Conservation of the Urban Identity (Part 3): Cultural Tourism

By Guest Author Vaswar Mitra

The Indian state of Rajasthan, a conglomerate of princely provinces, is dotted with palaces belonging to former royalty who were fast losing their means of income after India gained its independence in 1947. Through the help of private and government initiatives, many of these old palaces have been converted into tourist accommodation while parts of the structure remained the home of the royal family. Rajasthan currently has close to a hundred such heritage hotels and is one of India’s most prominent and successful examples of systematic reuse of old structures through conservation and upgrading that has harnessed the legacy of the past to boost tourism while preserving architectural identity.

The example of Rajasthan is a testament to the economic viability of heritage structures as cultural icons — a fertile base on which to build tourism. “Cultural tourism” is one of the primary incentives for cities or regions to conserve their built heritage. A “cultural tourist” is a visitor who seeks to understand and explore a place and its people through the various manifestations of its ideas, arts, and knowledge. Cultural tourism caters to a more educated sector comprising people who are likely to be more interested in the historical significance of a place and more keen on experiencing local lifestyles.

In the South Indian state of Karnataka, off the main tourism circuit, is the Hasta Shilpa Heritage Village. Twenty-six derelict buildings of historical importance, existing in far-flung places yet all following a similar vernacular style, were dismantled, transported to the “heritage village,” and reassembled. The process is still in operation, and even marketplaces are being restored to provide a historically accurate context for the buildings. In a conservation effort, this revitalization of the context along with the preservation of the buildings themselves ensures environmental sustainability along with providing an accurate frame of reference. The Hasta Shilpa Heritage Village provides this experience and enables the visitor to understand a society, the lifestyles of its people, and its peculiarities without the contemporary influences of globalization.

As a model under which conservation and cultural tourism can have a symbiotic relationship, the “heritage village” can be replicated in an urban setting as “infilling development” in empty plots or as replacements. The advantage of a metropolis is the multiplicity of ethnic groups, religions, thought, and traditions that are expressed in its built forms. This wider cultural base has the potential to attract a greater number of tourist segments and to serve as a backdrop for commercial activity that seeks to use the built heritage as a part of its brand identity. In addition, the historic cores of most cities are pedestrian-oriented, which allows for activity to be concentrated in a particular area, encouraging higher density of use. For an urban landscape to sustain cultural tourism, it must go beyond monuments and bring the visitor closer to the social structures of the place. A heritage hotel serves this purpose, and the existence of a wide range of building scales in heritage zones allows these buildings’ conversion into various types of hotels.

However, conservation and tourism activities put development pressures on heritage property owners, often prompting changes in lifestyle, social practices, and customs in traditional neighborhoods. Cooperation of the residents is therefore of paramount importance, and the development of cultural tourism in any area depends largely on the residents’ readiness to accept change as part of the process of preserving their identity.

I will continue the discussion on cultural tourism, its implementation, and consequences in next week’s post.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Conservation of the Urban Identity
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