Still a Place to Call Home? Development and the Changing Character of Place

Abstract

The relationship between heritage and development is a complex one, burdened with unease, tension, and numerous challenges; this is even more difficult in historic urban centres. At a time of rapid urbanization, modernization, and globalization, conservation and development of historical urban landscapes comprise one of the most demanding challenges facing the field of heritage. In this paper, I investigate the importance of conservation and development to integrate heritage in its totality (tangible and intangible), and take into consideration aspects of meanings, people’s experiences, memories, and association with a place. The ancient port of Suakin (Sudan) is a perfect case study, where development and conservation continue to focus primarily on the tangibility of heritage. Through perceptions derived from ethnographic research, I explore the effect of unsympathetic development and conservation on intangible meanings and values, and the likely impact on the tradition of the place and the way of life, sense of place, and attachment. Through this examination we can increase our appreciation of the impact of development on intangible values. The paper suggests that the restoration of the physical fabric alone cannot help to conserve its meaning. Intervention in the historic urban landscape requires visualization of the place as a whole.