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Scholarly and public debate on the urban commons is burgeoning, but building exteriors and the cityscape these constitute are surprisingly absent from it, despite their considerable significance for and impact on residents and visitors. After reflecting on the cityscape as a commons, the article turns to Kyoto, the former capital of Japan and acclaimed stronghold of history and tradition. Decades of conflict about the built environment led to a new building code in 2007 that continues to enjoy broad support. Details of building design, however, are now left to ‘local cityscape councils’, volunteer bodies that discuss construction plans with developers. Officially, local amateurs meet non‐local professionals here, but ethnographic fieldwork in 2019/20 revealed that both technical expertise and Kyoto ties are present on both sides. State representatives are also less absent than officially proclaimed. This case demonstrates that mixed management of the urban commons by the state and civil society can lead to amicable solutions that rise above vested interests, so that state involvement and ‘commoning’ should not be posited as mutually exclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UNESCO defines intangible cultural heritage (ICH), in contrast to conservation-oriented models, as "living" and as playing a dynamic role in contemporary society, thus bringing to the fore a controversial entanglement with the market. On the basis of multilevel and multipositioned participant observation of the ICH global governance apparatus, I focus on displays of embarrassment (and preventive prudishness) triggered by this entanglement among actors with normative agency in the implementation of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the ICH. In shedding light on their disorientation vis-à-vis the intrinsic commercial dimension of cultural practices recognized as ICH, I highlight the role of affects and emotions in UNESCO's lifeworld. Distress triggered by the violation of assimilated cultural codes defining heritage as inalienable reveals the cultural intimacy that binds a transnational epistemic community of heritage professionals. Challenging UNESCO's polished self-representation as a dispassionate, rational bureaucracy, I consider the major international clearing house for heritage policies as a social world with its own affective life. I argue that these affects have a performative influence on the practice of heritage making, despite official, rationalizing narratives such as that of "good" versus "bad" commercialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of cultural landscapes within the framework of the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention is widely hailed as a landmark achievement. While it is often described as a boon for the recognition of non-European cultural heritage, we show that this is largely a myth. In the drawn-out gestation process, European countries' listing ambitions were crucial, and topics such as Indigenous sites were brought up by the Global North while a concern for, as well as representatives from, the Global South were largely absent. Introducing the category in 1992 significantly broadened the types of acceptable sites, but European countries continued to dominate just like for other cultural heritage, filling the World Heritage List with vineyard landscapes rather than the sacred mountains that were first inscribed. European states also eagerly used extra nomination slots for cultural landscapes while non-European List leaders prioritised natural heritage and the conventional cultural heritage they had not yet exhausted instead. Moreover, non-European cultural landscapes have struggled to gain expert approval, as is demonstrated for African nominations. The mere introduction of a new heritage category thus does not suffice to alter a dynamic more than ever determined by national self-interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the topic of heritage tourism in Kyoto, Japan. The author highlights the significance of tourism in the city's economy and its role in shaping the image of classical Japan. The article explores various aspects of tourism in Kyoto, including the development of domestic travel, tourism promotion initiatives, cultural history, niche tourism, and the popularity of dressing in kimono. The author also critiques the methodology used in the study, suggesting that more engagement with local hosts and a deeper analysis of the tourist experience would have been beneficial. Overall, the article provides an introduction to the topic of Kyoto tourism and raises important questions for further exploration and analysis. [Extracted from the article]

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has continuously faced charges of Eurocentrism in distributing the coveted World Heritage title, broadening conceptions of heritage in response. Yet European countries kept being more successful and frustrated Southern nations rebelled in the 2010 Committee session to see their aspirations realised. National wishes set the course for the decisions now but Northern countries continue to win more titles and Northern bias in World Heritage expertise persists. This is because leading Southern countries prioritise their national interests over pressing for fundamental reform, just as in other global organisations' attempts to become more inclusive. Southern collusion in the reproduction of Northern hegemony must be given due attention, particularly when time lags between North and South – in terms of rewards, influence on fundamental conceptions, and historical production of the potential resource – compound as much as here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]