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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.
Scale dissonances between local and world heritage : the rural landscape of the Palladian villa
(2021)
This research critically analyses the visual representation of the Palladian villa landscape as UNESCO World Heritage. I bring to light certain dissonances around the understanding of this landscape as heritage between global and local perspective. I have explored the ways in which the rural landscape of the Palladian villas is produced by ICOMOS experts, local institution and inhabitants in the contemporary context of the suburban areas of the Veneto region in Italy. Dissonances are arising when the landscape transforms and the visual integrity, or the iconic image of the landscape get lost. I observed that, the loss of the visual integrity, considered as negative by ICOMOS experts, gives space to peculiar heritage social practices from below.
I am problematizing two main aspects of the conservation scheme of this site: the selective visual representation of history and the musealization of agriculture for touristic proposes. I am exploring the potential of reframing and renaming the conservation scheme of the World Heritage Site. I suggest using inhabitant’s visual representation to reframe the UNESCO management plan and considering the peculiar local agricultural practice as a “continuing cultural landscape”. I interpret my empirical and theoretical contribution as a semantic shift in the way the Palladian rural landscape is understood as World Heritage toward an inclusive and situated heritage conservation that extend beyond expert’s conservation philosophies. The research contributes to the deconstruction of modern notions of rural landscape and heritage in the field of heritage studies and landscape conservation especially within the implementation of the World Heritage Convention.
Despite the continuous effects of natural hazards on cultural heritage and growing body of research on disaster risk assessment, cultural heritage still suffers from the lack of integrated risk assessment methodologies. Within the context of natural hazards, earthquakes need to be differently considered mainly due to the sudden massive destruction without warning and the unpredictability of the exact occurrence time and place. So far, limited sources have been adequately dedicated to developing risk assessment methodologies for cultural heritage. The challenge is to integrate the principles and methods of risk assessment in heritage conservation on one side, and to incorporate particular characteristics of cultural heritage and World Cultural Heritage properties (e.g. the Outstanding Universal Values and associated conditions of authenticity and integrity) into the risk assessment procedure, on the other.
There are numerous cultural properties that have been extremely affected by seismic events, such as the historic city of Bam in Iran. The World Heritage site of ‘Bam and its Cultural Landscape’, as a unique example of a traditional human settlement, is investigated in this research. Because Bam and its Cultural Landscape is located in a high-probability earthquake region and appeared to be highly vulnerable to seismic events, an integrated risk assessment for the property needs to be developed in response to potential earthquakes.
Recognising the challenge, a Cultural Heritage Risk Index for Bam is performed to measure the level of risk by aggregating the risk components, which are ‘hazard’ (earthquakes), ‘exposure’ (significance of the site elements), and ‘vulnerability’ (susceptibility and coping capacity). According to the risk index, an earthquake risk map is generated by applying Geographic Information System (GIS) to demonstrate a common understanding of the level of potential impacts on the property. Furthermore, a multiple impact identification matrix supports determining the potential impacts of an earthquake as well as its related secondary hazards and human-induced threats that need to be addressed in a risk preparedness plan.
The findings of the research emphasis that in addition to the hazard itself, diverse factors associated with the heritage significance, structural susceptibility, and institutional capacity highly influence the level of risk. The outputs of the risk assessment allows determining site-specific risk reduction strategies, particularly seismic susceptibility reduction and coping capacity building. This provides specialists and practitioners from multiple sectors engaged in the protection of (World) cultural heritage with a practical tool to facilitate risk communication and appropriate risk management planning.
The rebuilding of war-damaged historic cities has a significant impact on the way the affected societies can heal and recover in the post-conflict situation. If carried out without taking into consideration the inseparable relationship between the built structures and the formation of people’s identity, the reconstruction processes could cause more damage than the one endured due to the conflict. In this context, the rebuilding of cities and their historic centres in particular play a significant role in restoring the collective memory of the shared setting.
This dissertation researches the disturbing effects and trauma resulting from the deliberate destruction of heritage assets during armed conflicts, concerning both inhabitants and ancient urban structures. It discusses the discourse on the issue of post-conflict reconstruction that includes the arguments and recommendations made by several international experts and organizations which stipulates with both theoretical and practical outcome. The work of many theorists, authors, architects, philosophers, and professionals working in the field of heritage management, is examined thoroughly to provide a deep understanding of the issues discussed throughout this research.
The most recent illustration within this context is the war in Syria, which has caused excessive damage to the country’s cultural heritage. Noting that the military clashes have come to an end in several areas within the country and the physical damage has stopped, reconstruction projects have begun to materialize, and the urgent need for an overall consistent framework for rebuilding Syria is more crucial than ever.
Syria’s cultural heritage is facing a high threat of a second destruction, which will most likely follow if the involved governmental representatives, stakeholders, society or ‘societies’ did not realize the fundamental necessity for a value-based reconstruction approach which guarantees that the assessment of values is carried out and achieved in a balanced manner. Otherwise, mistakes will occur, and consequently, the collective memory and identity of the Syrians might never be recovered.
The rebuilding of post-war Syria is complex and challenging; it embraces more than a physical transformation of urban structures, and poses new threats to achieve psychological healing and recovering. The urban integrity of the Syrian cities is threatened, especially in the old city of Aleppo where the damage goes beyond the physical fabric and extends to endanger the city’s historical identity. Therefore, the main focus of the work is to develop a strategic framework which goes hand in hand with the traditional rebuilding approaches, and merges several practical and theoretical contexts deduced from previous case studies. The essence of the research revolves around understanding the significance of the city’s heritage and historic fabric, which must be considered a priority when deciding for the reconstruction procedures.
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.
The publication addresses architectural conservation as a discipline that plays a vital role in the construction of identities, and therefore, is prone to being appropriated for political purposes. The publication contains 14 research papers that reflect diverse ideologised memorialisation processes and have been grouped by three sub-themes: destruction/reconstruction, transformation, and interpretation. The international contributors from diverse academic backgrounds discuss heritage politics in different cultural regions, nation-states, and political systems in order to investigate cases of ideologised heritage conservation and their relationship to religion, history, and politics.
The report “Studio Bagan: Building in Heritage Context” presents an in-depth study of the issue of monument climbing at Bagan, one of Asia’s most important Buddhist sites. Originally built during the 11th to 13th centuries the site comprises more than 3.000 Buddhist monuments ranging from small stupas and temples to monastic complexes and several enormous stucco-covered structures on an area of about 25 square kilometres.
The core concept of the research project that resulted in the report was to work across the disciplines of architectural conservation, heritage studies and design. Thus, the study was conducted by academics of respective fields and master students of World Heritage Studies, architecture and urban planning. The project applied approaches from social sciences as applied in architectural conservation in order to guide the architectural design process. These included values-based approaches for gaining an understanding of the site and of the stakeholders’ needs; heritage impact assessments to identify beneficial (and adverse) characteristics for potential alternative viewing platforms; typology exploration and location analysis through the SWOT process.
The research introduces volunteering at World Heritage site as a potential civic engagement tool, which can increase communication between heritage property and local community. The first part of the study focuses on the concept of volunteering and on the role it plays in community involvement at World Heritage sites as well as on its benefits for social development in general.
The second part of the research intends to give practical recommendation on designing a volunteer program under conditions of the World Heritage site of the Palaces and Parks in Potsdam and Berlin. The author raises a question how a volunteering program can be organized to be effective and at the same time to respond to the UNESCO World Heritage Programme and to the newest UNESCO conservation concepts, such as Historic Urban Landscape approach.
The study aims to serve as a practical guide for museums and heritage organisations that intend to improve community involvement in their work.
This research comprises an analysis concerning the conflict between the State Party Germany to the World Heritage Convention and UNESCO in the case of the Dresden Elbe Valley. Through a historical and legal analysis, this research aims to ascertain the reasons for this conflict, as well as the impossibility of finding a compromise. First, the conflict in the core of the Dresden Elbe Valley World Heritage Site caused by the construction of the Waldschlößchenbrücke, which is the object of study in this research, is anchored in its context of the City of Dresden. Thus, the object of the conflict, the Waldschlößchenbrücke, is presented in its historical and geo-spatial context in order to shed light on the elements that triggered the conflict. Secondly, the conflict is anchored within the German legal context through the analysis of the legal procedures concerning the binding effects of the World Heritage Convention for the Federal Republic of Germany and the environmental concerns rendered by the construction of the Waldschlößchenbrücke. Based on legal commentaries of the courts’ decisions, a discussion on the non-transposition of the World Heritage concepts in the Federal Republic of Germany is implemented. Thirdly, the State Party Germany to the World Heritage Convention and UNESCO are confronted. A review of the concept of cultural landscape in the context of the World Heritage Convention, adapted to the case of the Dresden Elbe Valley, is first implemented. Subsequently, a commentary on the legally binding effects for the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention is elaborated upon, as well as a deconstruction of the step-by-step decisions from the inscription to the delisting of the Dresden Elbe Valley from the World Heritage List. Fourthly, an evaluation is developed concerning the concept of Historic Urban Landscape as an action plan capable of solving the conflict between urban development and heritage protection, and adapted to the German context. Finally, as a conclusion to this research, recommendations are drawn based on the conflict opposing UNESCO and the State Party Germany to the World Heritage Convention towards the Dresden Elbe Valley. These recommendations are addressed to the City of Dresden, the Free State of Saxony, the Federal Republic of Germany and UNESCO.
„Das ist ja wie im Museum!“ ist eine Aussage, der wir bei der Beschreibung von denkmalgeschützten Orten begegnen. Doch wie lässt sich Musealität für den städtischen Kontext definieren und messen? Welche Gründe gibt es für Musealität und wie kann sie gelenkt werden? Ausgangspunkt und Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, die Beschreibung „wie im Museum“ wissenschaftlich zu untersuchen und eine Grundlage dafür zu liefern, dass Veränderungsprozesse, die zu Musealität führen, in Planungsprozessen berücksichtigt werden können. Der Begriff Musealität und der Prozess der Musealisierung werden durch die Arbeit für den städtischen Zusammenhang von denkmalgeschützten, touristisch genutzten Zonen definiert. Dafür werden Musealitätsmerkmale benannt und Funktionsveränderungen, Kontextveränderungen und Veränderungen in der Aneignung öffentlicher Räume analysiert. Es wird dargestellt, welche Musealisierungshandlungen zu welchen Veränderungen führen und welche Rollen dem Denkmalschutz und dem Fremdenverkehr in Welterbeortschaften zukommen. Der Hauptteil der Arbeit beschreibt Untersuchungsmethoden mit der Musealität dokumentiert und ihrer Gründe analysiert werden können. Drei Feldstudien in spanisch-kolonialen Welterbestädten (Trinidad auf Kuba, Guanajuato in Mexiko und Vigan auf den Philippinen) veranschaulichen die Anwendung der Methoden. Aus den im Feld gewonnenen Dokumentationsergebnissen wird ein System von räumlichen und zeitlichen Musealitätsmustern abgeleitet. Es wird ein Spektrum an Abhängigkeiten aufgezeigt, die den Veränderungsprozess Musealisierung prägen. Abschließend wird ein Ausblick darauf gegeben, wie Veränderungsprozesse, die zu Musealität führen, in Planungsprozesse einbezogen werden können. Der Ausblick zeigt Möglichkeiten für die Lenkung der Veränderungsprozesse und stellt die Rolle der entwickelten Untersuchungsmethoden für Planungsprozesse dar.