Assessment of Local People Opinion After World Heritage Site Designation, Case Study: Historic City of Yazd, Iran

Ahmad Nasrolahi,Jean-Michel Roux,Mahmoudreza Khalili,Leila Ghasvarian Jahromi

doi:10.3390/heritage2020106

Ahmad Nasrolahi, Jean-Michel Roux + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage2020106

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Abstract

Local participation in the cultural heritage conservation has always been a concern since the Venice Charter (1964). It seems the assumption of the World Heritage Center, and particularly their State Parties, is that local people living in a nominated site are willing to inscribe their properties on the World Heritage List. This research examines the points of view of a local community living in the buffer zone of the Historic City of Yazd in five categories: Willingness, quality of life, decision-making, benefits, and awareness after the designation as World Heritage Site. The main hypotheses are that local people did not agree to inscribe their properties on the World Heritage List, and their quality of life has not changed after registering. The methodology is based on both qualitative and quantitative methods by interviewing 400 people of both genders and different ages. The results show that the majority of local people living in the buffer zone were not satisfied to be on the list. In addition, more than 80% mentioned that the quality of life did not change at all after the inscription. There was a misunderstanding about the role of national and international organizations in World Heritage management and conservation among the local community.

Highlights

Community participation in cultural heritage conservation has been a concern ever since the Venice Charter (1964) and is still to this day [1]
The results show that the majority of local people living in the buffer zone were not satisfied to be on the list
It is necessary to engage all main-participant sectors in a participatory approach in urban context as potential partnerships [13], this paper focuses on city consultation as the property owners in the Historic City of Yazd World Heritage Site

Summary

Introduction

Community participation in cultural heritage conservation has been a concern ever since the Venice Charter (1964) and is still to this day [1]. This approach has been highlighted in World Heritage Documents. The Faro Convention (2005) adopted to shift the focus from the conservation of cultural heritage values to the value of cultural heritage for the society In this case, it is necessary to engage local people participation in all stages of cultural heritage conservation and management [2]. TThheishiasrteoar,icnaolwcitkyn.oMwonreasthHainst4o3r6ic,0C0i0typeoof pYlaez(da,rwouansdin5s0c,r0ib00edhoonustehheoWldosr)ldarHe leirviitnagge Liinstthine2u0r1b7a.n area [8] (Figure 1) This area, known as Historic City of Yazd, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2017

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Conclusion