Values and Urban Conservation Planning: Some Reflections on Principles and Definitions

The aim of this paper is to discuss the question of values in relation to the planning and conservation management of historic cities. It is structured in order to expose the logical problems of using the category of value in the urban planning process. This is done by: determining the main subjects of the urban conservation process; identifying the social process of the determination of the values; identifying values in reference to urban structure; and using values as important categories for the construction of a new urban conservation planning approach.The paper will also discuss the possibility of expanding urban conservation principles to encompass the urban processes, and not merely the states of the urban structure.