Local Heritage Management. Case: Zanzibar Stone Town, Tanzania.

The concept of sustainability has undergone a range of transformations. It has gone from material progress in the 1950s through human, social and economic development in the aftermath of the UN Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, to the Rio Summit and the Stockholm Action Plan on Cultural Policies in 1992 brought the notions of culture and sustainable development into the debate. Currently, the concept of sustainability is closely related to the ethical value loaded concepts of human rights and democracy, identity, social cohesion and culture. Within the content of sustainable development, cultural and architectural heritage are increasingly gaining more space in public debate and making a contribution to strength local identity and better quality of life. Despite this, there is a challenge in that international architectural heritage heritage policies do not reflect local needs and experiences, or public participation. Thus new ways of understanding and manage architectural heritage are demanded. x enin