Mostar, Bosnia, 23 July 2004 - In tandem with the opening of Mostar’s reconstructed Old Bridge, city officials and representatives of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and the World Monuments Fund (WMF) will inaugurate a wide range of projects that include urban planning, the restoration of monuments, the improvement of historic houses and streetscape enhancements.

Both the planning and the physical restoration efforts constitute a major contribution to the revival of the historic city of Mostar. AKTC and WMF will offer the media a guided tour of completed restoration projects in the neighbourhoods adjacent to the bridge on 22 July 2004.

These efforts responded to the urgent need for a framework for the reconstruction of the historic core in order to put a halt to the hasty and unregulated developments that took place in the aftermath of the war.

“The work complements the reconstruction of the Old Bridge and places the restored Bridge in the social and environmental context of a living historic city,” said Bonnie Burnham, WMF’s President and Stefano Bianca, Director of AKTC’s Historic Cities Support Programme, in a joint statement. “It has also helped increase the economic potential of the city which, to a large extent, is dependent on tourism.”

In conjunction with its restoration and rehabilitation activities, AKTC and WMF will also inaugurate the “Stari grad” agency. The agency will play an important role in overseeing the ongoing implementation of the “Conservation and Development Plan for the Old Town”. The plan, which was developed by AKTC and WMF and adopted by the authorities on 15 May 2001, is intended to ensure the historic character of the town is retained during rehabilitation and development.

In addition to regulating land use and building activities in order to retain the historic character of the town, the plan makes provisions for the protection of monuments, traditional buildings, green areas and open spaces; indicates the forms of intervention applicable to each; and sets the level of protection to be achieved in each case.

These policies are supplemented by general traffic proposals aimed at improving motorised circulation in and around the central area and at creating new pedestrian areas and additional parking for visitors and residents. A set of infrastructure plans indicate the types of interventions necessary to complete or supplement the utility networks in order to ensure adequate provision of water, sewage and electricity in the central area.

Much remains to be done in Mostar, as some ruins of historic buildings still await restoration and conversion for public or civic use. Both aspects – the important work completed so far, as well as the plans and designs for future projects to be submitted to donors and investors – are documented in the brochure entitled “Conservation and Revitalisation of Historic Mostar”, available from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Amir Pasic
HCP Office, Mostar
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Tel: +387 (.36) -555.200
Fax: +387 (.36) -555.202
Mobile +387 (.61) -143.272
E-mail: hcspis@superonline.com

or

Sam Pickens
Information Officer
Aga Khan Trust for Culture
P.O. Box 2049
1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
Tel: (+41 22) 909 7277
Fax: (+41 22) 909 7292
Mobile: + 41 078 661 8714
E-mail: sam.pickens@akdn.ch