Self-financing for Conservation Based on Global Experiences – Case Study Preserving the Architectural Heritage of Historical Tripoli, Lebanon

Abstract

Funding has always been important for the continuity of any conservation project and the achievement of the desired results. Its impact is particularly evident in the projects regarding the heritage domains; it clearly shows the importance of having multiple participating bodies/entities and diverse self-funding sources without relying solely on governmental agencies or governmental funding, particularly in the developing countries where there is a clear deficiency in the countries' potential ability to meet the developmental needs of these heritage areas. The study aims to illustrate the relationship between continuity of financing operations and the sustainability of conservation projects. Financing and its efficiency equally affect all the phases of the project: the pre-implementation stage, the implementation stage, and the post-implementation/operation stage (maintenance and follow-up). This is due to the fact that financing operations do not only affect the possibility of implementing a project, but also affect the quality level of the preservation, whereby buildings lose their values both tangible and intangible. This is due to the inaccuracy of studies, lack of precise equipment for work or lack of analyzing the different possibilities that might lead to the destruction or damage of buildings. In this context, light will be shed on different cases and models of global conservation projects in several countries by investigating and analysing its financial aspects to establish the different circumstances surrounding each project, such as goals and stages, and identifying the positive and negative points of each project. This will be done through several axes, legal, managerial, financial, and popular participation, the most important of which is the self-financing aspect. Each case will be discussed and evaluated separately at the level of the building, urbanization and society as an integrated system to demonstrate their characteristics, namely successful architecture, historical gatherings, and surrounding community life. The paper proposes some methods for dealing with historic buildings as part of the urban and architectural heritage, where the legal, managerial, financial and community participation, especially the self-financing level, are considered in order to conserve these buildings.