Experts of the regeneration of historic cores meet in Malta tomorrow for a three-day conference, being jointly organised by the Malta Tourism Authority, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and the World Urban Development Forum.

It will bring together the practical experiences of European and Mediterranean towns and cities in capitalising on the opportunities provided by historic urban areas.

The conference is being held at the Corinthia San Gorg Hotel, St Julian's.

The historic urban core is not only a striking feature of many towns and cities but also an asset for their economic and social renaissance; however, the regeneration process posed a number of issues which are common to many cities.

The first is the demographic and residential changes of the core areas as more affluent residents move out, thus creating a higher concentration of social problems and a high number of vacant and unkept properties.

Some historic cores have reversed the trend through gentrification, the side effect being a radical shake-up of the social structure of the area.

Other issues relate to finding appropriate uses for old buildings and ensuring that increased activity does not increase the impact of traffic.

City officials, urban planners, economists, tourism planners, sociologists, architects, conservationists, transport planners and local officials from 31 countries will actively contribute to the exchange of experiences and ideas on these topics.