Heritage Management Research Articles

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Monuments in the City of Zagreb as a Reflection of Croatian Society in Space and Time

This paper presents a sociological analysis of the monumental heritage of the City of Zagreb. Monuments are understood and described as „carriers of symbols” through which the ruling elites in a certain time and space endeavor to shape public opinion. A special focus has been given to the analysis of the temporal and spatial dimensions of monument management. The spatial dimension refers to the characteristics of a particular monument and the broader context of the space, that is, the environment in which it was placed. The temporal dimension refers to the management of monumental heritage by the ruling elites, which change in the process of elite circulation. The process of elite circulation is accompanied with efforts for imposing a historical narrative, which is necessarily a selective process in which certain parts of the collective memory are forgotten and others highlighted. Finally, this paper offers a temporal, that is, historical, context of the installation and meaning of the monumental heritage in the City of Zagreb, both for the people of Zagreb and for the entire Croatian nation.

Penal heritage hotels as sites of conscience?: Exploring the use and management of penal heritage through adaptive reuse

Decommissioned penal buildings have become a nascent form of heritage hotels. However, they remain under-researched within tourism and hospitality research despite the growing literature concerning prison tourism. While current discourse remains conflicted over the use of penal heritage for tourist experiences, this research note applies adaptive reuse theory to explore the use and management of penal heritage for tourist accommodation. In doing so, this study responds to calls for further research into heritage hotels, and specifically penal heritage buildings used in non-museum functions. Site visits and interviews informed the study's findings, which revealed a range of influences for how penal heritage is used and managed through adaptive reuse, thereby demonstrating the potential of penal heritage hotels to serve as sites of conscience.

The Tradition of Motayok Traditional Ceremonies in Cultural Heritage Management

The traditional celebrations of Indonesia exhibit a wide range of variations, reflecting the diverse ethnic groups present in the country. One such custom is the practice of Motayok traditional rites. The Mentayok traditional ritual in cultural heritage management is rooted in the belief in supernatural forces that are believed to have the power to heal diseases and safeguard the tribe from different plagues. The ceremony follows a ritualistic musical dance, accompanied by singing, that induces a trance-like state in the dancer, allowing them to invoke spirits. This ceremony has been practiced since the 1600s. The Mokokapoi is responsible for summoning spirits while also serving as the guide during the ceremony. Typically, Mokokapoi is the spouse of the lady selected to be possessed. Totenden, as a mediator and supporter of the ritual, will join Bolian in singing the Bandit (song verses). Motayok's vocal performance and choreography will be enhanced by the rhythmic resonance of gongs and the skillful manipulation of dreadlocks by Mototobog. The Motayok traditional ceremony is seen as a form of double god or shirk. Presently, the Motayok traditional ceremony is exclusively observed in Bilalang Bersatu Village and Tudu Aog Village. There should be no necessity for the eradication of this heritage. Motayok, traditionally perceived as a mystical rite dedicated to deity veneration, is, in fact, a variant of psychotherapeutic intervention.

The Territorialization of Cultural Heritage as an Opportunity for Its Adaptive Reuse From the Tourist Management

ABSTRACT Considering the territory as an expansive dimension of heritage offers a unique opportunity to promote both the conservation of assets and the development of the surrounding area. However, heritage often remains isolated from the holistic management of tourist destinations, failing to integrate as a “living” element. To address this issue, the study proposes a conceptual delimitation that takes into account the services provided by various facilities within the space and their uses. By analyzing the interdependencies between heritage and the territorial system, inspired by ecosystem service evaluation, a methodology is applied to the sculpture “Elogio del Horizonte” in Gijón, Spain. The results establish an initial delimitation for the case study, providing a foundation for identifying needs and generating proposals. This method aims to guide decision-making in heritage management in the tourism sector, going beyond mere economic profitability and prioritizing the community's needs.

The Tolerance and Limits of Acceptable Change in Heritage Buildings: The Case of Traditional Shophouses in Malaysia

The protection of heritage buildings is of utmost importance. In today's world, historic buildings face various threats that push them to the brink of extinction or marginalisation. The natural fatigue process of buildings, uncontrolled urbanisation and socio-technical change are among the main driving forces. Therefore, heritage buildings need to be constantly monitored and carefully conserved so that they can continue to be used and retain their dignity. It is thus important to understand the extent to which we can alter the significance of heritage buildings during their conservation. The beginnings of the conservation approach are associated with an attempt to reject any changes to the physical characteristics of heritage buildings. More recently, however, conservation practice has evolved into a process of managing changes. Only by understanding the limits of acceptable change to heritage and identifying heritage's tolerance of change can we find an appropriate way to manage change to heritage and preserve its cultural significance. A literature review and content analysis were conducted to gain insights into the concept of change in heritage management theories and norms. This search was continued to explore the limits of acceptable change and the tolerance of heritage buildings to change through authorised international and national policies. The case of shophouses in Malaysia is studied. The results show that conservation standards have relaxed their stance on the presence of change in heritage architecture. However, intellectual research on understanding the limits of acceptable change for the careful transformation of heritage buildings through the management of change is still relatively scarce.

Climate change and the taphonomic signature of Neolithic mounds: the Kur River Basin over five decades of satellite imagery coverage

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the impact of modern land use and climate change on mounded prehistoric sites, considering the evidence from Kur River Basin (southwestern Iran). By applying remote sensing and GIS techniques to historical and recent satellite imagery, we monitored an assemblage of 45 Neolithic mounds in order to map and quantify their taphonomic signatures over the last 53 years. Our results highlight that the deterioration of sites occurred as a result of landscape transformation due to land use and socio-economic dynamics that were exacerbated by current climate change. Increasing demands for fertile land and water led to the over-exploitation of sources, resulting in changing hydrological regimes and ecological systems and loss of the archaeological record. By contextualizing these processes over a historical perspective, our findings contribute to archaeological heritage management efforts.

Climate Impacts on Tangible Coastal Cultural Heritage in the United States: Towards Sustainable and Adaptive Coastal Heritage Management

Climate Impacts on Tangible Coastal Cultural Heritage in the United States: Towards Sustainable and Adaptive Coastal Heritage Management

Diagnosis of archaeological bones: Analyzing the state of conservation of lower Pleistocene bones through diagenesis methods

Initial physicochemical assessment of cultural materials plays a critical role in the research and management of cultural heritage, serving as a foundation for comprehending deterioration mechanisms and developing effective conservation treatments. However, this knowledge is more advanced in several cultural materials such as artwork or historic buildings, than in bone and fossils. This study focuses on bone material conservation, applying diagenetic methods for characterizing and assessing the state of conservation of archaeological bones from Pit 1 at Barranc de la Boella (BB), an open-air archaeological site from the late Early Pleistocene, from a conservation perspective.Microstructural analyses, including mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and histological analysis, alongside microchemical analyses through Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), and FTIR with KBr pellets and X-ray Diffraction (XRD), were conducted to evaluate the decay processes affecting the bones. Results indicated poor bone preservation characterized by high porosity, significant microbial attack, collagen degradation, and the potential recrystallization of bioapatite into fluorapatite. These findings underscore the substantial challenges presented by open-site conditions to preservation efforts and highlight the need for suitable conservation treatments, such as consolidation to reinforce the microstructure.The study emphasizes the importance of characterizing archaeological bones to understand the factors influencing their preservation states and guide conservation works in this material. This work contributes to the knowledge of diagenesis studies to standardize the diagnosis of the state of conservation on archaeological bones.

Spatiotemporal changes and driving factors of ecosystem services between karst and non-karst World Heritage sites in Southwest China

Understanding the spatiotemporal variation and drivers of ecosystem services is fundamental to optimal management and sustainable development of World Heritage (WH) sites. Although WH sites face multiple natural and anthropogenic threats, our understanding of their ecosystem services is still limited, especially for karst WH sites. In this study, we assessed habitat quality (HQ), carbon storage (CS), soil retention (SR), water conservation (WC), and the combined ecosystem service (CES) of karst and non-karst WH sites in Southwest China from 2000 to 2020 using the InVEST model. We also assessed trade-offs/synergies among ecosystem services using the spatial overlay method, and identified driving factors of variation in ecosystem services using geographical detector and structural equation models. The results showed that ecosystem services of the WH sites exhibited high spatiotemporal variation. In particular, there were higher values in the property zone than in the buffer zone, and an increasing trend in SR but a decreasing trend in HQ and CES over time. Compared to non-karst sites, karst WH sites had significantly lower values of HQ, CS, SR, and CES, but higher spatial heterogeneity in CS, WC, and CES. Weak trade-offs among ecosystem services dominated the WH sites, with the proportion of weak synergies increasing over time. Compared to non-karst sites, karst WH sites had a significantly lower proportion of strong synergies and a significantly higher proportion of weak synergies. The provision of ecosystem services was primarily influenced by natural factors (e.g., landscape division index and normalized difference vegetation index), followed by anthropogenic factors (e.g., distance from road and population density). Overall, these findings may have important implications for decision-making aimed at protecting the outstanding universal value, authenticity, and integrity of WH with different attributes.

The Potential of the Socio-Demographic Profile of the Visitor in the Museum's Product Strategy

One of the types of cultural sector institutions with a solid potential to use modern management methods are organisations dealing with cultural heritage management, such as castle museums. Today, however, these cathedrals of cultural tourism have to face the pressures of economic and social change to build public authority and recognition, but most importantly, to create interest and an attractive offer for their existing audiences and a hitherto unreached public. The present article aims to develop a systematic review of empirical experiences in the socio-demographic profile of visitors to selected castle museums, to identify untapped potential in the segmentation of museum audiences and to derive propositions for individual solutions aimed at increasing the attendance of selected castle museums. We used a triplet of separated Chi-square tests for each period to identify the socio-demographic profile. Non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was used to test for differences in ordinal variables (age and education of visitors). In addition to the individual results for each single museum partially, we can identify through the most frequent, most represented and periodically repeated responses the typical visitor profile of the Castle Castle Museums as follows: female, 31 – 45 years old, secondary education with a high school diploma, working as an executive secondary educated professional employee. Such findings could be helpful in the future when creating so-called tailor-made products for the visitor.

Mancera-Valencia, F.J. & Mayagoitia, E.A. (2023) Cultural Heritage and Education. Universidad Pedagógica del Estado de Chihuahua Editorial

Although the topics of the research articles that are compiled in this book focus on a wide range of themes, such as the connection between school and museums, the use of radio as a schooling device for indigenous population or the unique architecture of Mennonite schools in the north of Mexico; they all share the same objective: to foster a debate regarding the relevance of heritage education. Some of the texts are research articles, others document intervention experiences in different educational contexts, both formal and informal. Most of them narrate practices that were implemented in Mexican territory (specifically, the states of Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Mexico City and Baja California), except for one project that was conducted in Spain. The articles cover topics like the implications of educational heritage, its purpose, didactic orientations, devices, and places. The book coordinators, Federico Mancera-Valencia and Eva Mayagoitia, prestigious Mexican researchers, argue that patrimonial education is in its gestational state, and, since it is a research field that is constantly evolving, it has its own tensions and contradictions. The book is composed of 12 chapters, created by authors of different backgrounds and fields: professors, researchers, educators, an archeologist, an anthropologist and a geographer, all of them with extensive experience in educational heritage. These articles are organized in four sections: a) Educational heritage: tensions and debates, b) Academic Cultural Heritage, c) Cultural Heritage of Indigenous Education and d) Museums, libraries and cultural heritage management.

Constructing ethnic consciousness: the role of cultural heritage in Malaysia

ABSTRACT The Chinese community’s unique position in Malaysian inter-ethnic relations weaves through intricate interactions with other ethnic groups, maintaining distinct cultural identities amidst Malaysia’s diverse ethnic fabric. This study explores the intricate relationship between ethnic consciousness and cultural heritage among Malaysian Chinese people, examining, within a historical context, how this community maintains its distinct identity within a multi-ethnic society. Utilizing focus group discussions (FGDs) with Chinese independent schools (CIS) students, the study delves into their identity perceptions, influenced by both “authority-defined” and “everyday-defined” social realities. The findings reveal how cultural heritage, particularly through lion dance activities, reinforces ethnic consciousness while contributing to a broader national identity. This study elucidates the complex dynamics of ethnic identity formation in a multicultural context and advocates for an inclusive heritage management. Such an approach fosters dialogue, respects diversity, and enhances our understanding of the role of heritage in shaping a cohesive, multicultural society.

Mind the diversity: defining intervention concepts of built heritage in international doctrinal documents

PurposeInterventions are essential for the management of built heritage because they extend the lifespan of buildings and enable them to be enjoyed by multiple generations. International organisations and institutions, such as UNESCO and ICOMOS, have adopted doctrinal documents over time, stimulating best practices in built heritage management worldwide. Although these documents are often referenced in academic work, they are seldom systematically researched. Which interventions are referenced or omitted? Are they defined? What trends are noted in the understanding of best practices as interventions?Design/methodology/approachThis research consists of a systematic content analysis of nine international doctrinal documents, which were selected from nearly seventy international doctrinal documents—mainly adopted by UNESCO and ICOMOS. The main aim is to reveal and compare the concepts used for reference interventions and further use the definitions to reveal and discuss the relationships between them. The trends of these interventions being used were determined based on the frequency of mentions per intervention term in the selected documents.FindingsRegarding the definition of the intervention concepts, there are three main findings. First, instead of being treated as a single concept, ‘conservation’ has been presented as an umbrella concept for other interventions and thus has been the most popular concept since the first version (1992) of the New Zealand Charter was implemented. In contrast, ‘preservation’ remains a single concept, among the highest scales, to maintain the integrity of built heritage, including use. Second, ‘repair’ was found to play a paradoxical role between ‘restoration’ and ‘reconstruction’, which created divergent opinions in the documents. Third, since the notions of ‘use’ have expanded from the functions of monuments (International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites: The Venice Charter, 1964) to the ‘associations of places’ (The Burra Charter: The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance, with associated Guidelines and Code on the Ethics of Co-existence, 1999; The Burra Charter: The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance, 2013), which include activities, traditional habits, accessibility, etc., the complexity of mentioning different forms of ‘use’ has led to some (re)interventions, such as ‘adaptation’, ‘adaptive reuse’, and ‘rehabilitation’, being put into grey areas and used interchangeably.OriginalityThis research advances the current understanding of intervention concepts and their relationships, as well as differences and similarities in definitions.

The role of artistic quality in a heritage architectural style in modulating tourist interest and aesthetic pleasure: a case study of Hui-style architecture in the Hongcun Scenic Area, China

ABSTRACT Aesthetic considerations are integral to the competitive advantage and value creation of tourism destinations. This study aims to explore the modulating role of the artistic quality of a heritage architectural style in tourists’ travel interest and aesthetic pleasure. Focusing on Hongcun, a renowned Hui-style architecture scenic area in China, this research employed public opinion surveys to quantitatively analyse travel interest, aesthetic pleasure, and the artistic quality of the architectural style (including variety, unity, typicality, and novelty). The results indicate that typicality and variety play a significant role in modulating the relationship between travel interest and aesthetic pleasure, whereas the modulating effects of unity and novelty are not significant. These findings deepen the understanding of how tourists’ aesthetic pleasure is impacted by their tourist interests. By demonstrating that tourists’ interests significantly enhance aesthetic pleasure and promote it through the typicality and variety of heritage architecture, they advance the theory of destination aesthetics in cultural heritage tourism. These insights guide tourism planners and heritage managers in designing interpretive content and tour itineraries that highlight the aesthetic value of heritage architecture, thereby enhancing the overall visitor experience.

Breathing new life into industrial heritage: the digital era's influence on transforming Safawi cinema into a historical museum

PurposeThis paper aims to identify and evaluate the industrial heritage of the Safawi region, which has suffered from neglect and government dispossession. It proposes strategies for documenting and repurposing the Al-Safawi cinema, advocating for its transformation into a historical museum. Repurposing culturally significant structures as museums offers opportunities to address challenges, preserve heritage, promote sustainable urban development, improve local quality of life, and attract tourists.Design/methodology/approachEmploying an inductive approach, this research uses qualitative methods, including detailed descriptive analysis, along with contemporary digital documentation tools such as RTC360 Laser Scanning, Digi Cad 3D, Autodesk Revit, AutoCAD, and Photoshop.FindingsThe study demonstrates that converting heritage buildings into museums requires minimal alterations to maintain authenticity and historical integrity. These findings provide valuable insights into architectural considerations that inform decision-making processes for museum projects, contributing to discussions on museum standards, practices, and adaptive reuse within the Jordanian context.Originality/valueThis study stands out for its use of advanced digital tools within the Jordanian context, representing a significant advancement in digital documentation practices. Few studies have explored the Safawi area and its heritage, making this research particularly innovative. By advocating for minimal alterations to preserve authenticity, it sets a valuable precedent for museum projects in the country, enhancing efforts in heritage conservation and cultural enrichment. This initiative highlights the evolving landscape of digital engagement in Jordan and its potential implications for cultural heritage management.

The making of the Chinese urban landscape: Exploring a framework for analysis

Despite sociopolitical changes, urban landscape heritage has traditionally been valued in Chinese society. However, in the past two to three decades, intensifying pressures for urban redevelopment have created major challenges to urban landscape management. While the management of urban landscape change has focused on landscape-based conservation techniques, urban landscape characterization and assessment, and urban landscape planning, its theoretical and practical foundations remain to be clarified. In connection with the epistemological orientations of landscape in both China and the outside world, this article proposes a new conceptual framework comprising a triad of structural-correlative, morphogenetic-generative, and integrated perspectives for the study and management of urban landscape heritage in China.

Digital Tools for the Preventive Conservation of Built Heritage: The Church of Santa Ana in Seville

Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) plays a pivotal role in heritage conservation endeavours, offering a robust framework for digitally documenting existing structures and supporting conservation practices. However, HBIM’s efficacy hinges upon the implementation of case-specific approaches to address the requirements and resources of each individual asset and context. This paper defines a flexible and generalisable workflow that encompasses various aspects (i.e., documentation, surveying, vulnerability assessment) to support risk-informed decision making in heritage management tailored to the peculiar conservation needs of the structure. This methodology includes an initial investigation covering historical data collection, metric and condition surveys and non-destructive testing. The second stage includes Finite Element Method (FEM) modelling and structural analysis. All data generated and processed are managed in a multi-purpose HBIM model. The methodology is tested on a relevant case study, namely, the church of Santa Ana in Seville, chosen for its historical significance, intricacy and susceptibility to seismic action. The defined level of detail of the HBIM model is sufficient to inform the structural analysis, being balanced by a more accurate representation of the alterations, through linked orthophotos and a comprehensive list of alphanumerical parameters. This ensures an adequate level of information, optimising the trade-off between model complexity, investigation time requirements, computational burden and reliability in the decision-making process. Field testing and FEM analysis provide valuable insight into the main sources of vulnerability in the building, including the connection between the tower and nave and the slenderness of the columns.

The Hellenic Archaeological Cadastre: A Land Administration System Specifically Designed for the Documentation and Management of Cultural Heritage

How is land management related to cultural policy and how do these two different scientific fields contribute to cultural heritage protection? How may archaeological sites, immovable monuments, and state property be recorded in a specific Land Administration System? What are the records of the system in numbers? These questions will be answered in this publication, and the example of the Hellenic Archaeological Cadastre (HAC) will be analyzed in detail. The HAC project is one of the most important projects that has been designed, implemented, and launched within the last decade by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. The transition of the whole public sector in the digital era and the urgent need for reliable and updated geospatial documentation of public parcels of land and constructions, archaeological sites, and immovable monuments were the two main factors that led to the compilation and implementation of the specific LAS. This study presents the available tools, administrative procedures, records, qualitative and quantitative data, and prominent examples of public parcels of land accessible online in the open access web GIS platform. A SWOT analysis is also performed for its evaluation.

Mystras Captured from the Air – Digital Recording Techniques for Cultural Heritage Management of a Monumental Archaeological Site

Mystras Captured from the Air – Digital Recording Techniques for Cultural Heritage Management of a Monumental Archaeological Site