part 1 - Iccrom

MEASURING HERITAGE CONSERVATION PERFORMANCE
6th International Seminar on Urban Conservation
Assomo Eloundou (UNESCO WHC), the issue of
development was still regarded as a threat (ibid.).
These developmental pressures are jeopardizing
the OUV of the Stone Town. As stated above, the
main question of this research is: how can the Stone
Town develop sustainably, without damaging its
Outstanding Universal Value? The content of this
question has been divided in three sub-questions: 1)
what is the current level of authenticity and integrity
of the OUV of the Stone Town? 2) who are the
stakeholders involved in the managing of the OUV
of the Stone Town and what are their roles? and
finally, 3) what are the development-related threats
and respective causes found affecting the OUV of
the Stone Town? Since this article presents the initial
results of the research, it will focus mainly on the
first sub-question.
2. Background
The WHC defines OUV as the “cultural significance
which is so exceptional as to transcend national
boundaries and to be of common importance for
present and future generations of all humanity”
(UNESCO, 2008, p. 14). The WHC considers a property
as having OUV whenever a property meets one
or more of the ten selection criteria. 4 The carriers of
the OUV are coined as ‘attributes’. These attributes
“are a direct tangible expression of the outstanding
universal value of the property” (ICCROM et
al., 2010). In addition the Guidance on the preparation
of Retrospective Statements of Outstanding
Universal Value for World Heritage Properties,
states that attributes “include the physical elements
of the property and may include the relationships
between physical elements, essence, meaning, and
at times related processes, that need to be protected
and managed in order to sustain OUV” (ibid.). In the
case of the attributes, which convey the OUV, both
the ‘authenticity’ and ‘integrity’ are of importance.
They are determined by means of the following
definitions. ‘Authenticity’ is defined as “the degree
to which information sources about this value may
be understood as credible or truthful” (UNESCO,
2008, p. 21). To question the authenticity of a property
the following aspects are mentioned in the
Operational Guidelines (OG’s) 2008: “form and
design, materials and substance, use and function,
traditions, techniques and management systems,
location and setting, language, and other forms
of intangible heritage, spirit and feeling and other
internal and external factors” (UNESCO, 2008,
p. 22). By assessing the attributes on these points,
the authenticity can be determined. ‘Integrity’ “is
a measure of the wholeness and intactness of the
natural and/or cultural heritage and its attributes”
(UNESCO, 2008, p. 23). “Examining the conditions
of integrity therefore requires assessing the extent
to which the property: includes all elements necessary
to express its outstanding universal value; is
of adequate size to ensure the complete representation
of the features and processes which convey the
property’s significance; suffers from adverse effects
of development and/or neglect” (ibid.). Based on
section 89 of the OG’s 2008, the Retrospective statement
mentions assessment criteria which will have
to be taken into account, regarding cultural properties:
“Wholeness = whether a significant portion of
all the attributes that express OUV are within the
property, rather than beyond the boundaries; Intactness
= whether a significant portion of all the attributes
are still present, none are eroded*, and dynamic
functions between them are maintained. [*in the
case of ruins, this means that they should still be
capable of expressing OUV]; Degree of threats = the
degree to which the attributes are threatened by the
development of neglect” (ICCROM et al., 2010).
The research is conducted from the perspective
of the necessity of sustainable development of WH
cities. Therefore the notion of sustainability has to
be elaborated on because sustainable development
and sustainable use are widespread terms that
have constantly differing definitions. The definition
of sustainability used here is: WH properties are
developing sustainably whenever developments
prove they are meeting the economic, social, ecological
and cultural needs of the present generations,
“without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland,
1987) nor “adversely impact the Outstanding Universal
Value, integrity and/or authenticity of the
property” (UNESCO, 2008).
3. Methodology
This case study is supposed to assist stakeholders
involved in policy, management, and development
of the Stone Town to determine the adequacy
of their current strategies towards the protection
and sustainable development of the Stone Town,
without damaging its OUV as defined by the WHC.
The first step is to assess the OUV. By assessing the
OUV as stated in the official documents as well as
the authenticity and integrity of the attributes representing
the OUV apparent in the core zone, a comparison
can be made.
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.
69