A Comparison between Synthetic Space Analysis and Intangible Heritage Investigation in Urban Conservation

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The conservation of intangible heritage in historical regions has recently become a progressively important topic in the international level. Till recently, in the protection process of historical cities, the concentration has been on the tangible cultural heritage, built environment and historical buildings in old districts ;while safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage has been generally neglected. This paper aims at highlighting the significant role of the intangible heritage in the urban renewal policies of old historical districts. It undertakes the conservation and urban renewal activities of Mosul Old City (MOC) as a case study, and it explains that there are broad distinctions in various aspects between space structural analysis and intangible elements investigation, which designates that the intangible elements do not correlate to material or synthetic items within the urban fabric in the same high grade that is associated with the inhabitants memory of the historical area. It emphasizes the importance of the preservation of intangible heritage besides the tangible one in the urban renewal policies.

Palimpsest industry: industrial heritage and intangible cultural heritage in the creative city: a comparative analysis of the Old Truman Brewery in London and Technopolis in Athens

“…The dominance of this view, as stated by Smith (2006) and Meier (2013), has resulted in the widely-held concept that conservation is about preserving recognized concrete elements, which are later associated with certain heritage values. However, any tangible culture must be sustained by intangible value and vice versa for it to be visualised (Alkymakchy, Ismaeel and Alsoofe, 2012). This explains the reason why the Convention's definition of ICH includes elements of tangible heritage (objects, artefacts, cultural spaces) in order to maintain cultural diversity (UNESCO, 2003).…”