Most project partners participating in the Hist.Urban project are from small and medium-sized towns outside metropolitan areas. The main assets of these towns are historical town centres belonging to the European-built cultural heritage (7 cities are even UNESCO World Heritage sites). Due to social and economic transformations and structural changes the cities have to make considerable efforts to maintain or regain their urban functions and to be able to act as drivers for their region. The main objective of the project is to strengthen small and medium-sized historical towns outside metropolitan areas by using the established cultural heritage as a development factor for sustainable urban development. In particular the business location "city" with its urban functions should be strengthened to support a polycentric settlement structure in the CADSES area. The project partners are composed of 19 public and private institutions as well as research institutions from nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe. A central objective of the project is also to raise awareness for the value of the established cultural heritage as a development factor and element of cultural identity. Expected Results: The project actors jointly develop and test integrated and practice-orientated revitalisation approaches. These will be linked with transnational activities, such as conferences, summer academies, workshops, a baseline study and a good-practice manual. Partners will exchange know-how, create networks and work together on different thematic focal points concerning the revitalisation of historical cities. Hist.Urban strives to develop coherent and sustainable strategies and approaches for CADSES in the field of integrated revitalisation of historical towns. All experiences and results will be summarised in a transnational manual on integrated revitalisation approaches for decision-makers from local to European level. The project will contribute to strengthening the urban functions, economies and qualities and promote sustainable urban renewal and a polycentric urban settlement structure in the CADSES region. Another effect of Hist.Urban will be the improvement of the capacity of local and regional professionals and decision-makers concerning revitalisation measures in historical towns.