Capacity Building Strategies for Built Heritage Conservation of George Town World Heritage Site, Penang

Abstract

ABSTRACT George Town’s inscription as a world heritage site on July 7 2008 has profound ramifications for the city’s subsequent functionalities, image, and identity. Since the UNESCO inscription, heritage shophouses in George Town World Heritage Site (GTWHS) were purchased en-bloc by investors and massive conservation of shop houses took off. Among the key issues faced by GTWHS is a shortage of the right quantity and quality of human capital in building conservation which, in turn, will threaten the authenticity and integrity of the city’s built heritage, if conservation is done without applying conservation principles and proper skills. While there are strategies in George Town’s Special Area Plan to manage the heritage site, there is a dearth of strategies related to capacity building in the city’s heritage sector. Against this backdrop, the paper aims to propound the relevant strategies to enhance George Town’s capacity building for building conservation works. Based on qualitative techniques, this study interviewed heritage experts to identify suitable strategies in capacity building for GTWHS. This paper recommends that existing strategies should garner collective participation from all stakeholders. The strategies proposed should be implemented as soon as possible to ensure quality and continuous generation of the right skills and knowledge toward sustainable capacity building for George Town’s built heritage.