丑陋的建筑设计推动了邻避主义（NIMBYism）和遗产保护运动的兴起。[1]虽然设计不佳的新建筑对本地反对开发的直接影响有限，但它对远处居民产生了重大影响，促使他们支持保护旧建筑。[1]现代主义建筑风格在20世纪中叶的流行，导致公众普遍认为新建筑不如旧建筑美观，这才是20世纪60-70年代遗产保护运动兴起的真正原因。[1]
即便是设计精美的开发项目也面临公众阻力。[1]Charleston的I'On社区虽然设计精美，但在首次提议时仍遭数千人请愿反对。[1]法国巴黎1999-2013年间1949年前建筑的年拆除率仅为0.13%，而柏林2022年为0.018%。[1]在伦敦，1700年时有50多万人，但仅有100-200栋17世纪建筑存留至今，拆除率达99.8%。[1]
现代保护制度对战后建筑的认可度明显较低。[1]英格兰约375,000栋受保护建筑中，仅300栋为2003年前的战后建筑，到2015年才增至约500栋。[1]美国列入《国家登记簿》的建筑实施"50年规则"，几乎不包括最近50年内建成的建筑。[1]限制性分区规则在1890-1910年代就已在德国、奥地利、意大利和英国等国出现，远早于现代主义建筑在1950年代才真正全球流行的时期。[1]
Aesthetic dissatisfaction with modern buildings, rather than local opposition to development itself, has emerged as a primary driver of heritage preservation campaigns and NIMBYism across Western nations since the 1960s and 1970s [1]. While poorly designed developments may have limited impact on nearby residents' opposition to new construction, they significantly influence distant populations, motivating them to support the protection of older structures [1]. The widespread adoption of Modernist architectural styles beginning in the 1950s created a public perception that contemporary buildings lack the visual appeal of their predecessors, fundamentally reshaping attitudes toward urban conservation [1].
Historical data reveals the scale of this shift in preservation priorities. In England, only 300 of approximately 375,000 protected buildings were postwar structures built before 2003, a figure that had grown to roughly 500 by 2015 [1]. Similarly, the United States applies a "50-year rule" when adding buildings to the National Register, effectively excluding most recently constructed properties [1]. Comparative demolition rates illustrate how older structures now enjoy considerably greater protection: pre-1949 buildings in Paris experienced an annual demolition rate of merely 0.13 percent between 1999 and 2013, while pre-war structures in Berlin saw only 0.018 percent demolished in 2022 [1]. By contrast, historical records show that London demolished approximately 99.8 percent of its seventeenth-century building stock despite having over 500,000 residents in 1700 [1].
The emergence of restrictive zoning regulations predates Modernism itself, originating in Germany, Austria, Italy, and Britain between 1890 and 1910—a decade before the architectural movement gained prominence in the 1920s [1]. This timeline suggests that while preservation movements accelerated during the mid-twentieth century, the underlying legal frameworks for protecting built heritage developed earlier in response to different urban pressures [1].