Zoning for world heritage sites: dual dilemmas in development and demographics

Abstract

Since listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in 1999, Hoi An Ancient Town in Vietnam has been transformed by tourism development with visitor numbers increasing more than sixteen-fold. Beyond positive economic impacts, tourism has generated considerable funds for conservation, with revenue assisting authentic restoration of the town’s historic center. However, tourism impacts have provoked criticism linked to social sustainability, examined in this paper using the core-and-buffer-zone principle - a neo-normative spatial planning framework. Our longitudinal, mixed-method analysis from development and demographic perspectives combines interviews and census data with spatial planning guidelines and maps. Findings show that architectural renovations, accompanied by stricter regulations and hierarchical World Heritage Site zoning, legitimized rapid development of Hoi An’s buffer zone in tandem with ‘museumification’ of the core, epitomized by the central clustering of traditional wooden architecture renovation projects. By 2010, population in the core had declined by 20% as ‘adaptive re-use’ of heritage buildings paved the way for conversion of private residences into shops or other services and the core transformed from living heritage into a tourism stage. Demographic and development trends reinforced the dual hierarchy, although attempts to mitigate museumification, including a series of craft villages around the perimeter, provided impetus for revitalization of the newly-expanded buffer zone. Our findings highlight certain implications of spatial zoning for social sustainability, pointing the way for better integration with adaptive re-use policies. Our study contributes to further the debate on social sustainability at a living heritage site by investigating the bipolarity between museumification of the core and concurrent development of the buffer zones. The implications of our study extend beyond the current context of developing Southeast Asia, as this paper draws parallels and expounds opportunities for more site-specific planning and management of World Heritage Sites.

摘要

越南的会安古城自1999年被联合国教科文组织列为世界文化遗产以来, 已经被旅游发展所改变, 游客数量增加了16倍之多。除了积极的经济影响外, 旅游业也为保护工作带来了可观的资金, 收入有助于该城历史中心的真正修复。然而, 旅游影响引发了社会可持续性方面的批评, 本文使用新规范空间规范规划框架中的核心-缓冲区原理对之进行了研究。我们的纵向、混合方法分析, 采取发展和人口统计多个角度, 综合了访谈、人口普查、空间规划指南和地图多源数据。研究结果表明, 建筑更新伴随着更严格的规定, 同时该世界文化遗产的分级分区治理体系, 赋予会安古城核心区的 “博物馆化”的同时缓冲区的同步快速发展, 体现了传统木结构建筑更新项目核心分类治理的体系。到2010年, 随着遗产建筑的”适应性再利用”为将私人住宅转变为商店或其他服务设施铺平了道路, 核心区也从生活性遗产阶段转型为旅游遗产阶段, 核心区域的人口减少了20%。该世界遗产的人口和发展趋势加强了不同区域之间的等级关系，尽管减轻博物馆化的尝试（包括周边的一系列手工艺品村庄）为振兴新扩展的缓冲区提供了动力。我们的研究通过调查核心地带的博物馆化和缓冲区的同步发展之间的两极化, 有助于进一步讨论活态遗产的社会可持续性。我们的研究的意义超出了目前东南亚发展的背景, 因为这篇论文利用世界文化遗产的共性, 为更多世界文化遗产的场所管理与规划阐述了多种机遇。

Keywords:

• World Heritage Site (WHS)
• core zone
• buffer zone
• migration
• social sustainability
• inclusiveness
• museumification
• gentrification
• adaptive re-use

关键词:

• 世界遗产核心区缓冲区迁移社会可持续性包容博物馆化；绅士化适应性再利用

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thomas E. Jones

Dr. Jones is an Associate Professor in Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU). His research interests include Sustainability; Protected Area management; and Nature-based tourism. After completing his PhD at the University of Tokyo, he worked for an NGO carrying out visitor surveys in the Japan Alps and monitoring Mount Fuji climbers during the summer season (2008-2017).

Huong T. Bui

Dr. Bui is an Associate Professor of the College of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), Japan. She holds a PhD in Tourism Management from Griffith University in Australia. Her research interests are Asian youth tourism; Heritage conservation in Asia; Educational dark tourism in Japan; and Sustainable costal tourism in Vietnam.

Katsuhiro Ando

Dr. Ando is a Lecturer of the Faculty of Glocal Policy Management and Communication, Yamanashi Prefectural University, Japan. A Doctor of Engineering from Chiba University, his research interests are heritage tourism, community-based tourism and rural tourism in Vietnam and Japan. He worked as a tourism development consultant in Vietnam from 2003 – 2018, including Hoi An World Heritage Site and rural villages.