Expropriation as a Way for Protecting the Architectural Heritage

The protection of the national cultural heritage consists of all measures of a scientific, legal, administrative, financial, fiscal, and technical nature, designed to ensure the identification, research, inventory, classification, preservation, security, maintenance, restoration, and enhancement of the national cultural heritage, in order to ensure democratic access to culture and the transmission of this heritage to future generations. This study examines achievements in the field of international heritage protection, the dynamics of preserved and endangered assets according to UNESCO data. The factors affecting the value of cultural heritage are analyzed by exemplifying their action in the Republic of Moldova. Expropriation is considered from the point of view of the possibility of protecting the architectural heritage. The practice of Turkey, the Russian Federation and Romania in protecting cultural heritage through expropriation or compulsory purchase of inadequately managed cultural property is covered in the research. Proposals are made on how to apply the best practices in the conditions of the Republic of Moldova.

serving the architectural heritage. The architectural heritage is one of the structural elements of the nation with an enormous energy potential for spiritual development and national awareness in the multitude of nations and ethnicities existing in the world, as well as an anchor in the wave of change generated by the globalization process.
Regrettably, at the moment, the followers of the first position have gained ground in the Republic of Moldova. Cultural heritage is of public interest through its essential impact on society due to the importance of its role in education, economy, and generally in the civilization of the entire society. This statute requires the regulation of its protection and the prevention of any damage to it, by establishing servitudes of property rights, whether public or private, over heritage assets and, at the same time, specific measures for the enhancement and preservation of these assets (Ilea, 2019).
The protection of the monuments of history and culture by the state bodies comprises various activities, which are materialized in the requirement and assurance of activities related to record keeping, enhancement, protection, safeguarding, preservation, and restoration. Attention is also paid to the extension of the material base, the use and accessibility of monuments for various research, the education of the young generation and the propagation of historical and cultural values. The protection of the state is exercised by Parliament, Government, the councils of district, municipality, city, and commune levels, as well as by the district presidents and mayors (Dimin, 2009).
However, "what should be" and what is done "de facto" are not always consistent in the Republic of Moldova. For example, the non-publication on the date of adoption in 1993 of the Register of State Protected Monuments led to the demolition of an impressive number of objects of architectural, cultural and historical value until 2010, when it was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova. National legislation (Law, No. 413, 1999) provides that "Privatization of objects and properties that make up the national cultural heritage is prohibited", while providing that "(1) Monuments that are privately owned may be sold, donated or alienated with the mandatory notification of the state bodies in charge of monuments protection. When buying and selling monuments, the state has the right of pre-emption (Law, No. 1530, 1999. But this stipulation has often been violated or simply neglected.
Although the national legislation in force (Law, No. 1530, 1999 stipulates the cancellation of alienation transactions of monuments carried out in breach of the law, and provides for liability under the Civil Code, there is no precedence in the application of this measure. In order to protect monuments in the form of real estate, the Law (Law, No. 1530, 1999 specifies that monuments owners shall sign insurance contracts, indicating the value of the monuments and land from their protection areas established by an expert, but conclusive examples in this meaning do not exist. with the status of protected monument of national and local level (Ştefăniţă et al., 2011). This figure continues to rise, primarily due to existing corruption and non-compliance with legal provisions.
The lack of clear, unambiguous rules of urbanization, as well as the noncompliance with those that exist, have led to a considerable change of the image of the Historic Center and the deterioration of architectural monuments. The height noncompliance is observed in the neighborhoods located in the Historic Center. The construction of large, multi-storey modern buildings in close proximity to architectural monuments not only changes the visual appearance but also affects the resistance structure of old buildings by accelerating their degradation (Albu et al., 2020).
In this study we targeted to examine UNESCO's practices on the preservation and protection of cultural heritage, highlighting the existing dangers to which heritage objects are exposed and analyzing the factors that influence the value of

Preservation and Protection of Cultural Heritage at International Level
At international level, most normative acts, which refer to the legal regime of historical and cultural values, are adopted under the auspices of the UNESCO.
The sphere of activity of this interstate organization includes solving a wide  However, the list of endangered monuments is not considerably reduced.
Every year this list is supplemented, at the beginning of 2020 it included 36 cultural objects (UNESCO, 2021) ( Figure 2).
The conditions which threaten heritage objects can be "ascertained" and "potential".
In case of ascertained danger, the property is faced with specific and proven imminent danger, such as: serious deterioration of materials; serious deterioration of structure and/or ornamental features; serious deterioration of architectural or town-planning coherence; serious deterioration of urban or rural space, or the natural environment; significant loss of historical authenticity; important loss of cultural significance (UNESCO, 2008).
In case of potential danger, the property is faced with threats which could have deleterious effects on its inherent characteristics. Such threats are, for example: modification of juridical status of the property diminishing the degree of its protection; lack of conservation policy; threatening effects of regional planning projects; threatening effects of town planning; outbreak or threat of armed conflict; threatening impacts of climatic, geological or other environmental factors (UNESCO, 2008).

Factors Affecting the Value of Cultural Heritage
The monitoring of endangered properties has made it possible to identify the      Analyzing the existing situation in the Republic of Moldova regarding the architectural heritage through in the light of the named factors, we find that the major influence on real estate is exerted by: Buildings and Development. An extraordinary temptation for the owners of the architectural heritage has become the increase of the market value of the plots of land located in the Historic Center of Chisinau. In the suburbs the construction land is sold for 20 -25 thousand euro/100m 2 , while in the center of the capital the price is practically double (Albu & Albu, 2014) (Lesan, 2020). Over the last decade, the prices of 100 m 2 for some plots located in the Historic Center have exceeded 100 thousand euros. In the last year, the lack of free land has led to an increase in the price of construction plots in the center of the capital by an average of about 35%. Currently, the "economic" aspect prevails in the consciousness of society. It is considered that buildings that do not bring income become useless and turn for owners into a burden, as any property must generate high income (for example Figure 4 and Figure 5).
Transportation Infrastructure. Road traffic for 10 years increased by an average of 60% and the number of cars increased by 68% (Table 1). The vehicle traffic intensity in the city center has also increased (NBS, 2021), causing considerable vibrations of the ground, which contributes to increasing the degradation of architectural monuments.   Utilities or Service Infrastructure. The engineering networks in the area of the location of the architectural heritage are outdated, often failing and generating trampling and compaction of ground that cause cracking of the walls.
Social/Cultural Uses of Heritage. Only buildings used as museums, religious sites, universities, schools, libraries are in a good or satisfactory condition and maintain their cultural/architectural value.
Other Human Activities. Characteristic of the Republic of Moldova are the illegal activities mentioned above and the deliberate destruction of the heritage. It is also important to mention the repair of buildings with modern "fashionable" materials, such as replacing the decor covering the walls of buildings with plaster or a layer of stones, changing the roof and replacing it with attics of 1 -2 levels ( Figure 6 and Figure 7), the construction of annexes, the replacement of wooden doors and windows with those of thermopan, closing balconies with glass and lining them (Figure 8). Thus, contemporary interventions lead to the disappearance of the "historic city".
Inadequate technologies and inappropriate materials lead to increased degradation of buildings included in the national cultural heritage. Exterior finishes executed in the last two decades have not lasted more than 5 years (Figure 9). Sudden Ecological or Geological Events. The degradation and advanced wear of constructions in the capital of the Republic of Moldova is also due to the micro vibrations generated by the earthquakes, which are common in the area ( Figure 10).
According to the data of the Institute of Geology and Seismology of the Republic of Moldova (IGS, 2021) in the period 2011-April 2021, 1030 earthquakes were recorded, including 728 earthquakes with a magnitude up to 3.5 on the Richter scale, 268 with a magnitude between 3.5 -4.5, and 34 considerable earthquakes with a magnitude above 4.5 on the Richter scale ( Table 2). The strongest earthquakes in this period with a magnitude of 5.8 occurred in October 2018 and September 2016.
Invasive/Alien Species or Hyper-Abundant Species. In case of architectural heritage, it is important to draw attention to perennial plantations. Chisinau was always famous for being a green and beautiful city. Unfortunately, the roots of mature trees not only destroy sidewalks and road, but also affect the foundations  (Figure 11). Given that in the Historic Center there are buildings without foundations, the roots of the trees affect the entire structure of these buildings.          (Figures 12-14). The construction of large, multi-storey modern buildings in close proximity to architectural monuments not only changes the visual appearance but also affects the resistance structure of old buildings by accelerating their degradation.

Expropriation of Cultural Heritage
As it was shown, the architectural heritage is influenced by various factors that generate both "ascertained" and "potential" dangers. The loss or decrease of the historical-cultural value is an international problem on which teams of specialists from different fields are working. One of the ways of protecting the cultural heritage is the expropriation with its subsequent preservation.    (d) allows compulsory purchase of a protected property (Granada, 1985).
Each country decides its own way of implementing the provisions. For example, Turkey, Russia, and Romania have a different approach to preserving damaged, degraded, and inadequately managed heritage assets.
In Turkey, in  In order to initiate the expropriation procedure, project design, planning and implementation within the projects for the preservation and evaluation of immovable cultural property, the government or administrations prepare a series of necessary documents (Table 3).
The following order of priority is recommended for the evaluation of applications for expropriation, project design, planning, and implementation. a) Immovable cultural property constituting urgency on account of its condition: 1) Those with ongoing repair; 2) Those requiring material, bearing system and ground reinforcement.  1) The Danube hotel has not been used for more than 20 years, the building has almost 2700 square meters, it was built in 1938, it was damaged in the earthquake of 1977, the city paid for expropriation almost 1.6 million euros; 2) The famous Bristol Hotel, built in 1894 in the University Square with an area of 1000 square meters, is a construction of the architect Xenopol. It will be 3) The house of Pompiliu Eliade was built in 1907 after the drawings of Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu. In order not to be completely destroyed, it was surrounded by a fence. The city claims that for expropriation it paid to the owners, who left the building in ruins, compensations of almost 1 million euros. The house will be able to enter the tourist circuit of Bucharest, as a space for exhibitions and cultural events only after it will be rehabilitated.
An important aspect is the fact that the amount of compensation is not set by the City Hall, it cannot impose a minimum or maximum amount for a certain real estate required to be expropriated. The amount of compensation paid for expropriations is calculated by the specialists of a law company (ProTV, 2020).

Conclusions and Proposals
Factors affecting the value of architectural heritage in the Republic of Moldova are buildings and development; transportation infrastructure; utilities or service infrastructure; social/cultural uses of heritage; other human activities; ecological or geological events; invasive species; management and institutional factors.
The influence of factors that generate "ascertained" dangers cannot be excluded, they can only be reduced by restrictive actions (limiting road traffic, imposing fines for incorrect/inappropriate interventions in the structure/facades of buildings, etc.) or providing some facilities (exemption from property tax, offering preferential loans, etc.).
At the same time, the "potential" dangers generated by the group of institutional and management factors can be eliminated through an appropriate legislative framework and a functional executive framework.
• It is important to approve and implement the Law on the Protection of Historical Monuments, which is at the draft level. This law will allow the implementation of the provisions of international conventions, in particular, those issued by UNESCO, which represent the best practice worldwide. • It is necessary to include in the legislation of the Republic of Moldova the provision of compulsory purchase of inadequately managed cultural assets. • At the same time, it is crucial to stipulate the obligation to expropriate real estate with historical and architectural value as a last resort to save the heritage from destruction. Mainly for situations where the owner intentionally creates conditions for deterioration of cultural heritage.
• Lastly, it is important to amend the Fiscal Code and to include the use of a part of the real estate tax (for example 10%) for works/actions intended to protect the cultural heritage.