1. INTRODUCTION – BRIDGING THE DISCIPLINES INTEGRATED CONSERVATION (IC) is an emerging concept of managing human development in cities. It finds its source in the idea of integrated conservation that was forwarded in several documents of the 1970’s, such as the Declaration of Amsterdam on European Architectural Heritage of 1975. IC is an approach that embraces a multitude of traditional and emerging disciplines spanning anthropology and architecture, economics and ecology, sociology and statistics. 1.1.
INTERFACES IN INTEGRATED CONSERVATION
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY: Integrated conservation is part of the general process of the planning and management of cities and territories in accordance with a multireferential perspective (economic, political, social, cultural, environmental and spatial); CULTURE: It centres on (but does not limit itself to) the physical and spatial aspects of the consolidated urban areas that are socially recognized as of cultural value and seeks to maintain the integrity, authenticity and continuity of urban areas of cultural value for present and future generations; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: It emphasizes the conservation of the physical and spatial aspects within the development/transformation process of the city, while seeking sustainable development by transforming the cultural values of the city into assets that add value to all dimensions of the development process. 1.2.
OBJECTIVES OF INTEGRATED CONSERVATION APPROACH
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Promoting an interdisciplinary approach in the analytical and normative initiatives of urban heritage conservation programs, plans, projects and actions;
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Conceiving "meta-languages" that can facilitate communication among experts of different disciplines related to conservation of the urban heritage;
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Promoting the use of new models for institutional, operational and public participation that help to bridge the communication gap among these experts and stakeholders. 1.3.
INTERACTION AMONGST THE URBAN DISCIPLINES
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A city is a multifaceted entity that cannot be comprehended by representing only some points of view for to do so is to lose sight of the city ́s complex character.
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To retain its inherent complexity as an ever-open system, the city as a cultural asset must be tackled by means of analytical and normative approaches that accept a high level of uncertainty when making statements and propositions about them, and
welcome for references to intangible heritage and poetry as methods of understanding the urban environment. •
To establish communication among disciplines, that is, among concept systems and the experts that manage them, one inevitably needs a higher degree of abstraction, indeterminacy and complexity. Yet, one also needs a framework on a practical level.
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Therefore, a critically important approach to the complexity of a city will involve establishing effective communication among disciplines.
2. THE FRAMEWORK OF INTEGRATED CONSERVATION The fragmentation in terms of urban development and urban conservation is a challenge that occurs on various levels. The main objective of such a framework for integration is to improve the sustainable management of built environmental heritage resources for the present and future generations. The framework includes integration on various levels, namely, on policy and legislation, procedural integration and spatial integration. 2.1. • • •
Policy and legislation Procedural Spatial 2.2.
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LEVELS OF DISINTEGRATION
LEVELS OF INTEGRATION
Spatial Integration Management Integration Continuous Public Involvement External exposure to branding Local government participation Active role of Heritage and Community forums
LEVELS OF INTEGRATION AND THE INSTRUMENTS
RESPONSIBILITIES OF VARIOUS MUNICIPAL DEPARTMENTS
FRAMEWORK FOR INTEGRATION
INTEGRATED URBAN HERITAGE MODEL
3. CASE STUDIES 3.1.
INTERNATIONAL: KLERKSDROP, SOUTH AFRICA
SPATIAL ANALYSIS MAP OF BUILT HERITAGE ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES
Klerksdorp does not only focus on urban development, it is a rich area in terms of built environmental heritage resources. There are forty identified heritage sites within Klerksdorp. These heritages enjoy protection in terms of national legislation (NHRA) but are not integrated in the day-to-day management of the spatial environment, nor are they aligned to the various management sectors of the local authority. While national legislation has captured the essence of the international paradigm shift concerning heritage, it is still treated in a rather isolated way locally. As a historical city and as the second oldest city in North West Province, Klerksdorp is rich in heritage resources, for example, museums (Klerksdorp and Goud koppie Museums), community halls (Jouberton and Tigane community halls), Dutch Reformed Church, Sister Mary’s place and Casey Cindi Freedom Square.
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF BUILT ENVIRONMENTAL HERITAGE RESOURCES
THREE LEVELS OF STAKEHOLDERS
In urban conservation, the key stake holders include urban conservationists, heritage practitioners, heritage managers and the SAHRA. However, it was established that these key stakeholders work in separation. This has led to the isolated treatment of built environmental heritages. INFERENCE: DUE TO LACK OF CO-ORDINATION BETWEEN THE DISCIPLINES, NO ACTION PLAN COULD BE DEVISED FOR CONSERVATION. THUS, ESTABLISHING THE NEED FOR I.C. 3.2.
INTERNATIONAL: HISTORIC PENINSULA, ISTANBUL
HISTORIC PENINSULA: WORLD HERITAGE SITES AND DESIGNATED RENEWAL AREAS UNDER THE CONSERVATION The ongoing implementation of Renewal Areas programme does not involve comprehensive redevelopment, but a combination of redevelopment and rehabilitation. But this market-led process is likely to lead to further gentrification as there is no mechanism for the local re-housing of tenants. Thus it will contradict the aims and outcomes of the innovative UNESCO funded community oriented Fener-Balat neighbourhood regeneration programme, which was intended to provide a model for other neighbourhoods. Moreover there is no sign that the piloting of improved neighbourhood waste management in FenerBalat will be extended. The concept of neighbourhood eco-retrofitting has not yet been introduced into the Renewal Areas programme.
This situation presents a major challenge for the further development of the fourth conservation planning process - the Historic Peninsula World Heritage Sites Area Management Plan (AMP) - which has recently started to move towards an integrated approach along the lines of the conceptual framework established by a UNESCO project. A combination of developments at local and national levels may provide conditions which will enable an Istanbul specific process of sustainable low carbon conservation to emerge. At local level history may record that the work of an international NGO, Embarq, had a major impact. Since 2007 Embarq has been working with other NGOs, public and private sector partners to realise a vision of transforming the heavily congested Historic Peninsula into a ‘low emission zone’.
THE ‘3 ES’ OF SUSTAINABLE URBAN REGENERATION AND THE ‘3 RS’ OF NON RENEWABLE RESOURCE AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
URBAN CONSERVATION: DYNAMIC CONCEPT AND EVOLVING PRACTICE
3.3.
INDIAN: KOLKATA
Issues in heritage conservation in Kolkata: • • • • •
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Owners of heritage properties often take no interest for renovation of the building/property unless the income generated from that is more than the spending. Premises Tenancy Act was not favourable to heritage properties Fragmentation of the property due to family partition is also a major area for concern. Owners are skeptic about the marketability of their property. Present socio-economic conditions are inclined to give priority to infrastructure development. Heritage issues are not integrated with that development. Lack of incentives to the owners of the heritage buildings. Lack of integration within different departments of KMC on heritage conservation.
KMC: Facilitating heritage conservation Salient features of KMC Act on heritage conservation • Assigning responsibilities to owners of heritage buildings to maintain, preserve and conserve them • Powers of KMC to declare a building as a heritage building and classify them into multiple categories • Creation of Heritage Conservation Committee and their powers, responsibilities • Defining ownership and transfer of rights of heritage buildings.
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Power to exempt rates and taxes, etc. on heritage building. Creation of Corpus Fund KMC has taken the initiative for raising funds through voluntary contribution from organizations, persons or company In the budgetary provision, some amount of money from the own source revenue is earmarked for heritage conservation
The fund is to be utilized for restoration/upkeep of heritage structures KMC: • • • •
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Incentives to maintain Heritage buildings Exemption from property tax Allowing transferable development rights The heritage building owners are occasionally allowed to change the use of buildings from residential to more profitable uses like commercial hotels, etc. It is proposed that owners of Grade II and Grade III buildings be allowed controlled development like vertical and horizontal additions, etc. Integration of modules across departments A well coordinated system has been developed, integrating different departments of KMC - Assessment, Building, Advertisement, Chief Valuer and Surveyor and Project Management Unit Departments All databases are synchronized to keep track of the characteristics of heritage buildings
Benefits of interconnection of databases –Online checking of heritage database during mutation / amalgamation / separation by assessment department. –Online checking of heritage database while giving plan sanction by building department. –Online checking of heritage database while giving permission of hoarding by advertisement department. 48–Online checking of heritage database while issuing SOR by Ch. V & S department.
Conserving Heritage through PPP model 300 listed ‘Heritage’ buildin1Sgs, 500 Parks & squares crying for attention PO, St. Andrews Church, corporate offices of several financial as one of the Private trusts, civil society organizations and PPP
ventures being maneuverer for heritage squares, and city centres
aggressive solutions on river banks,
Background note on Dalhousie Square • • •
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The 2.5 Sq Km Dalhousie Square area is surrounded by imposing buildings such as Writers’ Buildings, Gservices companies Dalhousie Square was the bustling epicenter of English colonial power and trade during the two centuries that the city served as capital of India under British rule. This area, in the heart of Kolkata with its colonial buildings, was listed52100 endangered sites by the World Monument Fund (WMF) in 2004.
INFERENCE: UNLESS THERE IS A HUMAN-CENTRIC DEVISION OF URBAN CONSERVATION, INTEGRATION IS NOT POSSIBLE. THE EVIDENT ROLE OF ECONOMICS INTEGRATED WITH CONSERVATION IS EVIDENT IN THIS URBAN SYSTEM.
CONCLUSION: Inter-disciplinary integration comes as a result of proper research, development and demonstration at the urban level. But it is the need of the hour in the cities of India which is relevant in culture, heritage and social vibrance.
REFERENCES: 1. Zancheti, S. M.., Kulikauskas P., Sá Carneiro A. R., Lapa T. A.. 2004. Bridging the disciplines and cooperative action: interfaces in integrated urban conservation. City & Time 2. F Mangara, Towards integrating urban conservation and urban development: Klerksdorp as a case study 3. Bhatta, Kishan. (2009). Urban heritage conservation and sustainable community development: A case study of historic town Thimi,Nepal. SCITECH Nepal: A Journal of Scientific and Technical Studies. 11. 7-23. 4. K. Puren and T. Jordan, Towards integrating built heritage resources in urban development through spatial planning 5. Urban conservation in Istanbul’s Historic Peninsula: progress and challenges A. Kocabas
PART-B: INTEGRATION OF PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL CONSERVATION IN HISTORIC URBAN CITIES
INTRODUCTION: In understanding the spectrum of integration possibilities, the idea of sustainability provides a system of checks and balances to create a limited scope for architectural conservation. The historic cities have not only been the examples of urban architecture but also of social distinction and cultural heritage. The qualitative aspects of a society are well integrated with architectural building typologies and hence, conservation is incomplete if only physical and quantitative aspects are considered. CASE STUDY 01: “THREE LANES AND SEVEN ALLEYS” FUZHOU, FUJIAN, CHINA A. PURPOSE: Rapid Economic growth has caused the loss of several historic cities in China. To counter this, efforts have been made by the authorities and academics to turn some streets into community museums and to preserve examples of both tangible and intangible heritage in their entirety.
B. CAUSE: Initially this city was planned to be destroyed and redeveloped into something unrelated. But it was opposed by many experts and locals. But now the district is being protected and preserved as a community museum though a new programme, involving the local authorities, professionals and residents, which will allow continuity for the community’s life and culture.
C. CONTEXT: Running from north to south through the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys, Nanhou Street has been a central business street since ancient times. In its heyday every type of business, covering every aspect of life, could be found here. There were even businesses catering specifically for the intelligentsia, such as printblock carving workshops, second-hand bookshops and picture-framers. There were also lantern celebrations at the mid-autumn and Yuanxiao festivals. It was known as Fuzhou city’s version of Liulichang, an ancient street in Beijing renowned for its ancient books, calligraphy, paintings, rubbings, ink stones and ink. While it flourished during the Qing dynasty and in the Republic of China period, the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys were home to many influential figures in Chinese history.
D. IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY MUSEUMS: 1. Community museums will have great potential in Urban China. On the other hand, in building the new countryside, community museums can also play a role in memory reconstruction, tribal identity, morality and values, and public activities, functions that used to rest with ancestral clan halls. 2. Community museums are an important means to preserve community heritage, build community memory, enhance community cohesion and nurture scientific and democratic values. There are over 100 historical and cultural cities, more than 30 historical and cultural streets and over 350 historical and cultural towns and villages in China. 3. Community museums can play a key role in preserving and exhibiting China’s rich tangible and intangible heritage in a balanced and ecological way, endowing the places they represent with both historical depth and modern vitality, and promoting tourism and creative industries. 4. The practice in the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys is also a kind of culture and community reconstruction. Located in the central area of the city, the community
museum not only carries forward and reconstructs the collective memory of the people of Fuzhou but also cultivates a sustainable, generous, open-minded and exploratory city spirit.
E. RESTORATION PLAN OF THE PROJECT: KEY FEATURES OF THE PLAN ARE: 1. By adopting the latest ideas on museum theory and looking at practical examples elsewhere, the plan would encourage public participation, coordinate preservation, research and education, promote interaction between the community and the museum, and strive for sustainability. 2. The traditional museum formula of ‘building + collection + experts + audience’ would be replaced by a new formula for preservation and exhibition:
place + tradition + memory + residents 3. The aim was to build Three Lanes and Seven Alleys into a museum of ‘traditional architecture, community history and local intangible culture’. 4. There will be six tourist routes and fifty-eight cultural sites. The main hall, a conversion of an old building, is for exhibition. The branch museums, built from thirty old buildings will represent the community.
F. COMPLICATIONS AND FINANCES: • • • • • • • •
At the end of 2005 Fuzhou’s municipal government bought back the land-use rights from the developer. In 2006 the Preservation Plan for the Historical and Cultural Neighbourhood of the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys was formulated. In July the conservation and restoration project was launched. The first problem was the relocation of over 3,400 families, which cost the municipal government about 3 billion yuan. When the restoration project was complete, the relocated residents could choose whether or not to move back. If they didn’t, the government would buy their property and decide how to use it. The relocation turned out to be a success. All the buildings were kept intact, and not even a brick or a tile was taken away by the relocated families. Then the government spent another 1.6 billion yuan on the construction of public facilities and the maintenance of ancient buildings.
CONCLUSION: The restoration project strictly followed the principle of ‘keeping the status quo of cultural objects’ and a plan characterized by ‘‘‘dentist’’ repair, micro-circulation, progressiveness, small scale and continuity’. Meanwhile, effective measures and policies were made to protect the interests of the local people, many of whom volunteered to participate in the scheme. Some offered archive documents about the courtyards and buildings; others who planned to live there permanently made contributions to the repair and maintenance fund. Plans were also made for the use of these ancient buildings after they had been
properly repaired. Traditional architectural crafts, such as wood-carving, brick-carving and decorative colour painting, were used in the repair project. Traditional intangible heritage was rediscovered, displayed and used. Thus, we need to discover and interpret the value of our historical and cultural heritage, and coordinate it with urban development plans. Only when we have general cultural awareness, the preservation of historical neighbourhood’s form part of a benign cultural atmosphere, which is the real goal of ecological and community museums.
REFERENCES Consolidated based on the article published in:
THE USES OF HERITAGE 100 Published by UNESCO Publishing and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.