ECONOMICS UNIQUENESS

148 ■ THE ECONOMICS OF UNIQUENESS
BOX 6.2
The Bali Heritage Trust Supports Tangible and
Intangible Cultural Assets
Indonesia, Bali Urban Infrastructure Project (Project number 036047)
Total Project Cost: US$278 million
Total Loan Amount: US$110 million
Approved: May 1997 – Closed: September 2004
The Provincial Administration of Bali, with the assistance of a World Bank
loan, launched a project to improve basic infrastructure—including roads, water,
and drainage systems—covering historic city cores of the island. The aim was to
address the challenges of increasing rates of urbanization. Due to the importance
of cultural tourism activities to the island’s economy, the project also included
investments for the protection of heritage. One key achievement supported
by the project was the establishment of the Bali Heritage Trust (BHT), a semigovernment
body partly fi nanced by the provincial government and the private
sector, to provide systematic management and conservation of Bali’s cultural
assets. Since its inception in 2003, BHT has supported educational programs,
public discussions, and training sessions to enhance local residents’ awareness
of cultural heritage, and drafted the Bali Cultural Heritage Conservation Act. In
addition, BHT built an inventory of Bali’s heritage that was forward looking at the
time, due to its inclusion of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Source: Bali Urban Infrastructure Project Appraisal Document and Implementation Completion
Report.
the long-term conservation process. Key government institutions include the
national or regional heritage boards or commissions that are responsible for
the normative and technical tasks; this includes making decisions about which
urban areas and buildings to list as heritage assets worthy of protection, and
adopting policies and regulations to safeguard them. Th e local government is
the principal agent or stakeholder, due to its role as the leading body overseeing
urban heritage areas, oft en empowered to make a long-term commitment
to maintaining their integrity. Th us, local government plays an essential role in
initiating and sustaining the conservation process of historic city cores.
Government decisions have vast consequences for the use and development of
these listed assets, aff ecting landlords, real estate developers and other potential
business investors, residents, and others. Conservation regulations oft en limit the