Preservation of the Historic Centre of Prizren through Integration into Modern Life

Abstract

The Historic Centre of Prizren is one of the most distinguished zones of urban heritage in Kosovo, with valuable traces of diverse historic and cultural heritage. Although it represents a major asset for social and economic development of the city, for a long time its immense potential, including cultural, historical, tourist and environmental, has not been treated with the appropriate approach that would preserve, promote and materialise those cultural riches. The laws and regulations for the Historic Centre of Prizren mainly envisage measures that freeze development, not allowing for possibilities to develop the city and integrate the heritage into modern daily life.This paper attempts to present how can the Historic Centre of Prizren with its historic and cultural heritage and urban archaeological resources integrated into modern city and city life; how can be fulfilled today's needs without completely destroying the traditional ways of living? In this respect, it will attempt to argue that the preservation planning should contain not only spatial and physical aspects but also social, economic, and institutional approaches. Preservation of the Historic Centre of Prizren should not be realized at the cost of further new development, as it is intended to be with laws and regulations. The intention should be to balance both, historic preservation and new urban development. This approach will encourage the urban development itself to highlight and promote historic preservation. The preservation of urban heritage should be an integrated process, and an integral part of the comprehensive planning policy for the whole city and urban heritage cannot be separated from the overall environment. Also, in whole this process, citizens and all other stakeholders should be actively involved. Finally, this mixture of history and everyday life will produce a unique feeling in the area, making Prizren a large living city museum.