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The contribution of community involvement in heritage management : a cultural mapping project
(2023)
Heritage has been lately the matter of debate regarding its definition, conservation and management approaches. In the last few years, there has been an increasing demand for the involvement of the local community in heritage management. Too often, the involvement perspectives of key stakeholders in general and the community members, in particular, are entirely different. While the theoretical ground of community involvement is somehow well set, heritage management has been slow in applying the involvement approach. Practically, it is not easy to find the balance to achieve all the goals of key stakeholders in any involvement project. Subsequently, there are a few numbers of empirical works on the practical implications of understanding heritage management effective tools and limited indication to convince recent ‘power-holders’ such as governmental organizations to distribute their power with local community members.
This doctoral research project explores community involvement in heritage management as an effective solution to building a strong management system. The study aims to examine the level and the quality of involvement in the management of heritage sites in general through a cultural mapping-based approach. This is applied to a case study which is the Religious Complex in Historic Cairo World Heritage Site. The research outcomes indicate the importance of involving the local community in heritage management and planning processes. Ultimately, the study provides critical empirical evidence and draws valuable theoretical and practical assumptions that spread knowledge of cultural mapping in critical issues, such as the drivers of involvement and cooperative decision-making.
The global regulations and policies of the foundational UNESCO World Heritage (WH) are by far unable to solve the management threefold relationship conflicts between Heritage, Tourism activities, and urban needs as integral components of a Heritage site. Besides, fundamental scholars as well have not explored this existing relationship comprehensively. Instead, the conflict is discussed in a twofold manner. So, both existing international regulations and latest literature contributions have failed to understand the obstacles to bring out applicable on-site approaches for Heritage site management.
This research provides a novel lens with which to understand the conflicting demands of Heritage sites management. It does not only delve into bringing forward the predominant reasons for failure particularly for Luxor city in Egypt as an overarching question, but also the long-term impact on Tourism management and society overall from an urban perspective. The key research questions are: (1) how definitions and conceptions of Heritage Value by foundational resources are reflected in the Tourism field; (2) how the Egyptian Heritage protection laws regulate the stated conflict; and (3) focusing on Luxor city, how the history of Tourism, Heritage policies, and urban planning in Egypt, which favoured tourism-oriented projects, impacted the morphology of the city and its urban and social networks.
The investigation of Heritage Value definitions revealed a broad spectrum of views and even contradicting notions. The quandary nature of Value is evident in the Egyptian Heritage protection regulations. Additionally, they are not on the same pace as the international discourse about the complexity of Heritage protection. It viewed Value resources of Luxor city that were destinated for tourism-oriented development plans from the Heritage and Tourism points of view to come up with increasing concerns and unsolved plights.
For realistic and sustainable Heritage management, the UNESCO WH Centre's insufficient relation to WH sites needs local community representatives as an equal third party instead of maintaining it primarily through experts from its Advisory Bodies and State Parties. Egyptian Heritage protection laws should be reformed to identify the urban context as an integral component of Heritage sites, provide the local communities with technical and financial incentives, and integrate Historic Urban Landscapes recommendations. Heritage sites management and urban planning of cities of Heritage Value in Egypt should be restructured to be on the local level, where the power and interest landscape of stakeholders are the most balanced. The regulatory reorganisations that acknowledge the broader urban milieu at the international, national and local levels are a chief factor for sustainable Heritage site management.
Studio Bagan is conceptualized as an interdisciplinary preservation studio to foster applied knowledge transfer in the fields of cultural heritage management, urban and regional planning and designing in historic contexts. In 2017, during the first edition of “Studio Bagan: Building in Heritage Contexts” the students undertook a careful assessment of the issue of “temple climbing” and developed concepts for alternative and heritage-sensitive viewing platforms. In 2018, the second Studio Bagan under the theme “Heritage Tourism – Conflicts and Chances” addressed a broader range of challenges related to tourism and heritage. Both studios followed the agenda of (1) exploring, (2) understanding the cultural significance of the place and analyzing identified problems, and then (3) developing conceptual approaches and strategies. The results of the students’ work are compiled in this publication as a collection of ideas for Myanmar’s flagship destination, Bagan. The results of the students’ work in 2018 are compiled in this publication as a collection of ideas for Myanmar’s flagship destination, Bagan.