On Sunday 30th September and Monday 1st October Engage was proud to host a visit to the city of Marie-Noel Tournoux, Project Director of WHITRAP Shanghai (The World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO). Marie-Noel had also been visiting World Heritage Sites in Bordeaux and Hamburg.

She is particularly interested in the urban development/regeneration issue and how heritage and cultural values can be driving forces and assets in an integrated planning approach and new business approach. WHITRAP Shanghai is not only involved in World Heritage but also in the Historic Urban Landscape approach. Marie-Noel is launching a thematic study on urban planning trends and heritage-led regeneration, looking at the main challenges and will take on board the viewpoint and experiences of different players and actors, academics, urban planning experts, economists, NGOs, local government, investors and communities.

There is an account of the visit to the European WHS including Liverpool in the 42nd Newsletter of WHITRAP which can also be found HERE and the article you should look for is entitled Integrated Planning Approaches in European Cities and can be found on pages 34-36 in the document but pages 18-19 of the pdf.

WHITRAP website HERE

During the visit to Liverpool Marie-Noel  was able to make contact with Heritage Experts at the University of Liverpool which was very enriching as WHITRAP was already working with the Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University based in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China – which is an international joint university founded in 2006 and resulting from a partnership between the University of Liverpool and Xi’an Jiaotong University.

Also Marie-Noel and WHITRAP colleague Liu Zhen have very kindly forwarded the latest Shanghai Manual: A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development in the 21st Century: 2018 Annual Report. Liverpool features in an excellent article found in Chapter 5 Economics, entitled Liverpool: The Renaissance of Mersey River pages 97-106 in the document but pages 106-115 of the pdf. You can also read it HERE. The article is mostly about the rejuvenated economy of the Liverpool City Region and the impact that the Mersey Basin Campaign had upon it’s growth.