HERITAGE CONSEVATION

Heritage conservation deals with actions or processes that are aimed at safeguarding the
character-defining elements of a cultural resource so as to retain its heritage value and extend
its physical life. Heritage conservation doesn’t mean freezing a building in time, creating a
museum or tying the hands of property owners so they can’t do anything with their
properties. Instead, it seeks to maintain and thereby increase the value of buildings by
keeping their original built form and architectural elements.

. Heritage conservation and designation increases property values – both the restored building
and surrounding properties.

Heritage conservation encourages tourism and helps businesses in attracting customers.

Communities can build their town or city’s image around retained historical elements.
Retaining the historic integrity of a neighborhood or town attracts people mainly for that
ambiance which in turn attracts business. Conservation keeps money within the community
by requiring fewer materials from outside and more labour-intensive work by local trades.
Heritage conservation results in investment in our communities. The investment rewards us
today and leaves an invaluable resource for future generations.

Conservation of cultural built heritage often involves collection care and management
through tracking, examination, documentation, preventative conservation, and restoration.
Conservation of cultural built heritage applies the following ethical guidelines:

Minimal intervention;

Appropriate materials and reversible methods;

Full documentation of all work undertaken:

Treating heritage fabric carefully;

Making judicious decisions about heritage fabric;

Though the terms may vary somewhat from one professional field to the next, the life cycle
of a project generally follows this pattern:

Initiating the Project

Planning the Project and studying options

Selecting an option and preparing contractual documents for execution of the work

Executing and Controlling the work

Commissioning the Project (i.e. passing it on to the client for operation)

Monitoring and evaluating the Project

In the built heritage conservation world, things are a bit different. We have to do all of the
above but because we deal with built cultural heritage – archaeological sites, buildings, and
city neighborhoods – we need to spend more time and resources to understand what we have
and to assess its physical condition. Also, part of our job is to understand and preserve
“values”. Values are the positive characteristics attributed to heritage places and objects by
legislation, governing authorities, and other stakeholders”. Therefore we need to elucidate
and understand values and the physical resources they are associated with if we are going to
safeguard them for the benefit of the next generations.

This implies that we need to engage many stakeholders – people, institutions, and
government agencies – in the process and work with them to understand why a particular
place is important. We also need to identify together what physical resources best represent
these values and need to be preserved..

General Principles

There are a few key essential principles include in the processes of conservation:

Involve stakeholders – One of the first requirements is to define internal and external
stakeholders. Internal stakeholders include your project team, local people, researchers, or
whomever else you find important to involve at this early stage. External stakeholders include
community members, government personnel, donor agencies, international community
members, and other individuals and institutions that have some interest in the project. In
conducting your project, it is important at every step to make sure that you involve the
appropriate internal and external stakeholders in the proper manner.

Clearly define your timeline – Each phase of the process requires careful planning and
organization. It is thus imperative to make sure that you are clear about how much time and
effort a given task will take and communicate this to your internal and external audiences. Of
course, especially at the beginning of a planning process, your estimates may not be very
accurate.

Budget sufficient financial resources and human capacity – In all cases, to develop,
implement, and monitor each phase will require some amount of financial resources. You
need to budget carefully.

Document your decisions – For just about every phase you should write down how you
decided to proceed. Of course, this would quickly become repetitive, but we cannot
emphasize enough the importance of documenting the reasons for your decisions at each step
of the way. Not only does this give you the opportunity to analyze why things worked or did
not, but also, it serves as a basis for others to understand the logic of your choices.

So good heritage conservation strategies require (a) better appreciation of the value of
heritage assets (both tangible and intangible), and (b) integration of such strategies within the
larger processes of planning and
(c) Development of a city or urban area.

Heritage preservation and conservation policies thus:

- help in building urban identity and pride in its residents.

- go beyond just resorting and preserving historical assets,
- lead to well-being and security, through broad community participation and
involvement.
- generate opportunities for job creation and poverty alleviation
- the long-run, help achieve sustainability goals as well.

Heritage Conservation Policy Dimensions

Larger developmental aspects of heritage conservation strategies at the city level cover issues
such as tourism development, job creation and poverty alleviation. At the community level,
priorities change to security and safety (including disaster resilience), community well-being
and community participation.

Heritage aspects at the city level cover issues such as urban planning/zoning,
infrastructure/services provision, and transportation management. At the community level,
heritage conservation help in creating a "sense of place", urban identity , pride and specific
perservation of the comunity.

Using the above discussion, a series of eight sections are presented below that outline the
justifications and implications of heritage conservation strategies:

Heritage conservation and urban identity / pride: A good heritage conservation strategy is
critical to build a strong urban identity and pride in our cities and towns.

Heritage conservation is more than history: A good heritage conservation strategy

incorporates all aspects of a region's heritage - historical, but also natural and cultural.

Heritage conservation needs community participation and involvement: A good heritage

conservation strategy requires the active participation and involvement of the local
community in all aspects of its development and implementation.
Heritage conservation leads to well-being / human security: A good heritage conservation
strategy should also have well-being and human security as some of its eventual goals for the
local community.

Heritage conservation is critical to job creation and poverty alleviation: A good heritage
conservation strategy should be linked to the local economy, in order to create jobs and
alleviate poverty - particularly in developing countries

Heritage conservation helps preserve intangible local cultures: A good heritage

conservation strategy looks at both tangible and intangible heritage resources in an integrated
manner

Heritage conservation strongly influences sustainability goals: A good heritage

conservation strategy inherently takes into account, the long term sustainability goals of the
region

Heritage conservation through localization, contextualization& and customization: A

good heritage conservation strategy needs to be localized, contextualized and customized in
order for it to succeed and deliver on its goals.

Sustainable Development Goals and Heritage

Where heritage conservation is addressed in the new Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs)? The 17 SDGs have a number of targets embedded within them focusing on heritage
conservation themes and issues.

Goal 11 aims to “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and
sustainable.” This goal envisions sustainable, livable urban centers with universal access to
green spaces. There are a total of 10 targets to be achieved under this Goal.

Target 11.4 specifically calls for “Strengthening efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s
cultural and natural heritage”

How can this target be achieved?

As per UNESCO rankings, India is ranked 5th globally in the list of countries having the
maximum number of World Heritage Sites.

Heritage Sites Protection – Indian Law

The heritage sites in India are protected by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites
and Remains Act 1958, which was amended in 2010. As per this law it protects the
following.

Heritage sites

Monuments

Archaeological sites

Sculptures

The Protection of Heritage sites in India is undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) working under the Ministry of Culture.

Heritage Sites – Reasons behind Deterioration

There are various reasons behind the deterioration of Heritage sites. The 2 main factors for
deterioration are Natural Causes and Anthropogenic Causes.

Natural Causes

The many factors which are responsible for the deterioration of Heritage sites, which can be
classified as natural causes are listed below.

Air Pollution

Changing Temperature

Floods

Biological factors like Fungus, Moss etc

Ground water, salts and minerals

Solar Radiation

Moisture
Anthropogenic Causes

The various factors that can be classified as anthropogenic causes are listed below.

Fire – It could be due to an electric short circuit, improper burning of material

Urbanisation

Vandalism

Heritage Conservation – Problems Faced by India

As per some reports there are multiple reasons behind the problems faced by India in
conservation of its heritage sites. Some of these reasons are listed below.

- Lacking skilled and adequate manpower to carry out the conservation activities.
- Lack of importance given to pre-disaster management of heritage sites.
- Conservation requires Engineers expertise from inter-disciplinary perspectives.
- Private sector is involved only in aesthetic maintenance, important issues are
unaddressed due to unavailability of skilled resources.
- Lack of Modern and traditional engineering methods
- Heritage Conservation – Techniques that can be Implemented

The 3 main techniques that are used for heritage conservation are

Structural Conservation

Chemical Preservation

Awareness Program

Structural Conservation-Over time the structure starts weakening due to weakening of

foundation pillars, columns, ceilings, growth of vegetation, mostly weeds over the older
buildings, and water seepage. In structural conservation technique, reinforcement work is
carried out on foundations, repairs are carried out on walls, ceilings and removal of weeds
from the buildings.
Chemical Conservation- Protects the monuments from organic and inorganic gases.Helps to
eliminate moss, algae, lichens.

Awareness Program -Organizing seminars, events, workshops across IndiaCommunity

participation must be encouraged to prevent vandalization.

As for the most appropriate contemporary functions that are selected to rehabilitate the
heritage for preservation, the most specialized specialists in architecture, history, heritage,
archeology, arts, maintenance, and interior design, who have distinct interests in preserving
the inheritance have agreed that:

Cultural functions (museums, libraries, art galleries, exhibition halls, scientific and cultural
centers, etc.) are at the top of the list of selected functions because they extend the age of the
inheritance and do not harm it in the future. They are also compatible with the historical roots
and the symbolic and architectural values of heritage.

These functions are often cultural tourism followed by tourist functions:

Educational functions

Residential functions

Entertainment functions

Administrative functions

Commercial functions

Health functions
Industrial function is one of the most harmful functions for the inherited buildings and
inherited urban fabric, because this function results in damage and cracks in the body of the
inheritance that causes loss over time. In the Aleppo preservation experience, the cultural
tourism uses achieved the highest use, and there is almost no industrial function in the old
fabric.

Conclusion

Attempts to preserve historical cities and cultural heritage are very few compared to the
historical richness of the world. We highlight the historical identity when preserving our
heritage. It is necessary to increase the degree of interest that strengthens the balance between
historical and heritage wealth and the achievements of preserving it.

The preservation of heritage in all its forms poses a number of unique problems. The issue
must consider in terms of the cultural, economic, and political values of the society in which
it exists. The problem of financing is one of the most important obstacles to accomplish this
task. It is necessary to cooperate with the governmental and private sectors at the local level.
It is also possible to involve the international institutes interested in this aspect, because
heritage is a human achievement.

The participation of people in preserving their heritage, identity, and awareness of its
importance is considered as an effective factor in achieving the sustainability of these
inheritances through a successful program of sustainable development. The legislation and
administrative procedures are important for the success of conservation operations.

This can be achieved through granting people incentives and supporting them to participate in
maintaining to encourage them stay in the city and preserve it. It is necessary to study the
environmental importance of the old city, open spaces, gardens, and infrastructure, and
involve the population in developing protection plans in cooperation with the competent
authority. It is also useful to encourage tourism to the old city without harming it. This makes
the population feel that they are materially benefiting from the tourists and that their cultural
property deserves maintenance and protection because it is part of the world heritage.
Therefore, this awareness should start from people, society, and enterprise to achieve our goal
of preserving heritage buildings and historic cities, in order to preserve the cultural and urban
identity. We should also bear in mind the importance of the contribution of heritage
protection in sustainability and sustainable development, which varies from case to another,
during the three “pillars”: the social dimension, the economic, and the environmental
dimension.

Finally, we must emphasize that the overlap of several aspects is needed to achieve a
successful preservation experience of a city. These aspects are planning, designing, housing
and construction, laws and legislation as well as the field of tourism, preservation of the
architectural heritage, infrastructure, services, environment and community participation with
media to activate the sense of responsibility, awareness of the importance of the city, and its
cultural and historical value.