Exploring the challenges in protecting the identity of small historic towns in Malaysia
ISSN: 0168-2601
Article publication date: 29 December 2020
Issue publication date: 4 February 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Built heritage constitutes the uniqueness and identity of a place. While being overlooked in existing research, built heritage in small towns is increasingly threatened by dilapidation, exhaustion and disappearance. Therefore, this study aims to examine the challenges in protecting the unique features and identity of small towns with regard to building regulations, guidelines and policies.
Design/methodology/approach
A semi-structured interview was conducted amongst a purposive sample of nine stakeholders from different organizations involved in heritage matters in Malaysia to investigate the issues and challenges facing the protection of small towns’ identity with regard to existing protection mechanisms impacting development of the towns. The data were then analyzed using the qualitative software package NVivo 8.0. The summary models imported from NVivo were created to visualize the connections between various dimensions of constructs, concepts and categories identified in the interviews.
Findings
The study found that the current issues of built heritage protection at the local level can be classified into five emergent themes: legislative, institutional, economic, social and technical issues. While absence of specific guideline for identifying local cultural places has been identified as the most fundamental issues facing the protection of unique and distinct resources in small Malaysia towns, the paper concludes with a framework of measures that can then be used for identification and protection of small town identity.
Originality/value
This study is the first of many fruitful contributions that examine heritage identification and protection mechanisms at the local level.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Postgraduate Research Grant (PPP) grant no PG003-2012B established at the University of Malaya, Institute of Research Management and Consultancy (IPPP).
Citation
Azmi, N.F., Ali, A.S. and Ahmad, F. (2021), "Exploring the challenges in protecting the identity of small historic towns in Malaysia", Open House International, Vol. 46 No. 1, pp. 64-80. https://doi.org/10.1108/OHI-05-2020-0028
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited