This is part of a thorough evaluation, requested during the 174th session of the Executive Board of UNESCO, to determine how to update of the "Recommendation concerning the Safeguarding and Contemporary Role of Historic Areas" (of 26 November 1976).

The World Heritage Centre will establish a Working Group of UNESCO partners and experts from academia to spearhead this process. On Monday 25 September 2006 a one-day planning meeting for Working Group members will be convened at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris to discuss project set-up, key issues and agenda for a series of six regional meetings in 2007 and 2008, and to receive inputs on existing definitions of Historic Urban Landscape and tools for safeguarding it in various geo-cultural contexts.