The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and the World Monuments Fund (WMF) will inaugurate a wide range of projects with the opening of Mostar's reconstructed old bridge that include urban planning, the restoration of monuments, improvement of the historic houses and streetscape enhancements.
The AKTC and the WMF offered the media a guided tour of completed restoration projects in the neighbourhoods adjacent to the bridge on July 22.
Both the planning and the physical restoration efforts constitute a major contribution to the revival of the historic city of Mostar.
These efforts responded to the urgent need for a framework for the reconstruction of the historic core 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 WMF President Bonnie Burnham and AKTC Historic Cities Support Programme's Director Stefano Bianca in a joint statement.
"It has also helped increase the economic potential of the city which, to a large extent, is dependent on tourism, " they said.
In conjunction with its restoration and rehabilitation activities, the AKTC and the WMF will also inaugurate the "Start grad" agency, which 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 the AKTC and the WMF and adopted by the authorities on May 15, 2001, is intended to ensure that the historic character of the town is retained during rehabilitation and development.
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 ease.
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 indicates the types of interventions necessary to complete or supplement the utility networks 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.
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.-PR