part 1 - Iccrom

MEASURING HERITAGE CONSERVATION PERFORMANCE
6th International Seminar on Urban Conservation
This research continues the work of previous studies
into the Stone Town regarding its OUV and its
development. The first study was the UNCHS/
Habit report (LaNeir and McQuillan, 1983); its
purpose was “to assist the government of Zanzibar
which is deeply concerned about the potential
loss of this valuable national patrimony to outline
a development and conservation strategy for the
Stone Town and to determine the magnitude of the
effort required” (ibid., p. 1). This report included a
record of the current situation of the Stone Town as
well as recommendations for the future management
and conservation of the Stone Town. In 1992
the First International Conference on the History &
Culture of Zanzibar was held. The major focus of
this conference was the history and conservation
of Zanzibar Town. A publication of proceedings
(Sheriff, 1995) and the preceding conference raised
the awareness of the condition, and subsequently,
the conservation of the heritage that is known as the
Stone Town. This led to the 1996 Aga Khan Trust for
Culture publication (Aga Khan Trust, 1996) containing
the conservation Master Plan for Stone Town,
conducted between 1992-1994. In 1999, based on the
latter publication, the Application File for the inclusion
on the World Heritage List (WHL) was made
(URT, 2010). After inscription in 2000 the Aga Khan
Trust for Culture published a report that includes
“an explanation of how to design new buildings in
compliance with the law, an analysis of traditional
stone structures and common causes of failure,
detailed descriptions of traditional building technologies
and up-to-date conservation techniques,
and advice on how to plan and execute repairs to traditional
buildings” (Steel and Battle, 2001). Recently
there has been a mission to Stone Town of Zanzibar
(May 2008) from both UNESCO and ICOMOS. The
report shows the discrepancies between interpretation
and presentation of the criteria of OUV. Other
threats mentioned are: the current management,
which endangers the OUV of the attributes; and
physical disturbances such as traffic congestion,
telecom masts, waste management, damage from
rainwater, etc. (Bakker and Elondou, 2008).
1. Aim and problem definition
The aim of this research is to help stakeholders
involved in policy, management, and development
of the Stone Town determine the adequacy of their
current strategies towards the sustainable development
of the Stone Town, without damaging its Outstanding
Universal Value as defined by the World
Heritage Centre.
The Stone Town of Zanzibar, United Republic of
Tanzania, has the broadest level of cultural significance
as it was considered to be of Outstanding Universal
Value to all of mankind when listed as WH
in 2000, under criteria (ii), (iii) and (vi). According
to the WHC, Stone Town “is an outstanding material
manifestation of cultural fusion and harmonization”
(UNESCO, 2000). Moreover, “for many centuries
there was intense sea bourne trading activity
between Asia and Africa, and this is illustrated in an
exceptional manner by the architecture and urban
structure of the Stone Town” (ibid.). Lastly, “Zanzibar
has great symbolic importance in the suppression
of slavery, since it was one of the main slavetrading
ports in East Africa and also the base from
which its opponents such as David Livingstone conducted
their campaign” (ibid.).
Due to the inscription of the Stone Town in
UNESCO’s WHL, the State Party (SP) has agreed
that “legislative and regulatory measures at
national and local levels should assure the survival
of the property and its protection against development
and change that might negatively impact the
outstanding universal value, or the integrity and/
or authenticity of the property” (UNESCO, 2008). In
other words: international inscription comes with
local responsibilities.
These responsibilities could conflict with the fact
that just like other World Heritage (WH) cities, the
Stone Town continues to function as a living settlement.
These urban settlements need to evolve
and meet the needs of their citizens, preferably in a
sustainable way. Evolving requires transformation
and development. Although many development
projects are labelled today as ‘sustainable’, there is
a substantial risk that these developments have an
adverse impact on the cultural significance of WH
cities. On the other hand, there is also the risk that
the quality of OUV assessment practices influences
the sustainable development of an urban settlement.
Ever since the inscription of the Stone Town on
the WHL, pursuit of development has resulted in
conflicting interests that endanger the OUV of the
property. These issues, though, were already apparent
before the inscription (Bakker and Elondou,
2008, p. 15). At the time of inscription on the WHL,
developmental pressures were mentioned, including
environmental pressures — visitors/tourists
pressures; as well as natural disaster preparedness
and the number of inhabitants within the property
and buffer zone. During the mission to Stone
Town in 2008 of Karel A. Bakker (ICOMOS) and L.
Vroomen, Y.; ten Hoope, D.; Moor, B.; Pereira Roders, A.; Veldpaus, L.·& B. Colenbrander. 2012. Assessing the cultural significance
of World Heritage cities: Zanzibar as a case study. In Zancheti, S. M. & K. Similä, eds. Measuring heritage conservation performance, pp.
67-74. Rome, ICCROM.
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