Cultural Heritage in the Context of Sustainable Development

Aplinkos tyrimai, inžinerija ir vadyba, 2006.Nr.3(37), P.74-79 ISSN 1392-1649 Environmental research, engineering and management, 2006.No.3(37), P.74-79 Cultural Heritage in the Context of Sustainable Development Indrė Gražulevičiūtė Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Department of Architecture and Land Management (received in June, 2006; accepted in September, 2006) A broader concept of sustainable development includes not only environmental, but also economic, social and cultural aspects. Lots of researches implemented around the world demonstrate that preservation of cultural heritage enhances environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainability. Cultural heritage can contribute towards well-being and quality of life of communities, can help to mitigate the impacts of cultural globalization and can become an incentive for sustainable economic development. Preservation of cultural heritage is often understood as a barrier to economic development, though various economic benefits can be generated by cultural heritage and its preservation: creation of income and jobs, job training and maintenance of craftsmanship skills, revival of city centers, heritage tourism, increase in property values, enhancement of small business et cetera. Re-use of abandoned or inefficiently used historic buildings is fundamental for reviving communities and improving quality of life. In order to implement sustainable development strategies and to improve quality of life it is essential to recognize cultural heritage as a valuable resource and development incentive. The influence of immovable cultural heritage on implementing strategies of sustainable development, the role of cultural heritage in the context of globalization as a basic means for avoiding the trend of cultural globalization, creation of sustainable communities and a possible impact of heritage resources on economic development and resource productivity are discussed in the paper. Keywords: sustainable development, cultural heritage, community, cultural globalization, economic globalization. 1. Introduction and aims As it is defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainable development is development that meets the needs of present generation without compromising the abilities of future generations to meet their own needs [1]. The principles of sustainability have already been acknowledged in economic development and especially in industries related to resource use, though a broadened concept of sustainable development includes environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects. Thinking of sustainable development in a broader context, the role of cultural heritage becomes evident. It is generally recognized that the 21 st century will be a century of globalization. Notwithstanding all the benefits of economic globalization, it causes the substantive threat of cultural globalization. Therefore, it is fundamental for every community to identify and maintain its own characteristic features that reflect diversity and identity of the place. One of such features is cultural heritage. Historic buildings and cultural landscapes are exactly those elements that create the sense of belonging somewhere, so called sense of place. Cultural heritage is not just of value to the individuals who own it or live in historic properties, it can also have a value to well-being and quality of life of communities, can help mitigate the impacts of cultural globalization and can become an incentive for sustainable development. Another important role of cultural heritage striving for sustainable development is its relation with resource productivity and economic development. Preservation of cultural heritage is oftentimes understood as a barrier to economic development. Of course preservation of cultural heritage is first and foremost organized to maintain and enhance cultural values, though numbers of studies have demonstrated positive economic benefits

Cultural Heritage in the Context of Sustainable Development of cultural heritage preservation. Better use of existing immovable cultural heritage, especially empty properties, is an essential part of a strategy for reviving communities and improving quality of life. Regrettably, the potential of derelict historic buildings and territories is usually disregarded striving for fast economic benefits. Due to such imprudent behavior vast territories are developed inefficiently, energy is wasted, residential territories are losing their identity, transport efficiency is diminished and life quality is worsened. In order to implement sustainable development strategies and to improve quality of life, it is essential to use the potential of cultural heritage, especially the possibilities embodied in abandoned historic buildings and territories. The aim of the paper is to analyse the influence of immovable cultural heritage on implementing strategies of sustainable development, to discuss the role of cultural heritage in the context of globalization as a basic means for avoiding the trend of cultural globalization, creating sustainable communities and the possible impact of heritage resources on economic development and resource productivity. 2. The concept of sustainable development Traditional approaches of environment protection were concentrated on limiting the impacts on the natural and, to some extent on social and cultural environment. The main concern of such approaches was repair, and the perspective was short time orientated [2]. However, over the recent decades the concept of sustainable development has evolved. At the end of sixties, with the general theory of systems introduced by Von Bertalanffy, a new model was proposed for the description of reality, with the aim of creating a common ground between the natural and social sciences. This theory has provided the opportunity for a more intense dialogue between the disciplines concerning nature and society and it has generated a scientific paradigm of sustainable development [3]. According to D. Throsby, the concept of sustainable development merges the ideas of sustainable economic development, keeping in mind development that will not slow down and, in some sense, will be self-perpetuating, and ecological sustainability meaning the maintenance and enhancement of environmental values [1]. The concept of sustainable development has already been acknowledged in the field of economic development, though a broadened notion of sustainable development acknowledges the importance of other sustainability aspects, such as functional sustainability of public infrastructure, the fiscal sustainability of local government, physical sustainability of the built environment and cultural sustainability of local traditions and skills [4]. The notion of sustainability involves rethinking development to integrate environmental, economic, social and cultural goals. To be sustainable, development must foster protection and rehabilitation of ecological systems, improve economic efficiency and enhance the well being and cultural diversity of the population [5]. In general, the concept of sustainable development includes not only environmental, but also economic, social and cultural aspects and is based on the main principles of integrity of the ecosystem, economic efficiency, social and intergenerational equity and cultural diversity. Primarily, the efforts striving for sustainable development were concentrated on traditional economic activities, such as agriculture, mining, forestry, fishery and manufacturing rather than on cultural diversity or population well-being [5]. However, the loss of a sense of place in communities became a factor of vital concern in the context of cultural globalization and the main aspect striving for sustainable communities and sustainable historic environment. 3. Cultural heritage and sustainable development Speculative developments driven by short term interests cause a substantial threat to cultural heritage and historic environment. Cultural heritage and historic environment are not just of value to individuals who own or live in historic properties. Cultural heritage can also have the value to the wellbeing and quality of life of communities, can help prevent cultural globalization, sustain cultural diversity and positively affect economic development [6]. According to D. Rypkema, thinking in a broader context, the role of heritage striving for sustainable development is absolutely clear: preserving cultural heritage provides environmental sustainability, cultural sustainability and economic sustainability [7]. 3.1. Cultural heritage and sustainable communities The main feature of the 21 st century is globalization. It is universally acknowledged that this phenomenon will affect every country despite its political or economic system. According to many economists, the most significant impacts of globalization will not occur on national or even provincial levels, the strongest impacts will be local and primarily will affect communities and their citizens [4]. As D. Rypkema states, globalization must be understood as two distinct phenomena: cultural globalization and economic globalization. Some scientists state that cultural globalization is an inevitable consequence of economic globalization, though the others suggest that those two different phenomena, while interrelated, are not inevitably linked. It is recognized that economic globalization has many positive benefits, meanwhile cultural globalization has significant negative social, political, cultural and economic consequences in a short and in a long term [7]. The ongoing destruction of cultural heritage, privatization and commercialization of historic environment and public space, transforming 75

I. Gražulevičiūtė them into shopping centers, entertainment districts or spaces flooded with car-traffic, foster the erosion of neighborhoods and communities [2]. Everywhere becomes the same as everywhere else and communities from being someplace become anyplace. If smaller or larger communities tend to succeed in economic globalization, they have to become or remain competitive, though their success will be measured not just by their ability to stimulate economic globalization, but also by their ability to mitigate cultural globalization [7]. The threat of cultural globalization requires the decisions at the local, regional and national levels to secure that globalized culture will not emerge. In order to mitigate the consequences of this phenomenon, every community has to identify its own characteristic features that can be competitive in a global market and help sustain cultural diversity and reach the goals of sustainable development [4]. One of such distinctive features definitely is cultural heritage. In the past economic competitiveness and wellbeing of the community were basically determined by geographic location and resource factors, though in the 21 st century there also exist significant factors, do not depending on geographic location, that influence economic development and well-being of communities. These factors are referred to as Five Senses of Quality Communities: sense of place, sense of identity, sense of evolution, sense of ownership and sense of community. The expression sense of place is used to express the particularity of a specific place. Sense of identity of the community is shaped by its attributes that contribute to its differentiation from anywhere else. Sense of evolution is created by the physical fabric of community that reflects its functional, cultural, aesthetic and historical evolution. The notion sense of ownership is defined not as an ownership in a legal or property sense, but more broadly, as a feeling of an individual sake arising from a particular place and fellow citizens. Sense of community expresses the obligations to and interconnectedness with other citizens of community [4, 2]. It is obvious that cultural heritage is the element that shapes the so called five senses: historic buildings and historic environment create the senses of belonging somewhere, of social traditions and of cultural identity of historic continuity and foster the senses of ownership and responsibility. Numbers of countries, cities and communities have decided to develop individual measures for reaching the goals of sustainable development. Preservation of cultural heritage and maintenance of historic environment play a significant role in many strategies of sustainable development. For example, the government of the United Kingdom has recognized that cultural heritage and historic environment can play a significant role towards meeting the defined sustainability targets [6]. The government of the country has established a series of indicators against which a progress towards sustainable development is measured. The number of buildings at risk are recognized as one of the 147 core indicators within a sustainable development strategy. The strategy states clearly that fostering local distinctiveness and sustaining cultural heritage are the keys of building sustainable communities [8]. Another contribution towards implementing the strategy for sustainable development of the United Kingdom is the Communities Plan adopted by the Deputy Prime Minister in 2003. The Communities Plan is a long-term program of action for creating and maintaining sustainable communities in rural and urban areas. The plan lists a set of key requirements for sustainable communities among which a sense of place, a safe and healthy local environment with welldesigned public and green space, a diverse vibrant and creative local culture encouraging pride in the community and cohesion with it are included [6]. It is evident that protection and maintenance of immovable cultural heritage play a crucial role for sustainability of communities, because all the cultural assets, theater, music, visual arts, crafts, local customs and traditions, are inherently connected with and enhanced by the physical context within which they were created and evolved for centuries [4]. It is acknowledged that cultural resources will play a significant role in sustainable cultural, social, economic development of communities, so the physical fabric, that has influenced their creation, has also to be maintained. 3.2. Cultural heritage and sustainable economic development In the sphere of cultural heritage, the preservation values are critical deciding what to preserve and how. Even making a typical preservation decision reveals many different and sometimes divergent values: artistic, aesthetic and historic values, plus economic values tied with the use of building or other structure under consideration [9]. Of course, preservation of cultural heritage is primarily organized to maintain and enhance cultural values, as D. Rypkema states in the long run the economic impact of heritage preservation is far less important than its environmental, cultural, aesthetic and social impacts. However, many of those agents who have the greatest influence on heritage preservation, property owners, investors, bankers or government officials, mostly care about the economic aspects of cultural heritage [7]. But even in the economic context the value of cultural heritage and the use of its preservation are evident. A number of studies implemented around the world have demonstrated positive economic benefits of cultural heritage and heritage preservation. Cultural heritage can be valued in a wide variety of ways, from the aesthetic and emotional pleasure gained from experiencing heritage sites, to the value of those sites as generators of revenue, jobs and training opportunities [6]. Various economic benefits can be generated by cultural heritage and its preservation. The basic of them are job and household income creation, job training, city center 76

Cultural Heritage in the Context of Sustainable Development revitalization, heritage tourism, increase in property values, small business incubation, compatibility with modernization and compatibility with evolution, product differentiation and import substitution [4]. The main priorities of economic development are creating jobs and local household income. The rehabilitation of historic buildings is particularly efficient in this regard. The intensity of labor required for building rehabilitation determines a substantial economic impact on jobs and income. For example, in Norway rehabilitation of historic buildings creates 16.5 percent more jobs that new construction and every direct job in a cultural heritage sector creates 26.7 indirect jobs, comparing with auto industry there the factor is only from 6.3 to 1 [7]. A study accomplished by D. Listokin and M. Lahr in the United States in the state of New Jersey has demonstrated that each million dollars spent on rehabilitation of non-residential historic buildings create two jobs more than the same amount of money spent on new construction [10]. Besides, there are other significant issues regarding jobs in cultural heritage preservation. These jobs are generally wellpaid and there is a scarcity of the required skills. The local craftsmanship of the building process can often be nearly lost but instead can be passed on through historic preservation, creating jobs and skills [7, 4]. The other important impact of cultural heritage and heritage preservation is city center revitalization. The revival of city centers can be noticed in many European cities and usually rehabilitation of cultural heritage is a key component of revitalization [11, 12]. The next economic benefit generated by cultural heritage is heritage tourism. It is recognized that cultural production will become one of the leading sectors in the post-industrial economy, and the products will be more and more transformed into experiences [2]. Of course not every city or other urban settlement should consider tourism a major section of its economic base, though when tourism is identified as a part of an overall development strategy, the identification, protection and enhancement of cultural heritage is fundamental for a successful tourism effort [4]. The effect of cultural heritage on property values is one more significant economic impact. The study implemented by New York City s Independent Budget Office has demonstrated that a statistically significant price premium associated with the inclusion of a property in a historic district exists. The quantity of the premium varies from 22.6 to 71.8 percent [10]. The research implemented in the United Kingdom has revealed that a pre-1919 house is worth average 20 percent more than an equivalent house from a more recent era and the premium becomes even greater for an earlier historic home [6]. One more contribution of cultural heritage is its role in small business incubation. In Europe and in United States, circa 85 percent of all new jobs are created by firms employing less than 20 people. The firms of such size are usually concerned about an affordable rent. Relative affordability of older buildings is a significant contribution of cultural heritage to the local economy [7]. There are many historic buildings that do not meet current standards of comfort and safety, though great efforts have been made to design the methods of adapting historic buildings to modern needs without harming their physical structure and architectural character. As it is widely recognized that effective preservation of cultural heritage is not just conservation in museums and the concept of adapted re-use is acknowledged, historic buildings can be used in a wide variety of ways and respond to the widest range of needs [4]. Import substitution is a basic issue creating a sustainable local economy. The essence of the issue is creating locally what otherwise would be purchased elsewhere. Expertise, labor and materials from the local market are mainly used for preservation of cultural heritage, so heritage preservation can be defined as locally based. New construction, contrarily, often requires import of expertise, materials and labor [7]. In economics the differentiated product usually gains a monetary premium. If cities or other urban settlements strive to attract capital, they must differentiate themselves from anywhere else. Cultural heritage is the element that best expresses diversity and identity of the place [4]. 3.3. Cultural heritage and resource productivity As it is underlined in A Strategy for Sustainable Development for the United Kingdom, The improvement in resource productivity can help deliver sustainable development [8]. Resource productivity measures the efficiency of the economy in generating the added value from the use of natural resources. In a simple phrase, resource productivity can be defined as getting the most out of finite resources, maximizing the use of renewable resources and minimizing waste. Everywhere, where environmental limits exist, improvements in resource productivity allow to combine economic growth and environmental protection [14]. Immovable cultural heritage can also contribute reaching the targets of resource productivity and foster not only economic growth and environmental protection but cultural diversity and so called five senses of communities, too. The value of cultural heritage and historic environment to resource productivity and sustainable development is particularly clear in relation to abandoned historic buildings. Unfortunately, it is common for developers to ignore the value that is inherent in the ageing and abandoned building stock. They usually prefer demolition of decaying buildings and replacing them by new constructions or constructing in a vacant land in a fringe of urban territories [6, 13]. For example, in the United Kingdom during the last twenty years nearly three million of families have moved to new houses in suburbs [11]. Meanwhile, around one million homes in over 120 local authorities in the North and 77

I. Gražulevičiūtė Midlands are affected by low demand and abandoned [6]. Due to such short term interests driven development, vast territories are developed inefficiently, then energy is wasted, residential territories lose their identity, transport efficiency is diminished and life quality is worsened in the centers as well as in the edges of smaller and larger settlements. Vacant land and greenfields are neither renewable nor expanding the resources. The appropriate and effective use of abandoned or inefficiently used historic buildings and territories can contribute towards saving non-renewable resources, enhancing sustainable economic development and improving quality of life. It does not mean that retention of ageing buildings is favored in every instance, though the re-use of existing properties can significantly contribute to the identity and distinctiveness of an area [6]. One of possible ways to demonstrate the economic benefits and contributions towards resource productivity of the re-use of historic buildings is to evaluate the energy savings represented by the re-use of existing ageing buildings instead of replacing them with new constructions. The research implemented in the United Kingdom has indicated that the energy produced from non-renewable resources consumed in building services accounts for about half of the emissions of carbon dioxide in the United Kingdom. Besides, over 90 percent of non-energy minerals extracted in Great Britain are used to supply the construction industry with materials, and each year circa 70 million tones of construction and demolition materials and soil become waste [14]. Moreover, new construction is not necessarily less expensive or more profitable than rehabilitation and re-use of existing historic buildings. The study by D. Rypkema implemented in 1991 has demonstrated that, if no demolition is required, a commercial rehabilitation of existing buildings will cost approximately from 12 percent less to 9 percent more than comparable new construction. The typical cost saving in rehabilitating the existing buildings is 4 percent. If a new construction requires, including the costs of demolishing an existing building, the cost savings from rehabilitation should range from 3 to 16 percent [10]. The stock of existing buildings constitutes in itself a substantial investment of energy and capital, which should not be wasted demolishing them and constructing new buildings. Though the energy embodied in ageing structures is not the only factor making decisions about their future. The costs of maintenance and occupancy of older buildings have also to be taken into account when reaching the goals of sustainable development. It is often considered that maintenance of older buildings is more costly, due to variety of factors related to their size, constructions, heating systems and propensity to damp. Though the research carried out in the United Kingdom for the heritage preservation organization English Heritage has demonstrated that, contrary to earlier thinking, an older housing actually costs less to maintain and occupy over the long-term than a more modern building. Due to the quality and life-span of the construction materials, the maintenance of the Victorian house costs almost 1000 per 100m 2 less than the maintenance of the property constructed in 1980s [6]. The governments of developed and developing countries striving to implement sustainable development strategies and to improve quality of life in communities must recognize the value of historic buildings and their repair and regeneration have to be welcomed rather than their demolition and replacement or construction in the vacant land. 4. Conclusions Sustainable development can be defined as the development integrating environmental, economic, social and cultural goals. The trend of economic globalization carries a substantial threat of cultural globalization. The loss of distinctiveness of the built environment and identity of the place are the main concerns striving for sustainable development of communities. Numerous studies and researches implemented around the world have demonstrated that cultural heritage and its preservation can significantly contribute towards reaching the targets of sustainable development. Nowadays preservation of cultural heritage has to be considered not only as a means for preserving physical fabric and sustaining cultural values, but as an incentive for enhancing cultural diversity, sense of place and sustainable economic development. Various economic benefits can be derived from cultural heritage and its preservation. Historic buildings and sites are generators of income, jobs and training opportunities, they contribute towards product differentiation of communities. Preservation of cultural heritage enhances import substitution, revival of city centers, heritage tourism, influences increase in property values. Historic properties stimulate small business incubation and are compatible with modernization and evolving needs of modern society. In order to implement the sustainable development strategies, the value of historic buildings is to be recognized and their repair and regeneration has to be welcomed instead of their demolition and replacement or construction in the vacant land. Historic environment and cultural heritage need to be acknowledged as valuable resources and development incentives. References 1. Throsby D. Economics and Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. 2. Hassler U., Algreen-Ussing G., Kohler N. Cultural Heritage and sustainable Development in SUIT (Sustainable Development of Urban historic areas through and active Integration within Towns). 78

Cultural Heritage in the Context of Sustainable Development <http://www.lema.ulg.ac.be/research/suit/reports/pub lic/suit5.2c_ppaper.pdf> (10 02 2006). 3. Dallari F. Cultural Heritage as a Territorial Innovation in the Protected Mountain areas. <http://www.dse.unibo.it/dallari/aree_fragili/3a.%20c ultural%20heritage%20as%20a%20territorial%20in novation%20in%20the%20protecyed%20mountain% 20Areas.%20Theory.pdf> (10 02 2006). 4. Rypkema D. Culture, Historic Preservation and Economic Development in the 21 st Century. Paper submitted to the leadership conference on conservancy and development. Yunnan Province, China, September 1999. 5. Pepper C. Sustainability of Cultural Heritage and Landscapes. <http://www.sustainability.dpc.wa.gov.au/docs/bgpa pers/coralpepperlheritage.pdf> (10 02 2006). 6. Heritage Counts 2003: The State of the Historic Environment. <http://www.english-heritage.org.uk> (10 02 2006). 7. Rypkema D. Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Economic and Social Development. <http://www.europanostra.org/downloads/speeches/do novan-rypkema_keynote_address_07dec_05.pdf> (10 02 2006). 8. A Better Quality of Life: A Strategy for Sustainable Development for the UK. <http://www.sustainabledevelopment.gov.uk/publications/ukstrategy99/index.htm> (05 04 2006). 9. Avrami E., Mason R., De la Torre M. Values and Heritage Conservation. Research Report. Getty Conservation Institute, 2000. 10. Mason R. Economics and Historic Preservation: a Guide and Review of the Literature. Discussion Paper Prepared for the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program. University of Pennsylvania, 2005. 11. Rogers R., Power A. Mažos valstybės miestai. Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla, 2004. 12. Tung A. M. Preserving the World s Great Cities. The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis. New York: Three Rivers Press 2001. 13. Southworth M. Wastelands in Evolving Metropolis. Working paper. University of California, 2001. 14. Resource Productivity: Making More with Less. Report by Performance and Innovation Unit. <http://www.strategy.gov.uk/downloads/su/resource/a nnexc.htm> (28 02 2006). Indrė Gražulevičiūtė, PhD student at the Department of Architecture and Land Management. Main research areas: economic valuation of cultural heritage, cultural heritage protection. Address: Studentų str. 48, LT-51367 Kaunas Lithuania Tel.: +37060033496 Fax: +370 37 300456 E-mail: grazuleviciute@yahoo.co.uk Kultūros paveldas darnaus vystymosi kontekste Indrė Gražulevičiūtė Kauno technologijos universitetas, Statybos ir architektūros fakultetas, Architektūros ir kraštotvarkos katedra (gauta 2006 m. birželio mėn.; atiduota spaudai 2006 m. rugsėjo mėn.) Platesnė darnaus vystymosi samprata apima ne tik aplinkosaugos, ekonomikos, bet ir socialinius bei kultūrinius aspektus. Įvairūs pasaulyje atlikti moksliniai tyrimai ir studijos parodė, kad kultūros paveldo apsauga skatina tiek aplinkosauginių, tiek ekonominių, socialinių ir kultūrinių darnaus vystymosi aspektų įgyvendinimą. Kultūros paveldas gali turėti įtakos bendruomenių gerovei ir gyvenimo kokybei, gali sušvelninti ar padėti išvengti kultūrinės globalizacijos pasekmių ir gali tapti darnios ekonominės plėtros stimulu. Deja, dažnai kultūros paveldo apsauga yra suprantama kaip alternatyva ar net ekonominės plėtros kliūtis. Žinoma, visų pirma paveldo apsauga organizuojama siekiant palaikyti bei išryškinti paveldo objektų kultūrinę vertę, tačiau paveldas ir jo apsauga gali teikti ir įvairiapusę ekonominę naudą: kurti papildomų pajamų ir darbo vietų, sudaryti sąlygas išlaikyti bei tobulinti darbo įgūdžius, skatinti apleistų miestų centrų atgaivinimą, kultūrinį turizmą, smulkiojo verslo vystymąsi ir kt. Apleistų ir netinkamai naudojamų istorinių pastatų pritaikymas naujoms paskirtims yra viena pagrindinių bendruomenių atgaivinimo bei gyvenimo kokybės gerinimo jose sąlygų. Siekiant įgyvendinti darnaus vystymosi strategijas ir gerinti gyvenimo kokybę, būtina kultūros paveldą pripažinti vertingu ekonominiu ir kultūriniu ištekliumi bei kokybinės plėtros stimulu. Straipsnyje aptariama kultūros paveldo ir jo apsaugos įtaka darnaus vystymosi strategijų įgyvendinimui, kultūros paveldo vaidmuo globalizacijos kontekste, siekiant išvengti kultūrinės globalizacijos ir užtikrinti darnų bendruomenių vystymąsi bei kultūros paveldo įtaką ekonominei plėtrai ir išteklių tausojimui. 79