Importance-performance analysis of the Historic Centre of Krakow’s revitalisation plan through the lens of the Historic Urban Landscape approach

Abstract

Since 1978, when the Historic Centre of Krakow, Poland, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, it has undergone various developments, largely driven by tourism. In 2008, the Krakow City Hall adopted the “Local Revitalization Program: The Old Town” to address such challenges as heritage management and preservation, gentrification, and tourism development in the area. The purpose of this study is to identify this plan’s proposed strategies based on the historic urban landscape (HUL) approach and to assess the gap between planning and implementation of the strategies. The HUL approach was introduced by UNESCO in 2011 to enable better management of World Heritage by integrating heritage conservation with a broad spectrum of urban development challenges. First, the content of the document was thematically analysed based on the HUL-proposed tools to clarify suggested strategies. Next, an Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) was conducted, referring to 19 local experts. This study offers a framework to serve as a reference to evaluate urban plans. Using the plan as a case study, the paper revealed a general understanding of the current and desired status of the strategies’ implementation.