Search Results (2)

Compound crises of heritage cities in the global south led to the destruction of both physical and intangible assets, as well as the processes and relationships that sustain them; nevertheless, while there is more awareness regarding the importance of intangible heritage, regeneration approaches after the crisis period still focus on tangible losses, while the intangible cultural aspects are often overlooked in planning, especially under conditions of restricted field access. This paper proposes a remote-first CESSOP diagnostic model (CSDM), integrating CES and SOP in four decision-focused products: Crisis Pressure Profile (CPP), Biocultural Asset Map (BAM), CESSOP Vulnerability Matrix (CSVM), and modeling and Action Typology and Priority Pathways (ATPP), rather than adopting an existing framework. The Cultural Ecosystem Services and Sense of Place Diagnostic Model (CESSOP Diagnostic Model). The CSDM is new; it is a theoretically constructed, theoretically grounded, crisis-sensitive diagnostic methodology designed for heritage cities under conditions of data scarcity and restricted field access. This approach includes aspects of document research, open-source data, environmental morphological intelligence, social networks and remote participation inputs, supported with embedded confidence rating. The methodology is illustrated by a study of old Sana’a, Yemen, and it is applied in cases when there are few opportunities for direct observation. Full article

Climate change poses severe threats to cultural heritage, yet thermal performance impacts on traditional architecture in conflict-affected regions remain poorly quantified. This study provides one of the first comprehensive assessments of climate change effects on UNESCO World Heritage architecture in Yemen’s Old City of Sana’a. We employed building energy simulation (DesignBuilder/EnergyPlus) to evaluate the thermal performance of a representative five-story traditional adobe tower house under three climate scenarios: baseline (1974–2017), SSP2-4.5 (moderate emissions, 2041–2060), and SSP5-8.5 (high emissions, 2041–2060). Climate projections were derived from five CMIP6 models using the morphing methodology, with natural ventilation-only operation (no mechanical cooling). The results demonstrate dramatic thermal performance degradation: annual overheating hours (>30 °C) increase more than 10-fold from 111 h (baseline) to 1264 h (SSP2-4.5) on the most vulnerable floor, representing escalation from 1.3% to 14.4% of the year. Extreme heat exposure (>32 °C) emerges under climate scenarios (324–423 h annually) and is absent under baseline conditions. Thermal comfort declines 27–30 percentage points across all floors. The findings reveal the systematic failure of passive cooling mechanisms under elevated temperatures, particularly when nighttime temperatures exceed 20 °C, eliminating nocturnal heat purging opportunities. The results necessitate the urgent development of heritage-sensitive adaptation strategies for Old Sana’a and similar UNESCO sites in arid regions facing compound climate-conflict vulnerability. Full article