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The purpose of this paper is to identify, dissect and unravel real-life contextual human capital issues related to George Town’s built heritage from the perspectives of key stakeholders in the heritage arena.

The paper opted for an exploratory study using qualitative techniques like in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to gather insights and to listen to the voices from key stakeholders pertaining to issues related to human capital in built heritage. The data were supplemented and complemented by secondary resources such as technical reports, conservation guidelines, by-laws and case studies from other countries.

The paper provides empirical insights about real-life issues, barriers and challenges pertaining to human capital in George Town’s built heritage. The key findings from this study revealed that the quantity of professionals and builders is still insufficient and their quality of work has room for improvement.

Due to the selected research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Thus, researchers are encouraged to further test the proposed propositions by enlarging the number of respondents or administering this similar study in another locality/historic city (i.e. Malacca ‒ George Town’s twin historic city).

The paper provides practical implications for the development of the right quantity and quality of human capital for George Town’s built heritage. The findings from this study are also useful for urban managers, policymakers and conservation practitioners.

This paper fulfils an identified need to examine the real-life issues of human capital in built heritage for George Town.

The traditional courtyard shophouses modifications, alterations and deterioration over the years have become a source of concern to major stakeholders. In George Town World Heritage Site Malaysia, studies have shown that the worst hit among its various shophouses are the Straits Chinese traditional courtyard eclectic style shophouses. This paper investigates the traditional courtyard shophouses concerning the role of architectural formation design components, and how this can sustain the place identity of the Straits Chinese typology.

The methodological approach regards the collection of data and analysis of 30 face-to-face interviews and the observation of Lots number 3, 5 and 7, located along Lorong Ikan, George Town World Heritage Site.

It was found that these Lots express the place identity of the Straits Chinese, and its major exterior architecture components to be observed are the column head (Chi Tou) capital, parapet wall, bressummer beam and ionic column, and gable and gable ends.

This paper is limited to the role of architectural formation design components. Future research is needed to expand the scope of participant elements via a quantitative approach. This will enhance the validation of findings from this paper.

It is recommended the use of the proposed checklist to enhance the sustainability of the architectural components regarding the place identity of these styles of shophouses, which provides salutary lessons on how to preserve the heritage buildings. Also, major stakeholders with leading evidence from relevant government agencies should ensure the preservation of these cultural and heritage buildings for the next generation.

This paper found that the family beliefs and social impact were the components that express the place identity of the Straits Chinese.

This paper demonstrates that the role of architectural formation design components regarding place identity of Straits Chinese traditional courtyard eclectic style shophouses cannot be over-emphasised.

Public management, sustainability.

The case is suitable for undergraduate and masters' courses.

The case is about the dilemma between the lucrative economic profit from swiftlet farming and the invaluable heritage and social wellbeing of the residents in a world heritage city. In 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued a letter to the Malaysian government expressing concern over the issue of the swiftlet industry in Georgetown, Penang. Swiftlet farming is a lucrative agriculture sector in Malaysia and is considered one of the key projects under the Malaysian Economic Transformation Program. Yet, this industry posed a threat to the well being of George Town due to its impact towards the city's heritage status. The operation of swiftlet farms in shop houses in George Town not only forces residents to coexist with thousands of swiftlets in the populated city, but also deteriorates the condition of its heritage buildings. A quick solution by the government authorities is needed in order to respond to UNESCO's enquiries. A fair consideration looking at the aspects of economy, environment and society is vital in ensuring the future of the city.

These include: understanding the complex issues of trade-offs between economic profit vis-à-vis the environmental social heritage; understanding and appreciating the conflicting governmental objectives and the way to address the conflicting demands of the stakeholders (NGOs, industry and business association and the general public); identifying and determining ways to align environmental interests with economic interests in order to formulate sustainable solutions; and formulating an action plan and providing practical recommendations to solve the problem.

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This study aims to explore the support and attitudes of the local community together with the benefits of living in the vicinity of George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site. George Town is one of the popular UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Malaysia.

A total of 319 respondents residing in the gazetted area of George Town World Heritage Sites were interviewed. The covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) analysis was conducted to test the study’s hypotheses.

The community's attitudes and personal benefits were identified to strongly influence community’s support towards the conservation and development of the World Heritage Sites in George Town. While a small number of community members acknowledged the significant opportunities through tourism, majority of them expected economic and non-economic benefits from the development of World Heritage Sites.

The findings from this study are expected to contribute to the ongoing debate on the perceived effects, benefits and future support of the World Heritage Sites from the local community's perspectives.

Understanding the behaviour of the local community to create successful tourism planning, especially in delicate heritage destinations.

This study enriches the scarce empirical research study on community’s behaviour living in the vicinity of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, especially in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) region.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cost effectiveness of the existing conservation grant disbursement mechanism in George Town, Penang. It reports the effect of disclosure of conservation preferences by the conservation agency on the conservation cost.

A test bed laboratory experiment is reported on, in which house owners competed in a sealed bid auction to obtain conservation subsidies/grants. In one treatment, owners knew the preference of, or priority given by, the regulator to certain types of conservation efforts, whereas in the second treatment, the regulator concealed this priority.

The results showed that owners tailored their applications to the given priority rather than to the true conservation costs in the preference‐known treatment group. Although the selected conservation works did not differ significantly between the two treatments, owners misrepresented their true conservation costs.

Given the lack of consensus of the tool to measure ex post conservation value, the study relies on conservation efforts/works to disburse subsidy/grant. Allocative efficiency can be enhanced if this information is available.

The presented results suggested that concealing priority information could be used to improve the cost‐efficiency of existing disbursement policy.

Drawing from the problems of asymmetry information between house owners and conservation agency, the study provided evidence in support of the idea that disbursement of conservation fund was based on the conservation efforts/inputs. In terms of costs, not disclosing the preferences information could encourage competition and reduced conservation costs.

The need to digitise is an awareness that is shared across our community globally, and yet the probability of the intersection between resources, expertise and institutions are not as prospective. A strategic view towards the long-term goal of cultivating and digitally upskilling the younger generation, building a community and creating awareness with digital activities that can be beneficial for cultural heritage is necessary.

The work involves distributing tasks between stakeholders and local volunteers. It uses close-range photogrammetry for reconstructing the entire heritage site in 3D, and outlines achievable digitisation activities in the crowdsourced, close-range photogrammetry of a 19th century Cheah Kongsi clan temple located in George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Penang, Malaysia.

The research explores whether loosely distributing photogrammetry work that partially simulates an unorganised crowdsourcing activity can generate complete models of a site that meets the criteria set by the needs of the clan temple. The data acquired were able to provide a complete visual record of the site, but the 3D models that was generated through the distributed task revealed gaps that needed further measurements.

Key lessons learned in this activity is transferable. Furthermore, the involvement of volunteers can also raise awareness of ownership, identity and care for local cultural heritage.

Key lessons learned in this activity is transferable. Furthermore, the involvement of volunteers can also raise awareness of identity, ownership, cultural understanding, and care for local cultural heritage.

The value of semi-formal activities indicated that set goals can be achieved through crowdsourcing and that the new generation can be taught both to care for their heritage, and that the transfer of digital skills is made possible through such activities. The mass crowdsourcing activity is the first of its kind that attempts to completely digitise a cultural heritage site in 3D via distributed activities.

This paper aims to discuss the prevalent trends of exploiting cultural capital such as gastronomic legacy to ignite redevelopment of contemporary cities as illustrated in the city of George Town, Penang, Malaysia. In the twenty-first century, cities are transforming to be creative cities as they compete globally on the basis of their respective city branding, image and identity, as well as cultural capital assets. The emerging importance of cultural capital complements the realms of politics, economics and built environment in creating sustainable urban structure and ecosystem.

In line with UNESCO’s creative cities network flagship, this paper showcases George Town’s potentials in propagating its gastronomic appeals as a strategic urban asset to regenerate the urban economy.

This paper postulates branding George Town World Heritage Site as a creative city under the theme of “City of Gastronomy” would successfully capture the city’s gastronomic prowess, image and identity at the global scene.

Given that research in “culture and urban planning” is still at its infancy and largely absent in the Malaysian context, this study aims to fill that research gap and contributes towards existing scholarship. The findings from this test bed study will benefit key stakeholders, especially urban policymakers (i.e. Local Council, State Government and Federal Government) towards reforming and revolutionising contemporary urban policies towards sustainable development.

The fastest growing industry in the world is in the hospitality field that focuses on customer satisfaction. Part of this is the food service industry that has been improving its existence for the past years. In the hospitality industry, there are various kinds of businesses and one of them is street cuisine, which is not properly sanitised yet affordable and delicious. The researchers used various approaches to understand the tourists' perception on street cuisine, which are descriptive and quantitative. This research was conducted with millennial visitors in George Town Street, Penang, by using a survey questionnaire. Based on the results, the researchers found out that there are some differences in the perception on street cuisine stalls based on their demographic profile. This study confirmed that street cuisine in George Town Street, Penang, is recognised with its level of hygiene in preparation and with high consideration for its cleanness. In addition, this study also shows that street cuisine in the post-COVID-19 period in George Town Street, Penang, is recognised to have a high commercial value; therefore, more efforts must be engaged to boost its competitiveness in the market. Therefore, there is a need of full support from the Malaysian government, local authorities and local people in maintaining its quality and the preferences of George Town street in Penang as a tourism destination that provides heavenly street cuisine to all tourists in the world.

This research presents a comparative perception study towards rejuvenated, community-driven shophouses in George Town, Penang.

It captures the opinions of two distinct age groups by utilizing a mixed-methods approach encompassing quantitative (main) and qualitative (supporting) research to obtain a dynamic understanding of perceptions between younger and older residents in the city and how these impact the long-term sustainability of heritage conservation efforts. The distribution of questionnaires to residents of Penang was the primary data collection method, with the structure of the questionnaires supported by recent academic literature and past perceptional research studies about built heritage.

The four main findings from the study are therefore as follows: 1. Both age groups have a similar, positive perception towards the tangible, physical elements of rejuvenated shophouses. 2. Intangible, functional factors play an equal or stronger role in influencing people and their attitude towards public participation and overall “Sense of Place”. 3. The pessimistic “Sense of Place” responses from the “Older” group reflect an equally pessimistic attitude towards intangible, functional factors surrounding rejuvenated shophouses. 4. Youth-led changes to George Town's heritage shophouses are degrading the “sense of place” connecting the older generation to the city.

The study can serve as a guide for the development of more inclusive and socially sustainable conservation and adaptive re-use policies for safeguarding the heritage identity and value of shophouses for current and future generations to experience in a post-COVID world.

The emerging concept of smart city is known to aim at sustainable urban development. One of the requirements for a smart city is to address accessibility inequalities. This study aims to investigate the accessibility level issues in urban transformation before and after combining different street networks for Penang, Malaysia, as a case study to reveal greater insight and helpful information into mobility and accessibility inequalities for future smart city planning.

Using DepthmapX software, two main quantitative methodologies of space syntax, namely, spatial integration accessibility (SIA) and angular segment analysis by metric distance (ASDMA), are employed to analyse the level of accessibility for the main streets of George Town site before and after combination with contemporary networks. Integration, choice and entropy values were calculated for the study analysis.

Results revealed the implications of combining old irregular gridiron structures with the existing planned grid structures. George Town seems to have gained a higher capacity for pedestrian accessibility; however, vehicle accessibility has lost its capacity. Findings further suggest that a combination of irregular structure and grid structure is essential for urban growth in similar historical contexts to improve accessibility and address mobility inequalities.

The study concludes by highlighting the importance of the analysis of street structure transformation to predict consequences and promote the potential to reduce current inequalities in vehicle accessibility.