Inhabitants’ awareness toward conservation of urban heritage area Case study of Darmo heritage area, Surabaya, Indonesia

Studies in built heritage conservation have examined urban heritage areas, though there has not been much research on residential areas. The analytic focus on inhabitants enables additional contributions to conservation policy. On the one hand, architects’ and urban planners’ ideas of urban heritage conservation, supported by their standpoints, are based on theory linked to architectural values. The heritage areas are often appreciated for those qualities. On the other hand, it is important to investigate inhabitants’ opinions, which have often been seen as a part of the conservation issue. This different point of view can be a path to integrating urban planners’ concepts with what inhabitants need to sustain the development of the city. This work investigates inhabitants’ perspectives on architectural values of built heritage, along with their challenges in managing the heritage objects. In order to do this, a case-study approach is used to gain a detailed understanding of the built heritage in the city, because of its ability to capture the complexities of the phenomenon. To understand the accumulation of inhabitants’ opinions and attitudes toward heritage areas, a Likert scale was used in the research questionnaires. In addition, supplementary expert interviews were conducted to obtain insight into the complexities of the study. This research demonstrates the intertwined architectural aspects and socio-cultural values of the inhabitants. The significance of the work lies in putting empirical evidence to the test – confirming the theories related to urban heritage conservation with its primary users, the inhabitants. This is because urban heritage research mostly focuses on the ideas of conserving the object at the governance level, from the perspective of the architects and urban planners. There are limited studies on people’s influence on the conservation process. Hence, the research put the criteria used in the management of urban heritage conservation to the public. The problem being addressed is the sustainability of heritage conservation. The findings of this work are important for the growing research in heritage studies. It addresses the issues of engaging people in value-relations, to maintain not only the significance of the place, but the integrity of the place, which is the main purpose of conservation itself. This dissertation also demonstrates, in Indonesia’s case, urban conservation where the heritage area has been transformed from an unpleasant memory of the colonial era into a part of the identity of society. This becomes a significant part of the motivation for urban heritage conservation