ID: 1859
Presenting Author: Kirk Roberts
Session: 719 - Cultural Heritage: Current Trends and Best Practice
Status: pending
Amid regulatory uncertainty, enforcing best practices means balancing action and trust. This presentation explores AlUla’s HIA enforcement and the drive for transparent, agile guidelines
Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) is a critical tool for managing and mitigating change within heritage sites, yet in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, no regulatory framework currently mandates its systematic use. To address this gap, as an interim solution the Royal Commission for AlUla has embedded HIA as a requirement within the development application process, ensuring that heritage values are adequately considered through the conditions of development consent and contractual obligations. Building on this foundation, RCU has developed updated HIA Guidelines to promote greater transparency and consistency in their application. These revised guidelines clarify the screening process, establish clear decision-making criteria, and align HIA stages with the RIBA Plan of Work where applicable—or with equivalent non-RIBA development stages—to support seamless integration into project planning processes. Furthermore, the updated framework introduces an enhanced consideration of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), an area not yet regulated at the national level, to better capture the living and community dimensions of heritage significance. By strengthening accountability, improving procedural clarity, and expanding scope, these guidelines aim to build trust among stakeholders, foster best practice, and position HIA as a central instrument for sustainable heritage management in Saudi Arabia’s rapidly developing landscape.
Kirk Roberts is the Director of the Cultural Heritage Administration Department of the Royal Commission for AlUla, which functions as the Heritage Authority for AlUla County
Coauthor 1: Laura Morabito