TY  - CONF
ID  - icomos1929
UR  - http://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/1929/
A1  - Madan, Nidhi
Y1  - 2018///
N2  - With growth of Indian towns and cities set to escalate through economic stimulus,
educational and employment opportunities and aspirations, migration and development are rapidly
changing small towns. As a result, historic precincts, fortified cities and pilgrimage towns are rapidly
losing their historic character and sense of place. Particularly in cultural centres of historic towns, such
as Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal or Lucknow, conservation for authenticity is a much lower priority than
critical socio-economic development pressures.
However, in this day and age, creating safe, accessible, approachable and equitable precincts can
build on existing cultural precincts, create engagement with the local community and find new
stakeholders and modern relevance.
In repurposing these living city-cores, this paper examines strategies to create vibrant, equitable and
relevant public spaces for the city. Culturally significant urban centres, with their dynamism and multifaceted
evolution must cater to contemporary uses and also create improved understanding of its peopleparticularly
in Indian culture, wherein diverse populations of gender groups, religious and caste
distinctions, persons with disabilities, and differing economic classes have not traditionally mixed. The
opportunity to craft shared public spaces as community spaces in urbanized and ghettoised cities using
historic precincts as city centres will be investigated, to provide places for non-religious congregation, for
engagement between citizens, for commerce and transit, for collective celebration and grief and for
staging of disaster relief, if required.
This paper investigates a divergent approach wherein the needs of diverse user groups are the primary
concern, yet the heritage value defines the framework within which this approach can succeed. It
addresses heritage precincts as places for its people and their contextual needs, within a set of guidelines
that preserve tangible and intangible spatial, architectural and cultural values. To succeed it must not
impinge on the economic, social and modern aspirations of burgeoning populations.
KW  - ARRAY(0x560c4b840568)
TI  - Repurposing Unbuilt Heritage for the Community: Guidelines for Creating Equitable Public Spaces to Engage Diverse Populations in India
M2  - New Delhi, India
AV  - public
T2  - ICOMOS 19th General Assembly and Scientific Symposium "Heritage and Democracy"
ER  -