Enhancing Heritage and Traditional Architecture Conservation Through Digital Technologies. Developing a Digital Conservation Handbook for As-Salt, Jordan

Abstract

Heritage cities are facing unprecedented pressure, due to the combination of climate change impacts, rapid urbanization and uncontrolled growth. Historic urban centres in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are particularly exposed. This paper discusses the benefit of applying digital technologies, and in particular Building Information Modeling (BIM), in supporting heritage conservation, by developing a proof of concept based on a purposely chosen case study, i.e. the traditional Jordanian city of As-Salt near Amman. Building on and moving forward the tradition of paper-based Conservation Handbooks for historic cities, this study aims at exploiting the potential of digital technologies for enhancing the development and implementation of Digital Conservation Handbooks. Documentation and promoting of As-Salt will be conducted through developing a set of virtual models (3D models and BIM objects) suitable to support the construction sector and traditional architecture and heritage, framed and delivered in form of Digital Conservation Handbook. This will be achieved by: developing a new set of BIM (Building Information Modeling) objects related to the traditional architecture heritage in Jordan, suitable to be used by engineers and architects in the development of interventions on the built environment; creating a library of 3D models of exemplar buildings (Jordan heritage and traditional architecture), suitable to be used to promote the tourist image of Jordan. This will set a precedent for further documentation and heritage conservation of traditional cities in Jordan, MENA countries and internationally. Finally, the paper will discuss issues and challenges of documenting traditional heritage and architecture in As-Salt and the impact that such process may achieve in raising awareness across the local communities, thus offering insights to the larger community of architects, conservationists, and planners.

Towards Smart Planning Conservation of Heritage Cities: Digital Technologies and Heritage Conservation Planning

“…The local government is keen to build on this unique feature to foster local economic development, and as part of this strategy, the City has applied to be inscribed within the UNESCO heritage list. In this case study, digital technologies have been used to explore the potential of 3D models as a vehicle to support a management plan for heritage conservation, following the tradition of the "Handbook for conservation" (Trillo et al, 2020). The concept that lies at the core of this planning instrument, which was developed through some pioneering cases in both large and small Italian cities in the late 1970s (Pesaro, Rome, Citta' di Castello), is the assumption that heritage centres are made of the interconnection of different scales: urban fabric / buildings / architectural components.…”

“…The challenge therefore is how to unify data representation and processing models to accommodate heterogeneous or new types of data. The use of information management platforms such as HBIM are suggested in literature as playing a significant role in harmonising heterogeneous data in one system (Trillo et al, 2020;Udeaja et al, 2020).…”

“…As-Salt is a historic city in Jordan, located 28 km west of Amman and approximately 50km north-east of Jerusalem and 240km south of Damascus, situated within the region of Al-Balqa, between the Jordan Valley and the Eastern Desert. The city of As-Salt is considered a unique city in Jordan, and probably in the whole region (Trillo et al, 2020 , 2015). The built characteristics of the city such as the use of golden stone for the houses and its geographical location and social landscape differentiate the city from other Jordanian cities.…”

“…Examples of IT tools includes the uses of Geographic Information systems (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS). Digital camera, laser scanners, virtual and augmented reality, Building Information Modelling (BIM) (Trillo et al, 2020;Udeaja et al, 2019), Artificial Intelligence (Mansuri et. al.…”

The Urban Profiles of Peace Tourism in Arab Cities: Opportunities for Change Towards Sustainability. Case Study: As-Salt (Jordan) and Constantine (Algeria) Cities

“…In this context, this study will shed the lights on both As-Salt (Jordan) and Constantine (Algeria) cities in order to clarify the role of urban features in achieving tourism for peace, which was a primary driver for improving many tourist destinations, such as heritage, environment, and business, etc. for elevating them towards Sustainability, particularly As-Salt city, which is considered as the museum city, in which the practice of heritage tourism prevails due to its multiplicity of heritage sites that was obvious in completing many urban projects there (Trillo et al, 2020). All of which, played a role in the arrival of tourists, especially as it is a Jordanian city in a country that is characterized by peace and surrounded by areas of tension and conflict.…”