Bridging the Divide: Heritage Management and Development in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Heritage managers often consider developers to be a threat to irreplaceable heritage resources, while developers often consider heritage management to be an expensive punishment and not a necessary exercise. Drawing on South African case studies, this paper begins with a general overview of the conflict between heritage managers and developers. It then presents two case studies to illustrate the nature and depth of the divide between heritage managers and those in business. Heritage managers must respond by adapting their management approaches to the business demands of the twenty-first century. Failure to do so will entrench the thinking that heritage management is a stumbling block to economic development. Considering the high level of poverty in South Africa and the widening income and wealth gaps, any objective that threatens economic development will be heavily criticized and thus undermined. Heritage managers must play a pivotal role in bridging the polarity that exists with developers, even over and above bridging the gap between archaeologists and Indigenous communities. The paper concludes by arguing that heritage managers need to acquire the ‘human face’ that developers often claim to have and offers recommendations on what could be done to bridge the gap between these two significant interests.