Abstract
Egypt’s heritage villages are living cultural landscapes that remain largely undocumented and insufficiently protected under current national frameworks. This study develops the Enhanced Heritage Value Index (EHVI) a UNESCO-aligned framework designed to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the conservation readiness of heritage villages in Egypt. EHVI was developed through a mixed-method approach integrating conceptual analysis of UNESCO and ICOMOS standards, expert-based weighting of 31 validated heritage indicators, and community perception surveys conducted across seven villages in Luxor Governorate. The EHVI provides a scalable and replicable assessment tool that classifies villages into high, moderate, and low readiness levels, enabling decision-makers to prioritize conservation interventions. As Egypt’s first composite index tailored to rural heritage contexts, this framework bridges national policy needs with international heritage criteria and offers a strategic foundation for future UNESCO nominations and sustainable heritage management. This research fills a critical theoretical and practical gap by operationalizing the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) paradigm in a rural Egyptian context, thereby advancing heritage assessment methodologies beyond urban-centered models.