The Urban Heritage Regeneration Accelerator is in partnership with the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC/OVPM). The Accelerator is a featured program of The New Urban Project, a set of proposals committed to by OWHC member cities for designing and implementing local programs to “regenerate the habitability in historic city centers.”
The concept of Habitability places people at the heart of urban concerns and dynamics, recognizing the social value of our heritage and the communities that bring it to life. The combined effects of climatic, economic and social crises are exerting considerable pressure on urban environments, which are particularly vulnerable in terms of their historical and heritage values. Faced with the scale of the changes underway, new urban practices need to be considered. OWHC recognizes these cities’ responsibility owe it to be models in the protection and enhancing of cultural heritage and the need to propose a bold vision of the future in response to the changes underway.
Member cities’ commitment to the New Urban Project involves:
- structural change to be more efficient and responsive in a context of profound urban change
- a cultural shift to understanding heritage as an irreplaceable resource for development
- a broader perspective on the city, and
- an integration approaches amongst municipal agencies to unleash potential.
The Accelerator Program:
The Heritage Accelerator is a 270-day intensive program of training, coaching and peer learning, resulting in a development framework, defined pilot projects and a capital/investment strategy. Its goal is to spawn a new generation of heritage projects that that energize their communities with a pragmatic approach to development, a welcoming posture to private-sector investment, and full transparency to ensure long-term benefits to local residents.
The Accelerator is led by CHiFA’s team of mentors who provide capacity-building support, identify potential sources of investment capital and nurture supportive networks within the Accelerator to enhance the effectiveness of the resultant pilot projects. Participants will work towards the realization of a long-term vision for their community heritage assets based on a collaborative business model amongst government, non-governmental private partners that supports long-term economic sustainability.
The program is developed in three segments:
Stage 1 – Framework: Setting consensus-defined goals and obtaining buy-ins from key stakeholders including government agencies, political leaders, private sector investors, community residents, and NGOs. This stage will lay the groundwork and facilitate the creation of an entrepreneurial organization and governance model/vehicle for project development and long-term stewardship.
Stage 2 – Action Plan: Building an program that inventories assets and opportunities and defines roles and responsibilities for creating an enabling environment for achieving the Participant communities’ goals through the selection of a group of pilot projects.
Stage 3 – Detailed Strategy: Pilot projects are detailed into a defined business plan including identification of potential capital sources, an analysis of attendant risks, and evaluation of potential strategies and incentives to reduce investment risk. An outline for a preliminary investment offering will be developed for presentation to local and international investors and potential partners. The detailed strategies will be presented to a multi-sector audience for comment and to advance the participants toward achieving their goals.
Envisioned results will include:
- a capitalization plan and preliminary investment offering for pilot projects
- commitments of public-sector funds and in kind support from public agencies
- a group of committed enablers, partners and stakeholders
- frameworks of incentives for risk mitigation and impact measurement
- an offering to non-governmental investors and donors
- an institutionalized practice for sustained momentum beyond the completion of the pilot projects.
At the conclusion of the Accelerator, participants and the cities they represent will be recognized and certified by CHiFA & OWHC/OVPM as models of distinction in creating a new road map for the activation of strategies that revitalize places of global cultural value.
Selection Criteria:
Candidate cities will be selected on the basis of their commitment to equitable and sustainable development; the candidate team’s ability and authority to steward selected pilot projects, or the ability to secure such control; and an identified, unique challenge or opportunity that can be addressed through the Accelerator.
City Commitments:
Participant cities are responsible for the local costs, including a local coordinator and facilitator and the costs of developing pilot projects.
- Staffing: Providing a dedicated Accelerator Coordinator, who serves as the primary point of contact between the Accelerator team and the municipality.
- Engaging Local Expertise: Conducting research and contract with local experts as needed to support project development.
- Pilot Project Development: Documenting and designing a pilot project(s) during the course of the Accelerator program.
About Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC/OVPM):
For the OWHC, World Heritage cities, which have the privilege of defending the universal values of humanity, recognize their responsibility to be models in the protection and enhancing of cultural heritage; they appreciate the need to propose a bold vision of the future in response to the changes underway.
The combined effects of climatic, economic and social crises are exerting considerable pressure on urban environments, which are particularly vulnerable in terms of their historical and heritage dimensions. Faced with the scale of the changes underway, other ways of acting and new urban practices need to be considered.
About Cultural Heritage Finance Alliance (CHiFA):
The Cultural Heritage Finance Alliance (CHiFA) promotes heritage-led regeneration through collaborative and innovative financing solutions. Driven by expert leadership, CHiFA aims to build a global marketplace and a supportive ecosystem of expertise and civic interests premised on opportunities for capital investment in historic places.
The CHiFA Team:
Bonnie Burnham, President. Heritage preservation professional. President Emerita of World Monuments Fund.
Gary Hattem, Managing Director. Community development and social finance expert. Former head of the Deutsche Bank Global Social Finance Group and president, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.
Derek A.R. Moore, Ph.D, AIA. Senior Advisor. Architect and planner whose work focuses on urban design and large-scale transportation infrastructure.
Laurie Beckelman, Director. Expert in historic preservation and non-profit leadership and capital project development in New York City. Loeb Fellow at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and former Associate Director of The Shed.
Keith Wright, Director. Strategic advisor and mentor in financial services sector, acting as a consultant for innovation labs and SMEs. Active in the US, Europe and Australia.
