Heritage planner

Ref.: 282
Área temática: 04 Abstracts donde los autores no han indicado el área temática.
Fecha de recepción: 03/12/2008

AUTORES (* Autor principal)

MACMILLAN, Mudenda * (Zambia) - National heritage conservation Commission

ABSTRACT

During the 15th general assembly of state parties to the convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage a Vienna memorandum was adopted and defined historic urban landscapes as ensembles of any group of buildings, structures and open spaces in their natural and ecological context (UNESCO: 2005).

The town was founded by the British South Africa Company in 1905 and was the capital from 1907 to 1935. It was a typical colonial town established by and for the European population. The colonial period played an important part in the development of modern Zambia and is crucial if you want to understand the Zambia of today.

Compared to other towns in this part of Zambia, Livingstone has preserved many of its original features. Livingstone has probably more old buildings than any other town in Central Africa (Ese 1996) In recent years Zambia is focusing more on the value of preserving these old buildings both as a part of its historical heritage and as an important asset for tourism. Livingstone's architecture is hardly distinguished; however it does reflect the quality of life at the time. According to National heritage Conservation Commission Act no 173 of 1989, any building erected before 1924 is an Ancient Heritage and before a protected building. This booklet presents some of the old heritage buildings and places of interest and gives a brief account of the town's colonial history

Despite the numerous rich cultural and natural heritage in the city, the visual integrity of the landscaper has been compromised. There too much demand on tourism development of this Landscape which posses a serious threat to the visual integrity of the City. The National Heritage Conservation Commission who manages and conserves Zambia's cultural and natural heritage faces numerous challenges from would be developers as the current heritage Act is Euro centric in nature and does not fully protects the Visual integrity of the Heritage.

There have been attempts by property owners to modernize their buildings, however these developers were advocating for destroying the buildings completely and the national heritage conservations commission had to move in to stop such proposals. Currently there is a lot of misunderstandings between NHCC and developers as developers what by all means to destroy indicating that the building have lost their aesthetic value but they are finding resistance from NHCC. There is a lot of awareness that needs to be done and to reach a compromise to how far historic Landscapes can be protected.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA

Schmidt R.P (ed) 1996. Plundering the past London: Indiana University Press.
Ese.K. 1996. An Historic Guide to Livingstone Town. Harare: CBS Publishers
UNESCO, 2005. Vienna Memorandum. Paris Unesco