Social Quality in the Conservation
Process of Living Heritage Sites
Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Technische Universiteit Delft op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Prof.dr.ir. J.T. Fokkema voorzitter van het College voor Promoties, in het openbaar te verdedigen op 19 juni 2008 om 17.30 uur door Ping KONG Master of Arts (Architecture), National University of Singapore Master of Urban Planning and Urban Design, Tongji University, Shanghai, P.R.ChinaProf. A. Tzonis Prof. Dr.L. Lefaivre Prof. Dip. Ing H.J. Rosemann Samenstelling promotiecommissie: Rector Magnificus voorzitter Prof. A. Tzonis Technische Universiteit Delft, promotor Prof. Dr.L. Lefaivre Universitat fur Angewandte Kunst, Vienna,
Austria, promotor Prof. Dip. Ing H.J. Rosemann Technische Universiteit Delft, promotor Prof. M. Levin Technion Israel Institute of Technology Prof. V. Lykoudis University of Notre Dame, U.S.A. Prof. W. Patijn Technische Universiteit Delft Prof. X. D. Li Tsinghua University, China Published by International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU) Berlageweg 1, 2628 CR Delft The Netherlands Copyright © Ping KONG All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by any electronic or mechanical means without permission in writing from the author ISBN: 978‐90‐78658‐08‐5
‐ I ‐
Abstract
The ‘UNESCO World Heritage Convention’ was ratificated on November 16, 1972. Since then, both public and private sectors around the world have attached growing importance to the safeguarding and conservation of selected cultural and natural ‘objects’, focusing on physical characteristics. World Heritage sites receive major publicity and as a result become notable attractions for large numbers of tourists from all over the world. However, in spite of the clear economic benefits and political prestige, this massive influx of tourists disrupts and in most cases, in the long run, destroys the social quality of indigenous community. The deterioration of social quality could ultimately undermine the application of conservation policy.
The aim of this research is to: 1) identify the negative impact of conservation policies implemented in living World Heritage sites on the social quality of traditional communities; 2) develop a design tool constraining spatial morphology to overcome the negative influences on the social quality The study leads to a new approach to conservation planning that takes into account sustaining social quality while enforcing UNESCO World Heritage conservation program.
Given the complexity and novelty of social problems as new activities and actors enter into traditional living communities, a comparative case‐study approach has been adopted, employing on‐site survey and in situ investigations by the author1. Two cases of UNESCO World Heritage sites have been chosen: the Dayan town in Lijiang, Yunan province of China, and the Ogimachi village in the Chubu region of Japan. In both cases, the conservation program has been applied with respect to physical features of the sites. However, they have been implemented differently from a planning
1 The Dayan case study was conducted during the compiling of Conservation Plan for Lijiang ancient town, led by Dr. Shao Yong in June 2002. The social survey was carried out by a team of students in Tongji University. Questionnaires were distributed among the local residents in the five main neighborhoods in Dayan town, The Ogimachi case study was conducted solo by the author with the assistance of Japanese colleagues from ACCU (Nara) in Nov 2007
quality of local communities: negative in the case of Dayan and positive in the case of Ogimachi. In the first instance, the study has been used to identify the various aspects and parameters of the problem, and to develop a hypothesis about the role of constrained physical organization in retaining social quality; in the second instance, the study aims to test the model derived from the hypothesis and to develop a complementary design guidelines.
Drawing from literature, the study defines social quality in terms of observable, measurable social indicators in the context of living heritage conservation. The data obtained from case studies have been analyzed and generalized within the MOP (Morphology, Operation, Performance) framework. Given the above analysis, the conclusion arrives as a new knowledge‐based design tool in the form of design guidelines. The guidelines constrain spatial morphology to enable social interactions and enhance social quality. Extrapolating from this study, the new knowledge‐based design tool works in parallel with the conservation of physical objects as applied by current UNESCO policy to safeguard social quality of indigenous community.
The conclusions of this dissertation are limited by: the number and the type of cases selected; the methods of data collection and data analysis adopted. These limitations might affect the generalization of the conclusions and applicability of the tool. However, they suggest directions for further investigations towards understanding better the relation between social quality maintenance and environmental conservation. Key words: living heritage sites social quality conservation tourism development spatial morphology design guidelines
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Preface and Acknowledgement
The problems with living heritage conservation have been hovering in my minds for years since I was involved as a student assistant in compiling conservation plans and reconstruction designs for historic settlements in China. The field work experience inspired me with insights into understanding the conflicts between conservation and tourism development. Currently working as a program specialist under the umbrella of UNESCO, I have had the chance to review conservation programs at a number of World Heritage sites from a more objective and comprehensive point of view. It is evident that pressures from urbanisation and tourism development not only exert negative impacts on the physical environment, but more substantially destroy the social tissue of living heritage sites. The exodus of indigenous inhabitants and the discontinuity of traditional life shed light on the research theme. This dissertation integrated the indicators of social quality in the conservation progress of living heritage sites. It examined the social influence of new activities and actors introduced by tourism‐related development, and highlighted the importance and sensitivity of constrained spatial morphology in retaining the social quality of the traditional community in the long run.
The research was developed with Prof. A. Tzonis and Prof. L. Lefaivre, who helped me with expert precision and great guidance towards the best possible outcome. The progress of this research has been benefited from a number of people and institutes, without whom, this dissertation could not have taken its current form, nor have the depths and strengths as it contains now.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my promoters, Prof. A. Tzonis, Prof. L. Lefaivre and Prof. J. Rosemann for their continuous support, patience and encouragement throughout the study. Special thanks go to my committee members, Prof. M. Levin, Prof. V. Lykoudis, Prof. W. Patijn and Prof. X. D. Li for their valuable comments to improve the presentation of the dissertation. I am obliged to Prof. Zhiqiang Wu, who inspired me on the social sensitivity of design and supported me in various occasions. I would also like to thank Dr. Yong Shao, who offered me
town. My understanding on living heritage conservation broadened by the research on Living Heritage Sites Program and inspiring discussions with Mr. M. Bouchenaki, Dr. G. Wijesuriya, Mr. J. King and other colleagues at ICCROM. I am also pleased to thank ACCU, Nara Office, in particular Ms. Hokezu and Mr. Yamashita, who provided me kind assistance in translation and data collection in the investigation of Ogimachi village. I appreciate the support from Mr. H. Stovel, Mr. J. Feng from UNESCO WHC and colleagues from Chinese National Commission for UNESCO. I am also indebted to Prof. J. Zhou and my colleagues, Ms. H. Li, Ms. X.X. Hu in UNESCO WHITR‐AP for their continuous professional and moral backing. Special thanks also go to Mr. Surtees for proof‐reading, Mr. F.D. Qian for cover design, staff in Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft for helping in administrative matters, and seniors in Design Knowledge System Research Centre, TU Delft for their inspiring precedent research. Last, but not least, I would like to devote this research to my parents and my fiancé for being there for me with great faith and unwavering love, accompanying me through this adventurous yet beautiful journey.
Ping KONG
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Contents
A
BSTRACT... I
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……….……III CONTENTS……….……….V
1
I
NTRODUCTION...1
1.1 Objectives ... 1 1.2 Key issues ... 2 1.2.1 Living heritage site ... 2 1.2.2 Conservation ... 4 1.2.3 Social quality ... 5 1.2.4 Social capital... 6 1.2.5 Cultural diversity ... 7 1.3 Brief research background ... 8 1.3.1 Evolvement of heritage conservation ... 8 1.3.2 Social concerns in conservation ... 9 1.4 Problem statements ... 12 1.4.1 Lopsided value assessment of professionals over local populations 13 1.4.2 Absence of social considerations on the daily lives of indigenous people 14 1.4.3 Lack of applicable guidelines to retain social quality in conservation practices... 15 1.5 Methodology ... 16 1.5.1 Method of case study... 16 1.5.2 Methods in case study ... 17 1.6 Procedure of the study... 192
C
ASES
TUDY:
D
AYAN INL
IJIANGA
NCIENTT
OWN...22
2.1 Reasons to choose Lijiang ancient town ... 22
2.2 Physical and social features of Lijiang ancient town ... 25 2.2.1 Unique natural landscape, townscape and vernacular architecture
2.2.3 Conservation interventions ...29 2.3 Brief introduction to Social survey ... 30 2.3.1 General social‐economic status in Dayan town ...30 2.3.2 Social survey in Dayan town...32 2.4 Social analysis ... 33 2.4.1 The change of demography...33 2.4.2 The change of social structure ...37 2.4.3 The change of land‐use and environmental quality ...39 2.4.4 The change of social interactions ...46 2.5 Reviews on current management at Lijiang ancient town... 49 2.6 Summary of social problems in Dayan town... 51
3
C
RITICALR
EVIEWS ONL
IVINGH
ERITAGEC
ONSERVATION... 54
3.1 Findings from the Living Heritage Sites Program ... 54 3.1.1 Main characteristics of living heritage sites ...55 3.1.2 Main problems in current living heritage conservation ...56 3.1.3 Living heritage approach ...58 3.2 Responses to main problems in living heritage conservation.. 59 3.2.1 Arguments on authenticity...59 3.2.2 Interpretation on functions...61 3.3 Main contributions of the living heritage approach... 62 3.3.1 Integrated approach through direct community involvement ...62 3.3.2 Highlight of living components...63 3.3.3 Advantages in comparison with traditional methods ...64 3.4 Problems regarding the living heritage approach ... 67 3.5 Some complementary thinking about the Living Heritage Sites Program... 69 3.6 Summary of social problems ... 70
4
S
OCIALS
TUDIES INL
IVINGH
ERITAGEC
ONSERVATION... 72
4.1 Growing social concerns on living heritage values... 72
4.1.1 Extension of heritage values ...72
4.1.2 Social capital in living heritage conservation...73
4.1.3 Development of social concerns ...74
‐ VII ‐
4.2.1 Definition of social quality ... 77 4.2.2 Internal and external social quality... 78 4.2.3 Framework of social quality ... 78 4.3 Studies on quality of life... 81 4.3.1 Indicators for QOL ... 82 4.3.2 Meeting human needs in living heritage conservation... 82 4.4 Studies on quality of society... 88 4.4.1 Social cohesion and corresponding indicators... 88 4.4.2 Social empowerment and corresponding indicators ... 89 4.4.3 Social indicators ... 905
H
YPOTHETICM
ODEL TOWARDS ANA
PPLICABLED
ESIGN‐
TOOL...93
5.1 Social study of environment... 93 5.2 Linkage between social performance and spatial morphology 96 5.2.1 Selective social indicators ... 96 5.2.2 MOP model in living heritage conservation... 97 5.3 Hypothetic model in response to social performance ... 101 5.3.1 Evolutionary understanding on spatial morphology... 101 5.3.2 Analysis framework of operations ... 102 5.3.3 Model to interpret social quality ... 104
6
S
OCIALC
ONSERVATION OFO
GIMACHIV
ILLAGE...109
6.1 Reason to choose Ogimachi village in Shirakawa‐go area ... 109 6.2 Comparison with Dayan town ... 112 6.3 Distinguished features in Ogimachi village ... 116 6.4 Participation of local residents in the process of conservation and tourism development... 118 6.4.1 Local initiation for conservation of Ogimachi village ... 119 6.4.2 Social associations... 121 6.4.3 Participation in tourism development ... 123 6.5 Conservation and social quality in Ogimachi village ... 127 6.5.1 Contribution of local associations to social quality... 127 6.5.2 Responses to other social quality ... 129 6.5.3 Contribution of spatial organizations to social quality... 131 6.6 Test of the hypothetic model by comparing Dayan and Ogimachi cases ... 133
6.6.2 Applied operations ...134 6.6.3 Morphology responding to social performance...135 6.7 Design guidelines for sustaining social quality in living heritage conservation... 140
7
C
ONCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS... 146
7.1 Summary of research findings... 146 7.2 Evaluations of this research ... 150 7.3 Limitation and extensions ... 151 7.3.1 In‐depth method of local participation ...153 7.3.2 Importance of local guilds ...1558
R
EFERENCES... 157
9
A
NNEX... 167
Annex 1: Photographs of Dayan Town ... 167 Annex 2: Questionnaire Analysis of Dayan town in Lijiang Ancient Town ... 174 Annex 3: Social Indicators developed by the Network Indicators of Social Quality... 181 Annex 4: Social indicators proposed by Choi and Sirakaya (2006, p.1281) ... 189 Annex 5: Interview questions and response analysis in Ogimachi .... 191 Annex 6: Photographs of Ogimachi village... 197 Annex 7: Summary of UNESCO‐ICOMOS Documents on Cultural Heritage Conservation... 20310
A
BOUT THE AUTHOR... 211
‐ IX ‐
Figures
Figure 2‐1: Urban sprawl of Lijiang ... 24 Figure 2‐2: (Left) Vernacular architecture attached with water lanes and townscape; (Right) Satellite typology photo of Lijiang... 27 Figure 2‐3: (Left) Naxi minority girls dressed in traditional costumes; (Right) Dongba Pictographs ... 29 Figure 2‐4: Race distribution in the survey ... 34 Figure 2‐5: Age analysis in the survey ... 34 Figure 2‐6: Family structure analysis... 37 Figure 2‐7: Career analysis ... 38 Figure 2‐8: Analysis of main family income... 38 Figure 2‐9: The occupation of farmland, the change of boundaries (after the map of land‐use in 2002 and 2007, Conservation Planning, Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute) ... 41 Figure 2‐10: Local residents’ reaction to tourism development... 42 Figure 2‐11: The traditional use of water system by indigenous residents in Dayan town... 43 Figure 2‐12: Comparison of the distribution of tourism facilities near Sifang plaza in Dayan town (above 2007, below 2002)... 45 Figure 2‐13: Places for socializing with neighbors ... 47 Figure 2‐14: Lack of places for socializing and entertainment... 47 Figure 2‐15: Services you want in the neighborhood (multi‐choice) ... 48 Figure 4‐1: The relationships among conservation, tourism development and contemporary life ... 76 Figure 4‐2: Social quality at two levels: Individual interactions at the community level and interactions of collective identities at the society level ... 77 Figure 4‐3: Framework to evaluate social quality ... 81 Figure 4‐4: Quality of Life‐interaction between human needs and subjective well‐being ... 84 Figure 5‐1: Conceptual scheme of integrating social and environmental factors ... 95 Figure 5‐2: Framework for the interpretation of social indicators ... 97conservation ... 99 Figure 6‐1: Bird view of Ogimachi village (taken from Northern mountain) ... 110 Figure 6‐2: Map of Ogimachi Village ... 110 Figure 6‐3: Land‐use plan of Dayan and Ogimachi to the same scale.... 113 Figure 6‐4: Bird’s eye‐view of Dayan town and Ogimachi village ... 115 Figure 6‐5: Gassho‐style Wada house, Nationally Important Cultural Properties ... 117 Figure 6‐6: Section of Gassho‐style house ... 117 Figure 6‐7: The number of living Gassho‐style houses in Ogimachi village from 1924 to 1994 ... 121 Figure 6‐8: Rethatching work by ‘yui’ system ... 123 Figure 6‐9: Observation in the open‐air museum, fork‐arts centre... 126 Figure 6‐10: Rope bridge to the village and main streets in the village. 126
‐ XI ‐
Tables
Table 1‐1: Procedure of the study... 20 Table 3‐1: Difference between conventional approach and living heritage approach... 67 Table 4‐1: Indicators on Quality of Life, interpreted based on human needs ... 88 Table 4‐2: Main social indicators in living heritage conservation ... 92 Table 5‐1: Logical inference of MOP model ... 101 Table 5‐2: Framework to analyze functions of different spatial configurations... 103 Table 5‐3: Model to interpret social quality in relation to spatial morphology ... 107 Table 6‐1: Comparison of three historic villages in acreage and population ... 112 Table 6‐2: Comparison of basic status between Dayan town and Ogimachi village... 114 Table 6‐3: Comparison of three historic villages in the concentration of historic structures... 119 Table 6‐4: The role of local residents in conservation and tourism industry... 126 Table 6‐5: Analysis of family structure, career composition and main family income ... 128 Table 6‐6: Change of population and households in Ogimachi village .. 130 Table 6‐7: Summary of descriptive MOP model in Dayan town and Ogimachi village (Morphology 1‐8 refers to Table 5‐3)... 1391 Introduction
This chapter defines the scope of the research, introduces the background to the research, and describes its methodology and framework.
1.1 Objectives
The dissertation aim to investigate:
1) To identify the negative impacts of conservation policies implemented in living World Heritage sites, that have taken into account only the physical aspects of objects, ignoring their effects on the social quality of traditional living communities
2) To identify design and managerial attributes in the approach to conservation that could control these negative impacts by taking into consideration the way the living heritage sites are used by indigenous inhabitants and tourists
3) To develop a design tool that constrains spatial morphology to overcome the negative influences on the social quality of traditional living communities in the process of conservation and tourism development.
This research extends out of the growing recognition of social quality in the process of conservation and tourism development of living heritage sites. It builds upon a critical analysis of the current challenges of living heritage conservation, particularly those associated with the loss of social fabric and neighbourhood vitality, due to the influence of globalization, urbanization and the overwhelming development of tourism. The conventional top‐down and expert‐based method of conservation emphasizes the importance of the physical conditions of heritage sites and gives priority to the development of tourism as well as
tourism‐related industries. In particular, as the World Heritage sites ratified by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention2, they receive large amounts of publicity and as a result become major attractions for significant numbers of tourists from all over the world. In spite of the improvement of physical infrastructures and associated economic benefits, this massive influx of tourists disrupts and, in most cases, in the long run, destroys the social quality of daily life of the indigenous population in living heritage sites. Mass tourism damages the ‘values’ of the site as a desirable place to live and destroys the traditional communities living there. This dissertation tries to explore in‐depth the meanings and interpretations of social quality in traditional communities, and develops a new knowledge‐based and applicable design‐tool for maintaining social quality in the conservation of living heritage sites.
1.2 Key issues
1.2.1 Living heritage site
Heritage literally means properties or practices inherited from the past. In the field of conservation, the concept of heritage is undergoing a profound change. Having at one time referred exclusively to the monumental remains of culture, heritage conservation as a concept has gradually come to include broader concepts such as the ‘intangible’ and ‘ethnographic’ heritage (UNESCO, section of culture heritage). The
2 UNESCO is short for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO World Heritage Convention is short for the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It is one of the most widely recognized international conventions ratified by 184 State Parties as of July 2007. It aims to conserve selected sites with ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ based upon ten criteria identified as the common heritage of humanity. As of the end of 2007, a total of 851 sites have been listed as World Heritage sites. More information refers to http://whc.unesco.org
concept of living heritage emerged in the 1990s3 with increasing concerns on ‘intangible values’ and the continuity of history, culture, tradition and life styles. More inclusively, it refers to valuable assets in use that are usually passed down through generations, such as lifestyle, traditional music, dance and theatre, social practices, rituals and festivals, traditional crafts and other cultural expressions. Some of these assets are preserved as single pieces of heritage without context. However, the essence of living heritage relies on the continuous involvement of these assets in people’s daily life.
The term ’living heritage site‘ in this research is defined as a traditional neighbourhood, community or specific district in the context of historic settlement, where the ‘Outstanding universal values’4 are demonstrated by both the physical characteristics and the indigenous inhabitants, who carry on the living traditions, skills and other cultural practices. It is different from single monuments, ensembles of historic buildings or pure natural heritage sites, where fewer social activities are involved. This paper takes living heritage sites as dynamic and historical places containing rich intangible ‘values’ while sustaining various types of social interaction and traditional life, such as historical towns or areas, preserved districts or communities and the like. In this research, living heritage sites are limited to those listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites, which demonstrate significant contributions to cultural diversity and for which the potential ‘values’ for cultural tourism have been widely recognized. Great efforts have been made in terms of physical
3ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) lauched the ITUC (Integrated territorial and Urban Conservation) program, which included living cities and landscapes in 1995 (details in Chapter 3). English Heritage has tried to incorporate heritage conservation into integrated management, spatial planning, quality of life, and landscape since 1990s (Fairclough 1995).
4 “Outstanding universal value’ is a general standard to evaluate property on the “UNESCO World Heritage List”, which means cultural and/or natural significance for all humanity (UNESCO World Heritage Convention, 1972).
conservation, thanks to the commitments of state parties to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The selected living heritage sites offer a good basis to investigate social problems beyond physical conservation.
According to Criteria V5 of UNESCO World Heritage program, a living heritage site refers. “to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land‐use, or sea‐use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change”. There have already been 107 such properties inscribed as World Heritage sites as of 2007, but 17 of those, which used to be human settlements have became ‘open museums’ for different reasons. Living heritage contains priceless and irreplaceable ‘values’ and contributes to cultural diversity and a sustainable living environment. These sites are currently becoming increasingly vulnerable due to the challenges of tourism development and simplistic physical conservation strategies.
1.2.2 Conservation
Conservation means the careful protection and preservation of natural resources or physical quantities during transformations or reactions to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect. It is much more than the concept of ‘restoration’ to bring back the past. Conservation encourages a balanced attitude to the relationship between the old and the new. Also different from ‘preservation’, conservation implies sustainable use instead of merely maintaining the present condition. In living heritage sites, the way of life and social activities in traditional communities are valuable assets, and the physical environments are endowed with
5 UNESCO World Heritage sites are selected based on Selection Criteria. Until the end of 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage, and in 2005 it was modified with a set of then criteria together.
dynamic functions. Therefore the corresponding conservation has to deal with preservation as well as development.
As a living site, heritage conservation requires an interdisciplinary body of knowledge, not only techniques for restoration of historical buildings and monuments, but also cultural and social awareness of habits, activities and other intangible ‘values’, which are vital to protect the cultural diversity and integrity of the site. This research focuses on the conservation of the social quality of living heritage, which is the most vulnerable characteristic to a rapid tourism development. Thus, living heritage conservation particularly needs to employ an evolutionary perspective for conservation, taking into consideration the long‐term development and needs of indigenous communities. However, in most cases, the social quality falls into neglect in the traditional physical‐ oriented conservation, because of the difficulties to measure as well as to manage the social performance. This research emphasizes the importance of social quality in the sustainable conservation of living heritage sites, and devotes itself to proper measures of social quality in traditional communities.
1.2.3 Social quality
Social quality is a comprehensive concept emerging to complement the dominating economic performance in evaluating development. It emphasizes the significance of participation and social interaction in the self‐realization and sustainability of a society (details in Chapter 4). Social quality is taken as an essential criterion to sustainable development, which is defined in the “Brundtland Report” 6(1987), also known as “Our Common Future” as “the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
6 The Brundtland Report was published in the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. It developed guiding principles for sustainable development based on critical concerns on global environmental problems.
their own needs”. Sustainable development is understood as a “systematic, long‐term use of natural resources” and a “socially justice, ethically acceptable, morally fair and economically sound” development (Filho, 2000). Social quality indicates the interactions of people in development and plays a vital role in the decision‐making and implementation process.
Integrating the fragmental concerns of economics, politics, culture, sociology and environment to a common goal of sustainability is the main function of social sustainable development in the present global transformation process (Becker et al, 1997, 1999). Using social quality as an intermediate tool, this research aims to preserve the integrity and continuity of living heritage sites through an in‐depth understanding of the interrelationship between conservation and tourism development. Economic viability and efficient maintenance are interactive factors in the consideration of social quality. The research employs a case study to explore social problems experienced and to understand the relationship of social quality with the physical environment in the process of conservation. It tries to develop a systematic and measurable framework to preserve the unique social quality at living heritage sites.
1.2.4 Social capital
It is the position of this dissertation that social capital could be a key criterion in the evaluation of social quality at a living heritage site. Social capital is defined as “social networks or norms” (Putnam, 2000:19) to build up reciprocal interrelationships among individuals in a certain district, in assistance to common goals and harmonious development. It is an important form of capital with potential power, the same as economic capital, environmental capital and cultural capital. Inspired by Ignacy Sachs (Sachs, 1996, 2006), who argued that the crucial issue for social sustainability is to sustain existing social structures, territories, and identities, social capital is proposed in research to evaluate social quality of living heritage sites. Social capital strengthens a stable social structure and collective characteristics by respecting social norms and participating
in social networks. It plays an important role in enhancing the sense of belonging, and the territory of local communities and sustaining cultural diversity at a global level. This research refines the definition of social capital with an integrated perspective, including demographic changes, socio‐economic activities, social interactions, and community activities. In addition to management issues and participation, this research looks at socio‐spatial structure, in order to understand the contribution of spatial attributes to the shape of a community in a living heritage site. Literature reviews of social studies are elaborated in Chapter 4.
1.2.5 Cultural diversity
Cultural is defined as a “set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group”, and these include “lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs” as well as art and literature (UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity7, p.12). Cultural diversity is a core subject for debate on collective identity, social cohesion and a knowledge‐based economy, which is a fundamental human feature with respect for intellectual dialogues, creation and innovation as biodiversity is for nature. The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity is derived from a wide acknowledgement of the threat from globalization on preserving intangible “values”. The declaration emphasizes a proactive approach to perceive cultural diversity as an asset to protect humanity. Cultural diversity serves to complement sustainable development, together with the thriving material and economic development.
7 The declaration was adopted by the 31st Session of the General Conference of UNESCO in Paris, 2nd November 2001. The definition is affirmed in the conclusion of the World Conference on Cultural Policies (MONDIACULT, Mexico City, 1982), World Commission on Culture and Development (Our Creative Diversity, 1995), and Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development (Stockholm, 1998)
Living heritage conservation in favor of ‘values’ associated with indigenous people is one of the most important actions in achieving cultural diversity8. Living heritage sites represent the identities and social quality of indigenous communities, which personify the global vision of cultural diversity and enhance social capitals through continuous interactions between people and environment in specific districts. The indigenous communities are fragile common treasures for humankind in the context of globalization, and meanwhile they serve as support systems to provide material and emotional aids to local populations (Altman and Wandersman, 1987). This research focuses on how to maintain social quality at a living heritage site in order to improve cultural diversity in a more comprehensive method.
1.3 Brief research background
1.3.1 Evolvement of heritage conservation
Since the middle of the last century, the domain of heritage conservation has expanded from individual architecture to the surrounding environment. In 1943, the French proposed the conception of “Les Abords Des Monuments Historiques” which demonstrated that not only the historical buildings, but also the surroundings within a radius of 500 meters of the buildings should be protected. In 1962, after the adoption of the ‘Malraux Law’, preserved districts (Secteurs Sauvegardés) became an official term in the field of conservation. In 1964, the Venice Charter9 (Article 1) included the urban and rural settings as the contents of conservation, where the evidence of civilization was found or historical
8 The UNESCO action in favor of cultural diversity focuses mainly on two parts: to ensure harmonious coexistence and the willingness to living together peacefully and to defend diverse creativity and the multiplicity of cultural expressions (UNESCO online data: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en)
9 Data source: UNESCO‐ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) Documentation Centre.
events had occurred. During the last decade, ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) has developed the ‘living heritage’ concept as a natural outgrowth of the integrated approach to urban and territorial conservation (details in chapter 3).
The expanding scope of conservation reflects a growing concern on the integrated values of heritage sites, and in particular raises attention to social issues to balance development and conservation. At the same time, Conservation requires interdisciplinary studies to integrate historic, cultural, environmental and social attributes into a common framework, in order to preserve the overall quality of living heritage sites in the long run. In particular, living heritage conservation, such as urban conservation, represents a comprehensive set of themes involving different perspectives of social life. In most cases, it stipulates rehabilitation and redevelopment schemes, combining conservation with urban development in the first place. The dilemma between conservation and development is reflected by negative impacts from mass tourism as well as urban sprawl. While most currently preserved historical towns and urban living heritages have been efficiently and effectively protected in the short term, and over time, many schemes have turned out to be failures.
1.3.2 Social concerns in conservation
The recognition of living ‘values’ in historic settlements mirrors the social changes experienced since the industrial revolution, when material wealth was accumulated and manufacturing techniques changed without parallel, economic and social structure were transformed at an unprecedented pace. Modernization was taken as being identical to improvements in hygiene and mobility. People swarmed into big cities for a ‘better life’, but little by little realized that metropolises do not always satisfy their needs for the ‘better life’. ‘Urban Sprawls’, ‘Satellite Cities’, ‘Garden Cities’, ‘Deterioration of Inner City’, ‘City Beautiful Movement’, and ‘Revitalization of Urban Centres’ and many other terms,
created after the industrial revolution, reflect the cognitive changes of the ideal living environment. A growing number of people however have begun to appreciate the unique and familiar atmosphere of historic sectors.
This is where the work of Jane Jacobs has offered insights and practical tools. Based on her observations in Boston and New York of U.S.A, Jane Jacobs (1961) criticized that too much emphasis on picturesque patterns as well as landmark buildings led to simplified city images, isolated functions of city life and serious economic and social problems. She also pointed to the advantages of ‘traditional urbanity’ over ‘modern city forms’ in social qualities: vitality, safety and diversity. She went beyond the scope of planners and investigated cities from a micro‐scale, people‐ oriented, grass‐roots and bottom‐up approach.
Social concerns have been drawn in the field of architecture and urban planning since the middle of last century, with the renaissance of neighbourhood life. Precedent researchers and designers tried to incorporate social desires, capacities, and the interests of local users in the design process in order to create a vibrant living environment and maintain self‐sustaining mechanisms in the long run, such as Environment‐Behavior research (Zeisel, 1975, 1981) and Man‐ Environment study (Rapoport, 1976, 1983). A social study carried out by Herbert J. Gans (1967) about the Levittown reinforced the key role of residents’ aspirations in a community. Thus, in parallel to the profound extension of heritage conservation domain, closer attention is given to the sophisticated social characters of an indigenous community, such as customs, social structure, territory and social interactions, which in turn create unique physical characteristics of a site.
A living heritage site as a legacy from the past, still actively contributes to the cultural diversity and harmony of urban life. It embodies the architectural, cultural, social and aesthetic importance in the whole process of urban development. The social concerns in living heritage sites introduce deep insights in order to appreciate the integrity of its heritage
and inspire the enthusiasm for conservation from local residents. The Venice Charter (Article 5) noticed that ‘the conservation of monuments was always facilitated by making use of them for some socially useful purpose’, which indicates the importance of social functions in terms of preserving ‘authentic values’. UNESCO World Heritage Convention (1972) has accentuated the integrated program to endow heritage sites with a function in the life of local communities (Article 5). Furthermore, the UNESCO Budapest Declaration10 (2002) stated the pivotal efforts were to ‘ensure an appropriate and equitable balance between conservation, sustainability and development…contributing to the social and economic development and quality of life…communities’. Social concerns in the process of conservation could provoke wide participation in the maintaining and management system of a site. The importance of preserving social attributes in living heritage is demonstrated by ICCROM11 as follows:
‘Heritage sites need to be understood as living places, where efforts to improve understanding and conservation of the sites must be linked to the values, interests and capacities of the populations that live within and around them, and who are the true long‐term custodians of these sites. Meanwhile, these sites must be seen as the embodiment of significant values, where effective site management requires that as much attention be given to the conditions for retaining these values as to those for preserving the material fabric that contains and supports the site’s activities’ (ICCROM General Assembly 2005).
It is crucial to develop the full potential of heritage sites and improve the capability of self‐sustaining mechanisms. With growing concerns on
10 The Budapest Declaration was adopted by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee at its 26th session in 2002.
11ICCROM is short for International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. It is an advisory organization for culture heritage conservation for UNESCO World Heritage Commitee.
sustainable development, the traditional attributes and social quality of living heritage sites are appreciated in a broad sense. They foster identity and diversity of various cultural groups, which play a fundamental role in enhancing social capitals, and in turn favor economic growth. The beneficial social functions of living heritage sites could ameliorate some of the contributing causes to the unsustainability of metropolitan areas across the world. Living heritage sites should be considered as valuable resources and contribute to sustainable development in a dynamic way.
1.4 Problem statements
Heritage conservation is a value driven process, from the initial significance identification to the time‐bound management system. To understand the significance of heritage sites is the core of conservation, which determines what to preserve as well as the priorities in the conservation policy. The value identification is based on a combination of scientific and subjective value assessments driven by different actors and exerts a direct influence on the strategy of conservation and development. In the conservation operations and management, different requirements from the actors, including tourists, tourism‐related immigrants and indigenous inhabitants are manifested in relation to the physical and social environment. The main problems can be drawn from three perspectives:
• Lopsided value assessment of professionals over local populations
• Absence of social considerations on the daily lives of indigenous people
• Lack of applicable guidelines to retain social quality in conservation practices
1.4.1 Lopsided value assessment of professionals
over local populations
The conventional top‐down, expert‐based method of conservation is commonly applied in the process of living heritage conservation. Experts from different disciplines, such as Arts History, Architecture, Urban Planning, and Archaeology have decisive voices in the value assessment, although they might not even have set foot on the site before. As an assignment from state parties or authorities, the process of heritage conservation is often limited to professional cycles. The ‘exclusionary conservation’ and the top‐down approach of conservation often leave the future of a living heritage site in architects/urban planners’ offices far away from the actual sites and totally unattainable to the Indigenous inhabitants, who are regarded as layman and irrelevant in the process of conservation. The inhabitants however, are actually the long‐term custodians of the site. The ‘values’ of these living communities are not taken equally into consideration as the architectural, environmental and aesthetic values in the process of decision making and implementation.
This lopsided value assessment of professionals over the voices of an indigenous population disregards a very important part of the values underlying the day‐to‐day life experiences at these living sites. For instance, a street corner may not be important to an arts historian in terms of aesthetic and historic values, but it may play a crucial role along the spiritual path of a specific local group. Such tradition and sensitivity of indigenous inhabitants reflect rich socio‐cultural assets and play an important role in the continuity of traditional communities, which fall into neglect from the top‐down process of conservation. Therefore, the expert‐driven method easily leads to the loss of social support and public enthusiasm in conservation. The research will investigate alternative approaches to achieve a more holistic value assessment, for the purpose of sustainable conservation at living heritage sites.
1.4.2 Absence of social considerations on the daily
lives of indigenous people
A living heritage site represents an integrated image with both ‘tangible and intangible values’. In spite of significant monuments, ancient remains, traditional buildings and unique landscapes, intangible characteristics, such as a unique way of life, traditional practices and knowledge capture growing attention for conservation as well as tourism development in living heritage sites. Physical conditions are usually given priority to exploit the economic interests of tourism and to meet the requirements of official periodic assessments12. The in‐depth social considerations in relation to the quality of life of indigenous inhabitants in traditional communities are absent. For instance, social activities, social structures and sense of belonging do not gain equal attention to the physical aspects in the process of value assessment as well as operations. Social capitals in living heritage sites are essential resources for cultural diversity and humanity. The absence of proper social considerations in living heritage conservation leads to the decreasing diversity of life‐ experience and a fundamental failure of its sustainable viability. Therefore, social considerations deserve more efforts for further investigation.
Conservation of social quality at living heritage sites involves a deep understanding of the local communities in terms of temporal and spatial characteristics, and the involvement of local associations, which indicates social demands from an evolutionary point of view. Social quality acts as a hinge to ameliorate the apparent dilemma between conservation and tourism development of living heritage sites. At the same time, social
12 Upon being inscribed as World Heritage sites, it is the obligation of the State Parties to report regularly to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of their World Heritage properties (the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, 1972). The committee also designates ICOMOS (International Council on monuments and Sites) to carry out Periodic Report to assess the World Heritage sites in different regions.
quality is extremely vulnerable to the influence of exotic cultural intrusion and open‐market economic competition. As manifested in many living heritage sites that social functionality dried up and eventually the sites turned into ‘open museums’ or ‘new’ towns. Simultaneously, there was an exodus of indigenous inhabitants, which resulted in the destruction of traditional communities at the living sites. These effects have been observed at sites such as Elmina in Ghana, Zabid and Sana’a in Yemen, and Galle in Sri Lanka13.
1.4.3 Lack of applicable guidelines to retain social
quality in conservation practices
The exclusionary top‐down approach of conservation absorbs huge amounts of limited environmental and economic resources to preserve the physical aspects of living heritage sites. However, few governments can today afford the economic costs of imposed conservation with fences and guards. At the same time, conservation with priority for tourism development has demonstrated short‐term market gains at enormous political and social costs. Effects such as negative public relations and civil disorder lead to indifference or even hostile attitudes from the local community. In order to "integrate the physical, economic and social sciences to better understand the impacts of economic and social behavior on the environment" (the goal of Agenda 2114), an applicable guideline to interpret social quality in a measurable way is in great need for living heritage conservation. This research analyzes the role of social quality in the process of living heritage conservation, and
13 Cor Dijkgraaf in the paper of How World Heritage Sites Disappear: Four Cases, Four Threats presented case studies in Ghana, Sri Lanka and Yemen to demonstrate that more often than not conservation of heritage is not a priority of the local inhabitants if no economic benefits are forthcoming.
14 Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action for the sake of sustainable development at different levels. It was adopted by more than 178 Governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, 3 to 14 June 1992.
explores its dynamic interactions with spatial morphology through field case studies. New knowledge‐based guidelines in consistent with a design‐tool is advanced in this work for practical application in the process of living heritage conservation.
1.5 Methodology
1.5.1 Method of case study
Given the complexity of social problems in living heritage conservation, case study methods are employed as ‘an empirical inquiry to investigate a contemporary phenomenon within its real‐life context’ (Yin 1994). It demonstrates advantages in measuring the causal links of multiple factors in certain circumstances. In particular, this research is built upon interdisciplinary knowledge on spatial and social attributes in the process of living heritage conservation. Precedents on interdisciplinary studies of conservation shed light on the selection of the methodology in this research. For instance, Dwyer and Edwards (2000) investigated relationships between urban growth and heritage conservation via case studies in Campbell town in the context of an ‘ecotourism paradigm’ set by Ross and Wall (1999). Case study offers a suitable method to understand multifaceted problems at living heritage sites, while it demonstrates limitations for the generalization of research outcomes.
This research takes Dayan town in the centre of Lijiang ancient town as an exploratory case study to understand the social problems in relation to conservation approaches and specific spatial characteristics. Drawing upon the outcomes of the exploratory case study and state‐of‐the‐arts literatures on precedents of living heritage program and social quality studies, this work generalizes the social problems in living heritage conservation and selects key social indicators. Hereby, it develops a
model hypothesis in the framework of MOP15 representing how the application of spatial morphology and organization within the policy of living heritage conservation, influences the social quality of indigenous inhabitants in a living community.
This dissertation employs a test case study: Ogimachi village in the Chubu region of Japan, as a comparably successful project to examine the proposed model. The case explains how spatial morphology contributes to social quality performance at a living site via constraining various interventions and affirms the hypothetic model towards producing design guidelines for living heritage conservation. Data are derived from field studies through general observations, surveys and interviews at the sites by the author. In addition, the comparable statuses of Dayan town and Ogimachi village allow further arguments on the impacts of conservation approaches and spatial morphologies on social quality in the context of living heritage. The contrast between the two cases helps to grasp deeper the numerous factors influenced by different actors and activities from external and indigenous communities. As a pragmatic outcome, the paper produces a knowledge‐based, applicable design‐tool in form of design guidelines to maintain social quality for future conservation and a follow‐up maintenance system.
1.5.2 Methods in case study
The methods used to carry out case studies are inspired by the social research of Jacobs (1961) and Gans (1967) in relation to specific communities. On‐site surveys, interviews and comprehensive observations were conducted in the field studies of Dayan town and Ogimachi village.
15 MOP (Morphology, Operation, and Performance) refers to a framework for representing architectural knowledge, developed by Alexander Tzonis (Tzonis et al. 1987) and applied in several doctorate researches, such as Fang 1993, Jeng 1995, Bay 2001, Zarzar 2002, Vyzoviti 2005, in the Design Knowledge Systems Centre of TU Delft.
Jacobs emphasized the contributions of sidewalks to the security and social contacts of community life through her living experiences and observations in Greenwich Village neighborhood. She made very specific and comprehensive observations of various activities occurring along sidewalks, and the interactions among people, traffic and commercial activities. On the basis of that, she proposed the necessity for clear demarcation between private and public spaces as well as the advantages of mixed usage of urban space to promote continuous use and effective surveillance. Jacobs described the quality of micro urban space from a social perspective and inspired alternatives to monumental and scenic special design with focus on neighborhood activities. The methodologies employed in her work to understand the relationship of space and human behavior, especially on‐site observations, are widely used in socio‐spatial research.
Herbert Gans (1967) carried out research on ‘origin of a new community, the quality of suburban life and the effect of suburbia on the behavior of residents’ (Gans 1967, p.xxx) in Levittown from Oct 1958 to Sep 1960. Similar with Jacobs’ study in ‘the Death and Life of Great American Cities’, he drew upon his living experiences as the very first resident of Levittown and employed participant‐observations, analysis of mailed questionnaires (952 sets of questionnaires out of 2100 were analyzed), and on site interviews (45 households were interviewed twice and in the Philadelphia sample, 55 people who lived in Levittown for at least two years were interviewed randomly) to undertake the research questions. From a sociologist’s point of view, Gans analyzed the quality of social life via visits between individual neighbors, willingness of mutual assistance patterns amongst neighbors, and the participation in voluntary associations (Gans, 1967, p.51‐60). He claimed eight resources, which had significant impacts on the social life of a community, including the type of housing and settlement, the community layout and the community facilities ‐ public and commercial (Gans, 1967, p.277).
These previous social studies offer a practical methodology to deeply understand the resources and impacts of community life. In addition, my Masters Dissertation in NUS (Kong, 2005) also employed on‐site observation and social surveys as the main method to explore the social influences of gardening in semi‐open space of high‐rise dwellings in Singapore. It analyzed the impacts of gardening on the residents’ behaviors in verandas and the relationship between neighbors in high‐ rise dwellings. This research builds upon the precedents and conducted field studies through general observations, surveys and interviews in two comparable UNESCO World living heritage sites: Dayan town and Ogimachi village. It aims to understand the social quality of an indigenous community in the process of conservation and tourism development. Based on the analysis of emergent social problems in response to the changes of spatial morphology in Dayan town, this research proposes a hypothetic design model. Furthermore, comparative analysis conducted through field study in Ogimachi village tests the model and concludes with applicable design guidelines to retain high social quality in the process of conservation and tourism development.
1.6 Procedure of the study
Procedure ofthe study Chapter Description of the procedure Introduction 1 Definition of research scope and key words Brief research background and problem statement Introduction of methodology and research procedure Case study: Dayan in Lijiang Ancient Town 2 Exploratory case study to elaborate social problems Preliminary identification of the relationship between social problems and spatial morphology Critical reviews of living heritage conservation 3
Analyze the Living Heritage Sites programs to understand social problems and conservation approaches in a broad sense
Describe needs for a more holistic social study and a knowledge‐based guideline for living heritage conservation
Social studies in living heritage conservation
4
Theoretical study on social quality
Select pertinent social indicators to represent social quality in a living heritage site Hypothetic model towards an applicable design‐tool 5
Analyze the interrelationship between social quality and spatial organization via MOP model
Propose a model hypothesis to control the social quality in relation to constrained spatial morphology in the process of living heritage conservation Social conservation of Ogimachi village 6 Evaluate the contributions of conservation policy and spatial morphology on retaining social quality of the living heritage sites Test the model hypothesis
Propose a new knowledge‐based design guidelines towards retaining high social quality of living heritage sites in conservation and tourism development Conclusions and Limitation 7 Summarize main findings Evaluate scientific contributions Describe the limitations and the general applicability Extensions for future study Table 11: Procedure of the study The dissertation brings forward the question of social quality on the basis of exploratory field study in Dayan town of Lijiang in Yunnan province of China and state‐of‐the‐arts literature reviews. It elaborates the negative impacts of tourism‐related interventions and top‐down conservation approaches on the indigenous neighboring environment at Dayan (Chapter 2). Social problems in this research are defined within the context of indigenous living environment, when new actors and new activities are brought in along with tourism‐related development Meanwhile it reviews the precedent study of Living Heritage Sites program by ICCROM (Chapter 3) and integrates the study carried out by