The attitudes of residents on the conservation of built-heritage of a historic temple town – Kanchipuram, India

Abstract

Purpose

The degradation of a town’s traditional architectural settings is a prominent issue in the historic towns that possess a rich heritage and legacies of architectural character in its urban fabric that have developed over the course of its evolution. Resident participation in built-heritage conservation can be explained in terms of deliberate acts. Thus, this study aims to analyse the attitudes of residents on the conservation of built heritage (ARCBH) in the historic town of Kanchipuram.

Design/methodology/approach

The historic temple town of Kanchipuram has been surveyed and focused in this study. A questionnaire was designed to investigate the ARCBH in Kanchipuram. Data were collected and analysed with the help of structural equation modelling and AMOS software. A structural equation model was developed, and hypotheses were framed for an empirical study.

Findings

The findings indicate that the ARCBH has an effective relationship with practical issues that occur in traditional architecture, built-heritage attachment and an awareness of existing heritage schemes.

Social implications

The study results indicate that considering resident attitude and attachment is important. In addition, the results provide useful insights for formulating practical measures relevant to built-heritage conservation.

Originality/value

There has been no attempt to come up with practical implications from the attitudes of residents on the conservation of built-heritage in the historic temple towns of Tamil Nadu, India.

Citation

Kesavaperumal, T., Kandasamy, K. and Ramasubramanian, R. (2020), "The attitudes of residents on the conservation of built-heritage of a historic temple town – Kanchipuram, India", Open House International, Vol. 45 No. 3, pp. 283-296. https://doi.org/10.1108/OHI-06-2020-0062