From Documentation to Policy Making: managing Old Aleppo’s Built Heritage

Dr. Luna Khirfan CUMERC, Visiting Fellow 2011 Assistant Professor The University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada© Luna Khirfan

1.  High Fixed Costs ¨  Tools ¨  Strategies ¡  Marketing ¡  Unique Selling Preposition ¡  Infrastructure ¡  Place-as-Product ¡  Urban design ¡  Historic Preservation Consequences •  Prioritizing the economy •  Prioritizing tourists needs •  Excluding local reisdents© Luna Khirfan

2.  Global Demand / Local Products ¨  Tools ¨  Strategies ¡  Disneyfication ¡  Homogenization ú  Standardization ú  Quality control ¡  Legitimization ¡  Commodification ¡  Staging Consequences •  Deterioration of tourist experience •  Disapproval & alienation of locals •  Loss of distinctiveness •  Threat to sustainability© Luna Khirfan

Current Planning Place-as-Product Planners Unique Selling Proposition = Distinctiveness Place experience • Planning? • Sustainability? Residents Practice • Needs & interests Place experience • Choices Tourists • Empowerment Distinctive cultural Reality experience Theory© Luna Khirfan

Aleppo© Luna Khirfan

World Heritage List Selection Criteria Criterion Criterion details iii Unique testimony to a cultural tradition / civilization iv Outstanding example that illustrates a significant historical stage© Luna Khirfan

Sampling & Recruitment Local residents •  Live / work •  Every 10th unit •  In person 3 groups of respondents Foreign tourists Planners •  > 1 year •  Planning •  English-speaking •  Implementation •  In person •  Pre-contacted •  In-person© Luna Khirfan

Participants Planners 8 In-depth interviews Tourists 41 Structured interviews Structured interviews Residents 36© Luna Khirfan

Residents Tourists Planners Place Tactics Qualitative Interviews X X X Observations X X X Participant-determined X X Open-ended X X X Text, images, crafts X X Cognitive mapping X X X Verbal descriptions X X X Documents & archives X X Correlational Survey X X Close-ended X X Score-oriented X X© Luna Khirfan

The Project for the Rehabilitation of the Old City of Aleppo© Luna Khirfan http://www.gtz-aleppo.org/urban_management.htm

Objectives ¨  Social sustainability ¨  Residents’ quality of life “… we gave as all of our objectives to the living conditions and not strictly for tourism purposes, so we thought that once it is comfortable to live here people will stay here and it will become a vital place, a vivid place, a living place and becomes good, interesting for tourism” Aleppo planner© Luna Khirfan

Strategy ¨  Urban design ¨  Historic preservation© Luna Khirfan

Documentation ¨  Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Existing Proposed© Luna Khirfan Source: Development Plan, Old City Directorate, Aleppo

Tools ¨  Regulations ¡  Land use & zoning ¡  Building codes “A strict policy of control”© Luna Khirfan

Tools ¨  Standardization© Luna Khirfan

Tools ¨  Infrastructure “The first step to execute the project’s works in the Old City was changing the infrastructure.” Aleppo planner “In my personal opinion, the change of the infrastructure in the Old City was the best thing that took place … the sewerage network and the water network that were changed and of course some maintenance of the streets.” Aleppo planner© Luna Khirfan

Local residents’ needs Local residents are able to include their needs in the historic preservation and tourism development projects Agree / Neutral Strongly disagree / Strongly agree Disagree 8.8% 0 91.2% Aleppo s Economic activities© Luna Khirfan

Local residents’ interests Level of local authority sharing Did you participate in the project in any way? No Yes 86% 14% Digging went on for months. They came, dug, and left, without asking anyone … Aleppo resident© Luna Khirfan

Planners’ interpretation of what participation is… “…we started to build data that is specific to the Old City on the basis of local residents’ perceptions to a level you might say 60% technical analyses… the stone … the structure… the infrastructure… …they are the ones living in the Old City and know where the blockage happens and know where all issues are…. …you are unable to build data that is if you don’t take this information from them this thing will cost you much more time.” Aleppo planner© Luna Khirfan

Struggles ¨  Displacement “The trend that is documented was that the Action Areas of the project are the areas that witnessed the heaviest exchange of property rights in 2002 and… the heaviest in Bab Qinnasrin and Jdeideh and continues to be so.” Aleppo planner© Luna Khirfan

Struggles ¨  Tourism gentrification “…and most of the real estate being exchanged is being exchanged for tourist purposes.” Aleppo planner© Luna Khirfan

Struggles ¨  Socio-economic exclusion Planners Discount tourism Resisting tourism development Residents Interested in tourism Excluded from tourism benefits© Luna Khirfan

Struggles ¨  Socio-economic exclusion “…one of the things that seem to be worrisome over the long run is that by providing supply side rather than demand side subsidies or than supporting the rehabilitation process, [planners] have pushed the lower end users of the spectrum in favor of people who can afford to speculate in those properties…” Aleppo planner© Luna Khirfan

Local participation Needs Identities Residents as a Technocrats Homogenization: data resource assess needs standardization & quality control Selectivity “by No response to Suppressing local invitation” local needs identities Informing not Supply-side empowering development Choices Intermittent Minimal choices engagement© Luna Khirfan

Levels of participation 8. Citizen control 7. Delegated power Citizen power 6. Partnership 5. Placation 4. Consultation Tokenism Aleppo 3. Informing 2. Therapy Nonparticipation 1. Manipulation© Luna Khirfan

Current Planning Place-as-Product Planners Unique Selling Proposition = Distinctiveness Place experience • Planning? • Sustainability? Residents Practice • Needs & interests Place experience • Choices Tourists • Empowerment Distinctive cultural Reality experience Theory© Luna Khirfan

Proposed Model Means Collaborative Planning Preserves •  Balancing needs •  Local identities Tourists Residents •  Choices Distinctive Inclusion the life Place Experience within Planners Place-as-Product Unique Selling Preposition Urban rehabilitation© Luna Khirfan

From Documentation to Policy Making: managing Old Aleppo’s Built Heritage

by Amman Institute

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From Documentation to Policy Making: managing Old Aleppo’s Built Heritage Presentation Transcript