-00022-0

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• Received: 30 September 2020

• Accepted: 21 January 2021

• Published: 12 March 2021

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s43238-021-00022-0

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历史悠久的城市：城市保护问题，由杰夫·科迪（Jeff Cody）和弗朗切斯科·西拉沃（Francesco Siravo）编辑。盖蒂保护研究所，洛杉矶，2019.610 pp。$ 60.00。ISBN9781606065938

杰夫·科迪（Jeff Cody）和弗朗切斯科·西拉沃（Francesco Siravo）抓住了历史名城面临的危机，并在“历史名城：城市保护问题”中发出了号召采取行动。该书巩固了思考，调查和采取的行动，使我们踏上了对历史文化名城进行教育和营救的旅程，以获取其对我们现在和未来的价值。现在的世界是城市，而发展集仍然在以牺牲城市地区为代价使农村发展浪漫化，未来就是城市-各种规模和种类的城市。

本书分为八个主题部分，然后由编辑进行介绍，并以视觉摘要的形式展示说明性图像。这些不同的部分讨论了历史名城的不断变化的性质，其地域多样性，传统城市的转型以及如何阅读城市风貌。它们解决了连续性问题，确定了城市的文物价值，将可持续的城市保护作为管理历史名城的挑战。从19世纪初期到2017年，编辑们为每个部分选择了一系列主要作家，他们来自不同的专业背景，并在世界各地提供尽可能广泛的全景图。该格式允许读者慢慢接受选择的序列。《选辑》追踪并阐明了思维方式，这些思维方式正在改变着我们如何考虑历史名城并将其融入未来。短暂的输入使读者能够理解所呈现的内容，并且累积的影响使人们清楚了为什么要使历史名城成为其现有资源以及现在必须发生的事情。

从一开始，我们就通过各种来源，学科和观点向我们展示了清晰的训诫，以不忽略历史名城的多重价值和宗旨。最重要的是，历史悠久的城市只要我们一看便能反映并为我们的人类提供背景。该书指出了在讨论威胁历史城市的新的和不同的价值体系时抛弃的人文因素-土地的市场价值和变革社会的消极影响。从第一页开始，我们就被告知：“历史名城要求我们了解自工业革命以来城市建设中发生的深刻脱节…………我们需要认识并欣赏那些使历史名胜古迹与众不同的细微线索。当今大多数城市发展都是相同的。” P 1。

该书指出，自工业革命以来，世界经济改变了游戏规则。历史上创造城市的缓慢发展已被一系列不同的价值观和发展速度所取代。历史悠久的城市已成为商品，新世界玩具和汽车的土地价值和空间成为新世界玩具（汽车）的统治者，并破坏了这些地方的人类地位，这些地方被新世界开发商和政界人士注定为脚注。城市和社区所能获得的不仅仅是投资回报。

在本书的第一部分中可以看到渗透到本书中的失落感。它呼吁在该领域工作的人们保持平衡，并从理论转向实践。这种损失最令人痛苦的表述之一就是暴露了对误导性“现代性”的追求的影响，而繁荣使一度富裕而神圣的轻浮场所成为可能，而大众旅游成为可能。萨尔瓦托·塞蒂斯（Salvatore Settis）在他的作品“如果威尼斯死亡”中对威尼斯发生的一切毫不懈怠。塞耶德·侯赛因·纳斯尔（Seyyed Hossein Nasr）有力地指出：“欧洲中心主义也将其对世界的看法视为唯一的世界观……。甚至成吉思汗也无法通过“发展”来做我们正在做的事情……。没有什么比认识到我们历史悠久的城市，我们的圣地和圣地的遗存更重要的了，不仅对国家身份或考古记录具有重要意义，而且对于我们作为人类的身份也具有重要意义。” P20 / 21。

本书记录了以现代主义和经济发展的名义摧毁的特殊地区的馄饨遭到破坏的结果。该书透视并帮助解释了这位审稿人的个人失落感，也许还有其他可能读过它的人，他们见证了科迪和科幻小说家压倒一切的变革力量，破坏了奇妙的地方和他们的文化。 Siravo解释。例子不胜枚举，但有两个让我孤独的地方是我成长和学习建筑的密苏里州圣路易斯，以及我在1960年代担任和平军团志愿人员的哥伦比亚卡塔赫纳。在圣路易斯，人们看到了维多利亚州的住房之一，即使不是最好的，也被当时屡获殊荣的Pruitt-Igoe项目所取代。另一个是旅游业赶超的哥伦比亚卡塔赫纳。圣佩鲁特-伊古 路易（Louis）专为城市贫民而设计，该贫民成为城市中最危险的居住地，并最终以巨大的内在力量被炸毁，以使整个开发项目不复存在。它迫使从未过渡到高层居住的居民支付生活费，给这座城市留下了巨大的伤口，这一伤口至今仍未完全治愈。“原因”是Corbu花园城市的新现代性，它仅掩盖了重建圣路易斯市中心的决定背后的种族主义。进行支付，并在至今尚未治愈的城市结构中留下巨大的伤口。“原因”是Corbu花园城市的新现代性，它仅掩盖了重建圣路易斯市中心的决定背后的种族主义。进行支付，并在至今尚未治愈的城市结构中留下巨大的伤口。“原因”是Corbu花园城市的新现代性，它只掩盖了重建圣路易斯市中心的决定背后的种族主义。

哥伦比亚卡塔赫纳痛苦地展示了选集馆特别哀叹的内容-大众旅游的危险及其对曾经是我最喜欢的地方之一的影响。The16^个世纪的城市是通往出口从社会西班牙人征服和奴役的网关到安第斯地区掠夺黄金。曾经是英勇的卡塔赫纳·拉·海洛伊卡（Cartagena La Heroica），因其对维农（Vernon）海盗的防御；现在是Cartagena La Turistica，这并没有改善。随着“经济”压力驱散人们并摧毁了热闹的，包容性的中央市场，它失去了灵魂，这真正使这座城市拥有了为国际会议中心腾出空间的味道，周围环绕着坚定的围栏，以保持“Cartageneros的设计风格与Kunsthaus风格截然不同，是奥地利格拉茨的“友好外星人”（或不是那么友好）。Settis明确指出：“公民而不是游客是城市的真实血液。” P. 189可怜的威尼斯！可怜的巴塞罗那！可怜的卡塔赫纳！

该书通过多元化，包容性的合唱，为作者提供了一种关于历史文化名城的新思维方式，将静态保护的概念转变为历史性的纪念物，而将动态的保护性概念转变为需要重新考虑将历史性城市作为未来城市发展的生命资源的动感。本地环境是关键。塞纳姆·奥克泽托（Senam Okudzeto）发出非洲的声音，提醒我们：“反殖民主义运动与空间的社会用途和持续的文化传统非常紧密地联系在一起，确定了加纳的城市遗产。历史建筑，包括最近的建筑，是社会传统得以生存的物质容器。” 第436–7页。

Non Arkaraprasertkul和Matthew Williams对上海发生的事件具有讽刺意味，即在馄饨遭到破坏之后，“如今，对选定地点的历史性保护，包括上海的传统小巷，对于塑造具有全球野心的城市至关重要。” P. 444'该书着重指出，上海巷道小巷的毁坏与新加坡商店的毁坏无异，后者只能重建“现代”，这反映在1950年代和60年代城市更新的选择中。美国。格拉茨（Mintz）与明兹（Mintz）建立在简·雅各布（Jane Jacobs）对1930年代至1970年代的汽车拆除，贫民窟清理和城市更新项目的斗争中。塞德纳（Cederna）提供了一个积极的想法：“我们必须牢记信念，即在城市中完整地保护旧建筑物和创造新建筑物是互补的任务……。古代和现代具有独特的物质和精神特权，并且是相互必要的。” P10。

需要明确的是，尽管本书指出了所有有益的方面，但历史悠久的城市可以为城市人民的生活质量做出贡献，这是并且将是统治者的政治意愿，这将煽动“开发”，为当地文化价值观提供指导，并投资于维护历史城市，这将有所作为。战斗正在进行中，远远没有结束。完全没有抓住重点的最新攻击是对技术和新系统的崇敬，这会让我们相信它们是我们生活的一种改善。香农·马特恩（Shannon Mattern）打破了这一观念，清楚地表明：“这座城市不是一台计算机，技术人员和政治行为者的讲话似乎可以将城市规划简化为算法” p575。

总而言之，这本书的篇幅和/或费用对某些读者来说可能是艰巨的，但花时间品尝散文，从图形示例中学习并确定如何接受本书所隐含的教训是值得的。预订并将其应用于实际挑战。在我们经历过Covid的世界中，全球历史悠久的城市中发生了许多未知的变化，这本书的重要性和意义比在Covid-19诞生之前（当时Cody和Siravo组成了这样一个令人振奋的集群）更加重要。阅读内容，对这些阅读内容的评论以及对它们进行补充的图像。

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作者要感谢PlácidoGonzalez Martinez的支持。

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凯斯勒（Kessler），E。《历史悠久的城市：城市保护问题》，由杰夫·科迪（Jeff Cody）和弗朗切斯科·西拉沃（Francesco Siravo）编辑。盖蒂保护研究所，洛杉矶，2019.610 pp。$ 60.00。ISBN9781606065938。文物建筑 5， 4（2021）。https://doi.org/10.1186/s43238-021-00022-0

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