Ways to preserve Kyoto's traditional "machiya" town houses that are disappearing fast under urban redevelopment were discussed Tuesday in New York by 13 architectural experts from Japan and the United States.

"It is important to preserve historical buildings, but their interiors need to be renovated to accommodate a changing lifestyle," said Takahiko Otani, professor of architecture at Mukogawa Women's University in Hyogo Prefecture and one of eight experts from Japan who attended the meeting.

"Machiya preservation should be backed, first of all, by the will of the people who live there," Otani said.

Kyoto is one of the few Japanese cities that escaped World War II bombing, but its machiya — traditional wooden town houses, many with stores on the first floor and mostly dating from 100 years ago — are disappearing fast due to a lack of awareness among the public for the need to preserve them and major redevelopment in the area amid soaring land prices and high inheritance taxes.