International Journal of Heritage Studies Vol. 11 (May 2005) No 2

Contributors p. 93

Seoul, Korea: its concept of culture and nature in heritage planning
Yun Shun Susie Chung pp. 95 - 111
This paper explores the concept of heritage as part of sustainable development planning. Heritage is taken to include both the cultural and natural spheres to incorporate people, activities, landscapes, monuments, landmarks, artefacts, and nature. Heritage planning then involves the sustainable development of the cultural and natural environment to prepare for its stewardship, research, and communication for the benefit of society. This perspective leads to broader questions on approaches to heritage planning where the cultural environment is considered specifically within sustainable development planning just as the natural environment is studied separately in specialised disciplines. The paper proposes that in developing resource-management plans the effects of cultural resources on natural resources, and vice versa, must be integrated and addressed. Seoul, Korea, an historic metropolitan city that has gone through radical political and economic changes, is examined as a case study. It identifies how the city is integrating sustainability of the contextual association of the cultural and natural environment with promotion of economic growth.

The politics of area conservation in Cairo
Ahmed Sedky pp. 113 - 130
The historic core of the Arab-Islamic city has always played an integral role in the formation of the identity of the contemporary Arab city. It serves as the reference for the city’s character. This is especially so in Cairo, where historic quarters still act as the city’s most influential social and cultural source of inspiration. Today, many forces of neglect and deterioration have diminished this role. While attempts have been launched to confront this situation, they have focused mainly on restoring the historic city of Cairo, itself a World Heritage Site. This paper probes the actual reasons for the deterioration of the historic core of Cairo, as well as those that dominate the current efforts for revitalisation. In these processes it is the political dimension that is the most influential in the decision-making affecting the proposed urban changes in historic Cairo.1

Dealing with the past: Museums and heritage in northern ireland and Cape Town, South Africa
Elizabeth Crooke pp. 131 - 142
The experiences of post-apartheid South Africa have often been used to open dialogue about Northern Ireland and the possible approaches to dealing with the legacy of the conflict. People in Northern Ireland have, for example, looked towards the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and policing in South Africa for further insights. This comparison of South Africa and Northern Ireland has now moved beyond being concerned predominantly with conflict resolution and has come to bear in the consideration of how we should present the history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland’s museums and the value of preserving the built heritage of the Troubles. This paper uses the example of the ‘transformation’ in the South African heritage sector that came with the end of apartheid as a means to raise areas of concern that have resonance for Northern Ireland. It shows that for both Northern Ireland and South Africa it is important to think further about the impact of display, the power dynamics embedded in the construction of heritage, and the complexity of building a shared narrative from a contested past.

Discordant landscapes: Managing modern heritage at Twyford Down, Hampshire (England)
John Schofield pp. 143 - 159
This essay goes to the heart of many of the accepted notions that inform heritage practice and theory: of the permanence of monuments; their legitimisation by age; their preservation from change; and their representation of a social consensus. By contrast, modern ‘intrusions’ to lived space are designed to be impermanent, are obviously new, represent change and often result from conflict. Twyford Down (Hampshire) is an example—a concrete expression—of this discordance: it has legal protection, but was compromised by the construction of the M3 motorway extension in the late 1980s. Yet, with archaeologists increasingly willing to explore the contemporary past, can sites like Twyford Down not be interpreted in a very different way, by recognising the landscape as dynamic not static, and by understanding that the process of change is as relevant today as it was in the past? In this essay such a post-modern interpretation of landscape and heritage-management practice is suggested, placing Twyford Down’s later 20th-century components alongside those of an earlier date. It is difficult to give such contemporary places the official recognition they deserve.

Community heritage interpretation games: A case study from Angaston, South Australia
Lyn Leader-Elliott pp. 161 - 171
The residents of Angaston in South Australia have worked on interpreting their town’s history since the early 1990s. Heritage walks brochures and interpretive plaques attracted, and continue to attract, steady interest from adults interested in history. An attempt to broaden the audience base to include children and ‘younger people’ in general led to the development of an interpretive game designed as a choose-your-own adventure and intended for conversion to CD as a computer game. Although the town had an interpretation plan and keen local historians, the project ultimately shed its historical base and became a cartoon-like ‘choose your own adventure’ game that did not attract its intended market. This case study demonstrates the difficulty of achieving heritage interpretation with integrity when working within the complex dynamics of a small community. Some strategies to assist community-based interpretation projects are suggested.

Reviews pp. 173 - 179

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International Journal of Heritage Studies (IJHS)
Publisher: Routledge
ISSN 1352-7258

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