The protection regulation to be created is a document that sets out the general starting points for the protection of the heritage of the Old Town - what is allowed in the Old Town, what is forbidden, where it can be built, how to restore it etc.

"If you look at it from a heritage conservation point of view, there are definitely the most problematic or debating issues with and around green spaces in and around the Old Town, the bastion zone and the green space inside and around the Old Town, which is sometimes wanted to be constructed and sometimes not and how to do it. The principles of construction and renovation should be be clearer with the new protection regulation," Triin Talk, the head of the working group for drafting the protection regulation, said.

The new Heritage Conservation Act allows the buildings of heritage protection areas to be divided into different categories, which will bring a certain amount of relief to the owners, it is argued.

"Until now, all buildings in heritage protection areas had to be treated equally in the sense of the law, but now it is possible to divide them into different categories- buildings that are protected in its entirety with its interior, as has been the case so far, and some buildings that are protected only by the external façade and volume," Talk said.

The compilation of the protection order of Tallinn's Old Town is an initiative of the National Heritage Board, the other party to which is the local community, entrepreneurs and the City of Tallinn.

Madle Lippus, Deputy Mayor of Tallinn said that it is important that the Old Town starts living again. "As we know, the number of permanent residents in the Old Town is declining, there are fewer and fewer businesses and places for local people. The current two-year pandemic has shown how empty the Old Town is when the tourists disappear," Lippus said.

Simultaneously with the new protection order, a development plan for the Old Town is being prepared. The aim of both is to make the Old Town a complete and pleasant living environment.

"Just as we say in the context of the whole of Tallinn, how important the city streets are, the same applies to the Old Town. The streets of this life can be the streets of the Old Town, which must be pleasant and easy for people of all ages to pass," Lippus said.

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