Conservation Challenges and Emerging Trends of Digital Preservation for UNESCO Architectural Heritage, Pakistan

Recent worldwide initiatives at world heritage forums, especially UNESCO, have increased the importance of architectural heritage. Architectural heritage includes built structures that are of outstanding value of natural and cultural identity and require conservation, preservation, presentation and transmission to the future generations. In this regard, UNESCO has enlisted six World Heritage Sites in Pakistan that need to be preserved. Moreover, the heritage sites are undergoing theft, vandalism, natural decay and other socio-cultural harms. One of the state-of-the-art methodologies is the digital preservation of the historic sites. Amongst the various available computer technologies, photogrammetry is the quickest and most cost-effective method that can be used for digital preservation. The research will focus on the digital preservation of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which is an emerging trend in an architectural context. Developing countries have limited funds and resources and most historic sites are being neglected by the lack of financial resources. The paper suggests digital preservation as an emerging solution, identifies its challenges and suggests photogrammetry as a cost-effective solution to six UNESCO enlisted historic sites of Pakistan. It also suggests that once digitally recorded, information of historic sites can also be used in diverse applications to generate further finances.

The Status of Carex elongata (Cyperaceae) in Yorkshire

Gingerbread or Elongated Sedge Carex elongata L. is a rare plant in eastern England and the Yorkshire populations are isolated from the main distribution. It has only ever naturally occurred at five sites and is extant at two of them, one of which probably results from a recent colonisation event. It has been re-introduced near another of its historic sites. At its principal site, Askham Bog near York, the plant has expanded its population considerably over the last 40 years. Its local distribution appears to be strictly limited by topography and winter flooding. Its ability to colonise new sites and to expand populations show that earlier concern about seed viability was misplaced.

The Conservation Status and Utilization Strategies of Historic Buildings in Baoding, Hebei

Baoding of Hebei province is a national historical and cultural city with a history of more than 3,000 years. There are abundant cultural relics and historic sites in Baoding with high historical and cultural value. However, due to the rapid development of urbanization and the changes of the natural environment, coupled with the lack of experience and effort in the protection, historical buildings in Baoding have gradually been damaged or even disappeared in the course of history. In view of this, this research combines empirical investigations and in-depth interviews, and analyzes the problems and utilization strategies in the protection of historic buildings in Baoding.

Investigating the constraints for managing the protection of historic buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia: a DEMATEL modelling approach

PurposeThe paper is aimed at identifying, analysing and prioritizing the critical constraints affecting efficient management of historic buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia.Design/methodology/approachThematic content analysis and expert-based evaluation approaches were used to identify and evaluate the constraints. The DEMATEL technique was deployed to define the interrelationship complexities between the constraints and evaluate the impact of these interrelationships to ascertain the influential constraints.FindingsThe results identify “lack of clearly defined roles for the multiple government agencies” as the most influential constraint for managing historic sites and buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia.Research limitations/implicationsThe contextual interrelationship between the constraints is due to the experts' perceptions, which may be biased due to their proficiencies and professional backgrounds. Since the evidence on which the findings of this paper are established is predominantly from experiences related to historic sites and buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia, the results of this paper may not be entirely applicable elsewhere.Practical implicationsThe paper provides invaluable methodology that can support practitioners and policymakers to establish sustainable strategies that can enhance the management and protection of historic buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia.Originality/valueThis study noticeably contributes to knowledge by providing comprehensive understanding of the major impediments to the successful management of historic buildings in remote areas of Saudi Arabia, which can assist in mitigating the potential impacts of these constraints and to advocate for the achievement of efficient management and protection of the historic sites and buildings.

Popular and Public History

This essay offers a reflection on the role public and popular history play in creating understanding and awareness about early modern history. It considers Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks’ chapter “Popular and Public History” in her book, What is Early Modern History, and uses Wiesner-Hanks’ ideas as a starting point to expand understanding of early modern scholarly identity, the role museums and historic sites could play in creating broad awareness about the early modern period, and why podcasts provide historians with a powerful tool to help non-historians better connect with and understand the early modern period.

After the Fall

<p>Since 2011, the Syrian Civil War has been causing devastation to ancient historic sites and forcing Syrians out of their ancestral homes. These people have the ability to flee from their country to temporary safe havens while the war continues - the ancient ruins however do not have the ability to avoid the war. This design-led thesis looks at innovative ways to create a new symbol of hope in the form of a museum acting as a memorial to the horrific disaster. It looks at a how new architecture may preserve fragments from not only the war but all historical periods as an allegorical time line. In doing so, the outcome hopes to allow the returning people to recognise the building as a reminder to the war in a sensitive way which then holds key fragments to a time which is now part of the history of Syria. The ancient city of Bosra al-Sham is the site for this thesis as it (along with many others) has sustained considerable destruction due to the ongoing war. Bosra has obtained significant loss to not only contemporary homes, but also to its ancient ruins, which represents Bosra’s cultural heritage to Syria. This research project looks at speculative ideas of how to best preserve both contemporary and historic artefacts which have sustained damaged from the war in a museum context - in turn creating a memorial through the experience and journey of each space.</p>

After the Fall

<p>Since 2011, the Syrian Civil War has been causing devastation to ancient historic sites and forcing Syrians out of their ancestral homes. These people have the ability to flee from their country to temporary safe havens while the war continues - the ancient ruins however do not have the ability to avoid the war. This design-led thesis looks at innovative ways to create a new symbol of hope in the form of a museum acting as a memorial to the horrific disaster. It looks at a how new architecture may preserve fragments from not only the war but all historical periods as an allegorical time line. In doing so, the outcome hopes to allow the returning people to recognise the building as a reminder to the war in a sensitive way which then holds key fragments to a time which is now part of the history of Syria. The ancient city of Bosra al-Sham is the site for this thesis as it (along with many others) has sustained considerable destruction due to the ongoing war. Bosra has obtained significant loss to not only contemporary homes, but also to its ancient ruins, which represents Bosra’s cultural heritage to Syria. This research project looks at speculative ideas of how to best preserve both contemporary and historic artefacts which have sustained damaged from the war in a museum context - in turn creating a memorial through the experience and journey of each space.</p>