Abstract
Achieving sustainable development has been a global concern for decades. The urban situation in most developing countries has been chaotic with a fast-paced unregulated developmental boom. In India, the uncontrolled urban advancement has been an outcome of its rapid urbanisation in nearly every city. Consequently, this is leading to the hasty decline in the urban cultural built heritage. This paper, therefore, tries to look into urban (built) heritage in Indian Cities and makes an endeavour to point out how rapid urbanisation and unplanned development can affect the city heritage. Deemed as a fast urbanising Indian city (also a smart city) with evaporating cultural heritage, the research undertook Visakhapatnam as a case study. Urban heritage – Cultural heritage – urbanisation - Vizag heritage - Vernacular-building - Endangered cultural heritage - Urbanisation and conservation - heritage in urbanising societies. Keywords: Urban heritage; Cultural heritage; Urbanisation; Vizag heritage; Vernacular building; Endangered cultural heritage; Urbanisation conservation heritage in urbanising societies
Highlights
Achieving sustainable development has been a global concern for decades
In India, the uncontrolled urban advancement has been an outcome of its rapid urbanisation in nearly every city
This paper, tries to look into urban heritage in Indian Cities and makes an endeavour to point out how rapid urbanisation and unplanned development can affect the city heritage
Summary
“Cultural layering is a common feature of most Asian cities...they all tell key stories about key stages in the evolution of societies and cities”. It is observed, that these medium-sized towns, which are in the threshold of rapid urbanisation and development fall prey to these real estate societies where every inch of land is only seen through a commercial lens and are utilised exhaustively at the cost of all other aesthetic or other cultural values In such cities, where planning policies and administrative executions are deficient, the historic landscapes are replaced by the high rises of the modern generation, which do not synchronise in the end. With the progression of such urbanising process in old societies, the cultural sites and old structures initially form small enclaves in the recently-created-foreign-urban-fabric and eventually get successfully knocked down and concealed by the growing random modern developments This is a common feature and process, as seen in most of the rapidly urbanising cities of South Asia and Africa. In several Indian cities, with changing of political hands, promises are made to develop areas by clearing of old housing stock (that are a part of urban sprawl) and replacing them with high rise structures or malls or theatres as a symbol of development
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