Community Participation in Urban Heritage Conservation

Abstract

This paper covers the issue of community participation in architectural conservation, and presents elaborately a project, which was initiated in Ahmedabad. This paper describes how the municipality made strategic interventions in heritage conservation in Ahmedabad, by involving the community and instilling a sense of pride and belongingness into them so that the futures of the sites are prolonged. It explains the mechanism of the project, which was an alternative and sustainable way of connecting conservation and community participation to revive cultural heritage. This methodology can be replicated in many old cities in order to conserve their cultural and architectural heritage. The paper presents the effectiveness of participatory guided walk as tools for urban revival and means of overcoming various constraints that are typical of many large cities of the developing worlds. It emphasises on role of the community and organisations in participatory conservation movement.