6. Starting from Gyumri. Methods and Tools for Planning Historic Centers

This chapter reports on two of the studies conducted for the city of Gyumri, which can serve as a basis for setting up preliminary analysis tools for drafting Plans for historic centers in other contexts as well. Appropriately adapted to the specificities of the place, they provide an essential reference framework for comprehensive knowledge of the urban fabric, the buildings, and the open spaces that compose it. The first tool consists of an illustrated directory of primary problems of decay. This photographic directory, organized by problems and annotated with long captions, has a dual utility. On one hand, the simple language that accompanies the images makes it understandable even to the residents; on the other hand, it allows the municipal administration to quickly verify over time whether the problems are worsening or being resolved. The second tool contains the guidelines for the minimum quality that base maps should have to conduct studies on a historic center, as well as the description of some of them necessary to tackle the drafting of the Plan with sufficient knowledge of the place. The two tools, not particularly innovative for contexts where there is a long-established practice in drafting specific plans for “historic centers”, can serve as a methodological guide in the so-called emerging countries where, with few exceptions, normally the only instrument is typically a master plan that does not differentiate tools and regulations for the new parts and the older parts of the cities.