Patrim nio e território urbano em cartas patrimoniais do século XX

Heritage and urban territory; the 20th ce ntury main patrimonialletters. There is currently an extreme visibility of the world’scultural and natural heritage; a time in which ancient cities around the planet are given new roles on behalf of local economic development, the so called cultural tourism. However, it is necessary to consider the historical process that led to the current conception of cultural heritage in its universal aspect anddistinguish the dialectic between culture and commodity, which impacts on the comprehension of urban territory in all its aspects.This paper summarizes a wider research and analyses the consecration of the cultural heritage to the invaluable notion of world heritage. We search to understand the effective urban territorial approach through the 20th century main patrimonial letters: Letter of Athens(1931), Letter of Venice (1964), Convention for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972) and the Amsterdam Declaration (1975).