Vienna Memorandum Over 600 experts and professionals from 55 countries attended the conference and discussed 70 case studies involving high-rise or contemporary architectural interventions in historic cities and urban landscapes of heritage value. There was widespread agreement that criteria and guidelines for conservation management of the historic urban landscape are urgently needed and that existing charters and recommendations in this regard are no longer sufficient.
For this reason a Draft Memorandum outlining such criteria and guidelines was developed prior to the conference by the Centre,by a drafting group consisting of partner organizations of UNESCO, which was circulated to the participants at the conference for discussion and comments. UNESCO's Advisory Bodies ICOMOS and ICCROM, as well as partner organizations OWHC (Organization of World Heritage Cities), IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects), IUA (International Union of Architects) and IFHP (International Federation for Housing and Planning). The debates and comments during the Conference refined this document into what is now labelled as the Vienna Memorandum