The Local Identity Politics of World Heritage: Lessons from Galle Fort in Sri Lanka By Aarthi Janakiraman Master of Science in Architecture Pratt Institute, 2012 Bachelor of Architecture Anna University, 2010 Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER IN CITY PLANNING at the MASSCHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JUNE 2019 ©2019 Aarthi Janakiraman. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Author _______________________________________________________________________ Department of Urban Studies and Planning May 22, 2019 Certified by ___________________________________________________________________ Lawrence J. Vale Ford Professor of Urban Design and Planning Thesis Supervisor Accepted by ___________________________________________________________________ Ceasar McDowell Co-Chair, MCP Committee Department of Urban Studies and Planning 1 2 The Local Identity Politics of World Heritage: Lessons from Galle Fort in Sri Lanka By Aarthi Janakiraman Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning on May 22, 2019 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in City Planning Abstract Institutionalized heritage protection has become a global phenomenon, and the UNESCO World Heritage program is perhaps the most well-known of these efforts. Although the List is intended to be concerned only with heritage, in reality it also serves as a global stage for broadcasting geopolitics, national agendas, and subnational motives. Given these hidden functions driving the World Heritage List, I interrogate what the implications of listing really are through the living heritage site of ‘Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications’ in Sri Lanka. I consider the tensions between different scales of identity-building associated with the site, explore the politics of conservation and its motivating forces, and probe the impacts of tourism alongside the mechanisms supporting its imbalances. Drawing from the findings at this site, I consider broader applications to other potential World Heritage sites and discuss directions that demand further attention in global planning and heritage practice. Thesis Supervisor: Lawrence J. Vale Title: Ford Professor of Urban Design and Planning 3 4 Acknowledgements I thank my thesis advisor, Larry Vale, for his invaluable guidance, critical insight, and constant encouragement throughout the process of developing this thesis. I am also thankful to my thesis reader Brent Ryan and the many faculty at MIT, for being generous with their time and providing valuable feedback at every stage. I am immensely grateful to all the individuals who made this thesis possible by sharing their knowledge and experience during interviews. And finally, my deepest thanks to my family for their infinite encouragement and continued support. 5 6 Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: Understanding World Heritage: An Introduction.…………………….………. 9 Part I: Introduction………………………………………………………………………... 9 Part II: Prevalence of the World Heritage Phenomenon…………………………………... 17 Part III: Literature Review………………………………………………………………... 28 CHAPTER 2: Historical Context of Galle Fort as a World Heritage Site………….………... 41 Sri Lanka: Historical, Political and Geographic Context………………………………….... 41 UNESCO in Sri Lanka…………………………………………………………………… 44 Galle Fort and the Path to World Heritage Status………………………………………… 47 Galle Fort: A Brief History…………………………………………………………….…. 50 CHAPTER 3: Dual Parentage: Rebuilding the Dutch Image through Heritage…...………. 53 Prioritizing Particular Pasts as Heritage.…………………………………………………... 53 Dual Parentage vs. Shared Heritage vs. World Heritage…………………...………………. 54 National Attitudes towards Patrimony……………………………………………………. 58 Local Attitudes towards Patrimony………………………………………………….…… 60 What’s in a name? Commercialization of Colonial Nostalgia……………………………… 64 CHAPTER 4: Colonial-Chic aesthetic: The Conservation of ‘Authentic’ Pasts……………. 66 The Politics of Preservation………………………………………………………………. 69 Conservation for Tourism……………………………………………………………...… 83 Diverging Perspectives on Conservation…………………………………………………. 90 Authenticity………………………………………………………………………...……. 93 CHAPTER 5: Consuming Nostalgia: Gentrification and the Tourist Industrial Complex… 96 The New Era of Colonization……………………………………………………………. 99 Changing Uses through Commercialization, Commodification, and Consumption………. 109 Urban Sprawl: Impacts on Greater Galle……………………………………………...…. 115 CHAPTER 6: Conclusions………………………………………………….……………….... 124 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………. 132 Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………. 138 7 8 CHAPTER 1 Understanding World Heritage: An Introduction PART I: INTRODUCTION Institutionalized heritage protection has become a global phenomenon, and the UNESCO World Heritage program is perhaps the most well-known of these efforts. Today, 1092 World Heritage sites populate the world under this program, and the list continues to grow annually. While monuments, archeological ruins, or nature reserves are commonly recognized as World Heritage sites, there has also been a growing presence of active urban settlements on the World Heritage List. Their prevalence has led to the formation of the ‘Organization of World Heritage Cities’, an international NGO of 250 cities that are UNESCO World Heritage sites. While the conceptualization of “world heritage” is in itself problematic, it becomes highly contested when applied to a living urban fabric. Countries – especially developing countries – often seek World Heritage status for their sites of heritage due to the prestige, global recognition, and the allure of increased tourism associated with Listing. With over a thousand sites from across the world currently on the World Heritage List, this is by no means a small-scale affair. Inscription demands a commitment to the World Heritage Center’s conservation standards and practices and can severely restrict development within and near the site. Since attracting tourism is often one of the motivations for seeking Listing, there is an intrinsic tension between these resultant development pressures and conservation ideals. Although the creation of the List is intended to be concerned only with heritage, in reality it also serves as a global stage for broadcasting geopolitics. For nations, the presence of a site on the List signals international acceptance of national agendas and the identities curated by them. Given these hidden functions driving the World Heritage List, I am interested in interrogating what the implications of listing really are. I use the site of ‘Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications’ to explore these hidden motives and the true implications of Listing. The site is colloquially known as Galle Fort, and is a walled city attached to the southern tip of the coastal city of Galle in Sri Lanka. The Fort encloses an area of 52 hectares, with the ramparts encircling a perimeter of about 2.4km. The site was designated as World Heritage site in 1988 and is one of six cultural heritage sites in the country. The site has a long 9 colonial history due its importance as a trading port. It has experienced nearly 400 years of colonization – first under the Portuguese (1505 – 1640), followed by the Dutch (1640 – 1796), and finally the British (1796 – 1948). It is an exemplary case of a living heritage site and its status as a World Heritage site for three decades makes it an excellent site for this study. Research Questions and Methodology At its core this thesis is an exploration of the contradictions that are intrinsic to the concept of world heritage. I am particularly interested in considering these issues in the context of inhabited, living heritage sites. Using the site of Galle Fort in Sri Lanka as a case study, I begin by trying to understand the construction of identity through the site. I consider subnational, national, international and personal agendas driving this process and aim to understand how these may manifest on the site. I delve into the challenges associated with defining what constitutes heritage, how it is valued, by whom, and why. I also ask, how are perceptions of cultural heritage affected by listing? And how do these shifts in perception vary between local and global communities? Given the programs’ emphasis on conservation of the built environment, compounded with state-led promotion of conservation for heritage tourism, I also consider how these may impact the built and social environments of the historic urban center. To this end, I question the motivations behind conservation investment, its relationship to identity curation, what ‘authenticity’ means in this context, and how it is perceived by different social groups at the site. Through this study I aim to explore fundamental questions on the politics of preservation at the World Heritage site of Galle Fort including: What is conserved? For whom is it conserved? And who is involved (or not involved) in the decision-making process? Previous scholarly work has established strong connections between Listing and tourism. Consequently, to fully understand the impacts of Listing, I believe it is imperative to also consider the dynamics of tourism in Galle Fort. Through the site of Galle Fort, I aim to understand how tourism (and indirectly Listing) affects patterns of urban growth, the form and functions