Foreword
by Sue Essex

There is a growing appreciation that our historic environment is important and that we need to do our best to ensure its conservation for future generations. Key to this is the designation by local authorities of conservation areas - defined areas that are of special architectural or historic interest, which should be protected and even enhanced. Wales has a significant number of conservation areas but they are managed in different ways by different authorities.

This study by the Civic Trust for Wales and the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cardiff University looks at current arrangements on the ground and examines how they might be improved in the interests of the environment as a whole. This is timely; given the work the National Assembly is progressing with the Land Use Planning Forum to develop new planning guidance, and our current initiative to improve design in Wales. All of this fits well with the Assembly's overall agenda for a "Better Wales".