City's distinctive character 'put at risk by unprecedented pressure to redevelop'

In Edinburgh, Scotland, so reports The Scotsman. From the article:

SCOTLAND'S capital risks losing the "distinctive character" that makes it a UNESCO World Heritage site if it fails to get the balance right on new development, the director of the city's heritage trust has warned. Zoe Clark, director of the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, said the Old Town, in the historic heart of the city, was facing "unprecedented pressure for redevelopment".

Edinburgh's Old and New Towns were named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. The Edinburgh World Heritage Trust struggles to conserve the city's architectural heritage with a budget of just £1.1 million a year. And the city centre is facing a string of developments worth hundreds of millions of pounds that could reshape its face from Princes Street to the Royal Mile...

UNESCO - the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation - has become more active recently in defending 800 World Heritage sites around the world, particularly in Europe. It placed the Elbe Valley in Germany on the "endangered" list over a proposed bridge, persuaded Vienna to block a high-rise building and last year sent inspectors into the Tower of London over the threat of looming new skyscrapers.

The Edinburgh World Heritage Trust manages, protects, enhances and promotes the site on behalf of UNESCO... The heritage trust is currently drawing up a new statement setting out the significance of the Edinburgh World Heritage site. The trust says major projects - from Quartermile and Caltongate to plans to replace and enlarge the St James Centre on the east end of Princes Street - should be considered together, not one by one.
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It appears as if the U.S. doesn't participate in the UNESCO World Heritage program.