Proclaiming Colonial Urban Heritage: Towards an Inclusive Heritage-interpretation for Colombo’s Past
Colombo, Sri Lanka’s commercial capital is a forceful creation of European colonialists who occupied the island for over four centuries. Its urban structure displays the social fragmentation sought by the rulers. Colombo elaborates an extraordinary process of city-making, stratified with its Dutch-o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Alanya Üniversitesi
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ijcua.com/index.php/ijcua/article/view/237 |
| _version_ | 1827611901431906304 |
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| author | Harsha Munasinghe |
| author_facet | Harsha Munasinghe |
| author_sort | Harsha Munasinghe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Colombo, Sri Lanka’s commercial capital is a forceful creation of European colonialists who occupied the island for over four centuries. Its urban structure displays the social fragmentation sought by the rulers. Colombo elaborates an extraordinary process of city-making, stratified with its Dutch-origin, British-reshaping, and post-colonial adaptation. Proclaiming such a contested past as an inheritance requires an inclusive heritage interpretation. The recent renovation of monumental buildings for potential market values and demolishing minor architecture do not display such a heritage interpretation. This, placing undue attention on a selected social group, is found to be further emptying the compartmentalized city. The exclusion of some sub-societies also cost possible stewardship to urban heritage. Having observed the non-sustainability of current heritage-interpretation practised in Colombo, we searched for alternative means to unify societies in time-space thus sustaining the diversity of urban spaces. Our empirical studies have established the need to integrate the inherent cultural values of the colonial-built urban fabric in heritage interpretation. The results of vibrant heritage-interpretation results have been studied through a literature survey with aims to contribute towards the development of an inclusive heritage interpretation practice to protect Colombo’s colonial past sustainably. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:14:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7db7fdc0fc8e4695895c24c791193b91 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2475-6164 2475-6156 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:14:47Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | Alanya Üniversitesi |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs |
| spelling | doaj.art-7db7fdc0fc8e4695895c24c791193b912023-12-02T22:44:20ZengAlanya ÜniversitesiJournal of Contemporary Urban Affairs2475-61642475-61562021-07-016110.25034/ijcua.2022.v6n1-1Proclaiming Colonial Urban Heritage: Towards an Inclusive Heritage-interpretation for Colombo’s PastHarsha Munasinghe0School of Architectural Studies, George Brown CollegeColombo, Sri Lanka’s commercial capital is a forceful creation of European colonialists who occupied the island for over four centuries. Its urban structure displays the social fragmentation sought by the rulers. Colombo elaborates an extraordinary process of city-making, stratified with its Dutch-origin, British-reshaping, and post-colonial adaptation. Proclaiming such a contested past as an inheritance requires an inclusive heritage interpretation. The recent renovation of monumental buildings for potential market values and demolishing minor architecture do not display such a heritage interpretation. This, placing undue attention on a selected social group, is found to be further emptying the compartmentalized city. The exclusion of some sub-societies also cost possible stewardship to urban heritage. Having observed the non-sustainability of current heritage-interpretation practised in Colombo, we searched for alternative means to unify societies in time-space thus sustaining the diversity of urban spaces. Our empirical studies have established the need to integrate the inherent cultural values of the colonial-built urban fabric in heritage interpretation. The results of vibrant heritage-interpretation results have been studied through a literature survey with aims to contribute towards the development of an inclusive heritage interpretation practice to protect Colombo’s colonial past sustainably.https://ijcua.com/index.php/ijcua/article/view/237Urban HeritageColonialismContested-PastHistoric-CityInclusive heritage InterpretationColombo |
| spellingShingle | Harsha Munasinghe Proclaiming Colonial Urban Heritage: Towards an Inclusive Heritage-interpretation for Colombo’s Past Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs Urban Heritage Colonialism Contested-Past Historic-City Inclusive heritage Interpretation Colombo |
| title | Proclaiming Colonial Urban Heritage: Towards an Inclusive Heritage-interpretation for Colombo’s Past |
| title_full | Proclaiming Colonial Urban Heritage: Towards an Inclusive Heritage-interpretation for Colombo’s Past |
| title_fullStr | Proclaiming Colonial Urban Heritage: Towards an Inclusive Heritage-interpretation for Colombo’s Past |
| title_full_unstemmed | Proclaiming Colonial Urban Heritage: Towards an Inclusive Heritage-interpretation for Colombo’s Past |
| title_short | Proclaiming Colonial Urban Heritage: Towards an Inclusive Heritage-interpretation for Colombo’s Past |
| title_sort | proclaiming colonial urban heritage towards an inclusive heritage interpretation for colombo s past |
| topic | Urban Heritage Colonialism Contested-Past Historic-City Inclusive heritage Interpretation Colombo |
| url | https://ijcua.com/index.php/ijcua/article/view/237 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT harshamunasinghe proclaimingcolonialurbanheritagetowardsaninclusiveheritageinterpretationforcolombospast |