“Built heritage” can refer to anything from the coral houses of Al-Balad to ancient cave drawings found in the remotest parts of Saudi Arabia. It is a concept that is beginning to spark interest only now of both regular citizens and local conservationists here. Now, the Saudi government is also getting involved.
Attending the Third International Architectural Conservation Conference and Exhibition in Dubai yesterday, Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts to protect its built heritage through public education and investment in heritage preservation projects. He also announced plans to develop a college-level curriculum that will deal with promoting the concept and the preservation of built heritage in the Kingdom.
In his keynote address, Prince Sultan praised host Dubai’s efforts to protect its architectural heritage and said that he looked forward to visiting these protected sites in Dubai. He also highlighted Saudi efforts to conserve its architectural heritage and expressed his willingness to meet with Dubai conservationists to exchange the two countries’ knowledge and experience in the field.
“Preservation of built heritage in the Kingdom is a national cultural project, which could be converted into an economic and development project,” the prince said.
Already, SCTA has instituted a number of programs to change citizens’ negative impression of built heritage, beginning with Saudi students.
“We have also launched a media campaign to enlighten the public about built heritage,” the prince pointed out.
Prince Sultan said owners of heritage sites would be considered investors in heritage development projects across the country.
“Some people used to look at built heritage with contempt and considered it a kind of backwardness. They just wanted to get rid of the sites without having any idea of their value,” he said. “There is lack of knowledge and lack of data about built heritage, and there is also lack of regulations to protect it. There was no movement toward converting these heritage sites into investments.”
Built heritage was once considered a burden for cities and municipalities. “But things changed once citizens took initiatives to preserve their built heritage.”
SCTA has introduced heritage education and carried out training programs at universities and in local communities aimed at educating citizens on how to develop heritage sites for cultural, historical and economic returns.
Speaking of SCTA’s efforts to highlight culture in the Kingdom, Prince Sultan said public awareness programs, heritage and museum projects and restoration of antiquities and artifacts are all under way.
SCTA established the National Built Heritage Center in 2011 as a means of preserving and developing built heritage in various parts of the country. The center is now working on registering built heritage sites, enacting necessary regulations and attempting to balance development of villages.
“We are now working on 10 built heritage projects with the support of citizens,” Prince Sultan said.
The conference and exhibition are being held at the Dubai World Trade Center under the theme “Architectural Conservation: Present and Future.” The event will run through Wednesday and some 130 speakers from 31 countries will talk about different aspects of built heritage.
This conference is the third in a series of global conferences organized by Dubai Municipality. The previous two were held in 2004 and 2007.
“We live in a world in which various spheres of life are changing. With increasing globalization, the danger exists that people’s identities and their heritage could be swept away. Thus, preservation of heritage today has become a key objective of a comprehensive process to develop contemporary societies so that heritage and identity are not lost,” Hussain Nassir Lootah, director general of Dubai Municipality, said in his speech.
Dubai has restored almost 178 buildings during the past 20 years. The civic body is currently working hard to put Dubai Creek and the adjacent historic areas on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Rashad Bukhash highlighted the achievements of the UAE and Dubai Municipality in the preservation of heritage, architecture and culture, saying that the city of Al Ain was the first Arab city registered with UNESCO in 2011, and six more historical sites in the UAE have been proposed to UNESCO for listing.
The conference was opened by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai, UAE minister of finance and chairman of Dubai Municipality.
Built heritage to be part of college curriculum
Built heritage to be part of college curriculum
