Landscape Heritage Conservation along Sanur Beach borderline in Bali:
Perspectives of the Local Government and Visitors
Tri Anggraini Prajnawrdhi
1, a*, Sadasivam Karuppannan
2, band Alpana Sivam
2, c1School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
2Barbara Hardy Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
aTri_anggraini.Prajnawrdhi@mymail.unisa.edu.au
bSadasivam.Karuppannan@unisa.edu.au
cAlpana.Sivam@unisa.edu.au
Keywords: development, cultural heritage, landscape, public open space, Sanur beach, tourism
Abstract. Bali is well known as the Paradise Island on the earth. Its unique landscape and culture attract large number of tourists from all over the world. Due to large inflow of tourists several new developments are taking place in Denpasar city to support tourism activities especially in the tourism zone. Sanur beach attracts thousands tourist each year and new developments in this beach is undeniable. The beach borderline has been declared as one of the landscape heritage sites in Bali, where traditional Hindu ceremonies took place. But nowadays, the border has been interrupted with commercial activities supporting tourism. Based on empirical research which employed a case study of public open space along the beach this paper draws on the Balinese experiences with particular reference to Sanur Beach. This paper explores the perception of two different types of stakeholders regarding practices public open space use. It argues that globalization of the local economy has led to new issues relating to ownership and management of public open spaces and consequently brought about effects on cultural heritage. It concludes that the role of government, involvement of private sector and the local community should be urgently improved.
Introduction
The importance of cultural heritage is generally seen in the context of urban development with an overwhelming emphasis on the relationship between cultural heritage and tourism. Both tangible heritage (i.e. buildings, site) and intangible heritage (i.e. practice, religion, and knowledge) offer significant opportunities for tourism industry [3]. Urban development in many Asian countries often takes place by demolition of old buildings and development of modern high-rise buildings. This has become a major challenge in Asian cities trying to stimulate and sustain local concepts of place identity and specific conservation methods [8]. Furthermore, rapid population growth has resulted in homogeneous population transforming into heterogeneous that would possibly create cultural conflicts and disconnect within society impacting conservation of cultural heritage [5].
Governments in general have paid little attention owing to expenses required for conservation of heritage sites and devoting most funds for development of infrastructure to accommodate new developments [1].
The relationship between heritage and economic development is also involves tourism. Tourism leads to the exploitation and making use of cultural heritage objects and sites that impact conservation process. Lack of management of cultural heritage both building sites and landscapes can significantly impact on the attractiveness of heritage sites to attract visitors [1]. A policy based approach that includes historical preservation of tourism, architecture recreation, and respecting the uniqueness of local culture is emerging as an alternative strategy to developing historical sites in developing countries. Conservation should integrate theories that take into account the historical, architectural, landscape, environmental and economic features of heritage sites [7].
Methodology
Opinion of different groups of stakeholders related to the conservation of Sanur Beach borderline was obtained using interviews Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the interview data. The analysis of rules by logical process with controlled methodology contributes to validity and reliability of case study research [2]. This analysis is very useful to analyse interview transcripts to gather information about people’s perception and opinion by doing paraphrasing such as deleting unnecessary words enhance the understanding of the statements in a shorter text [6]. The interview data were organised, coded and analysed in quantitative software QSR NUD*IST Vivo (NVivo 10). It provides easier ways of organising with different data types and sources far more efficient than manual processing in Microsoft Word and Excel [4].
Results and Discussion
Interview with nine Local Government (LG) officials and 24 Visitor (V) were conducted to capture their views on three main themes namely; Cultural heritage conservation, Planning and Development. These themes were the most important factors of the conservation process of landscape heritage sites along Sanur beach in Denpasar. The themes were coded by nodes in NViVo 10 and described in the following section.
(i) Cultural Heritage Conservation
Figure 1 shows the percentage of perception between Local Government officials and visitors related with cultural heritage conservation. Eight out of nine respondents in the Local Government groups stated their concerns about this issue and 15 out of 24 visitors put their concern on cultural heritage conservation.
Figure 1 depicts awareness of local government officials and visitors about the conservation process. Both groups believe conservation process should consider the conservation issues, conservation strategy and regulation and policy. These factors were important for the process and should be addressed in an integrated way. There was lack of regulation for the conservation process that lead to the exploitation of public space especially along Sanur Beach borderline.
Currently conservation process is poses many challenges for the local government, local community and tourism industry and commercial establishments that encroached on this beach borderline. It was difficult for the local community and also the local government to maintain the site since there was no detail guidelines in existing regulations on enforcement of conservation. This site is one of the favourite tourist destinations in Bali.
(a) Local Government (b) Visitor
Fig. 1. Perception of Cultural Heritage Conservation
At present this area hosts various activities including tourism and commercial activities, cultural activities for the local community and leisure activity mostly for the tourists. All of these activities
have brought a vibrant atmosphere to the site that in turn attracts tourists. This site is the main support for the local economy and at the same time commercial and tourism activities will degrade the attractiveness of the site if no conservation strategy is adopted. Thus, a specific conservation strategy is needed to protect this area which could address the needs of commercial activities, tourism and leisure. An integrated approach from local government; local community and user is the best solution for this issue rather than top down policy from the government. The aspiration from local community organisation of site conservation and tradition should be addressed into the strategy. The expectation from the users such as visitors and private sector and commercial is also important for the implementation.
(ii) Planning and Development
Figure 2 illustrates the perception of planning and development of the site and its surrounding areas. Six of local government representatives and 10 visitors voiced their concern on this issue.
Planning and development includes development planning issues and planning strategy. These two factors are interrelated one each other. The rapid development of this area and Denpasar has brought about negative impacts on the environment, society and cultural heritage conservation process.
Moreover, planning concept is perceived as too general without specific guidelines for implementation. It could lead to the unclear developments taking place especially for planners and designers that can cause disharmony between the old and new developments.
Coordination between departments within the government is urgently needed to solve issues of planning and development. Furthermore coordination between local government departments and the local community is paramount for community support during development such as supervising development activities in the area. Support from local community will reduce mismatch of development in the future as one of government weaknesses during development was lack of capability in controlling and supervising development process. Then, the aspiration from users such as visitors and private sector brought significant input to the strategy. Further, this strategy will evoke the responsibility to society to be more aware to the site and at the same time evoke their responsibility to protect the cultural heritage.
(a) Local Government (b) Visitor
Fig. 2. Perception about Planning and Development Summary
The study demonstrated the understanding and awareness of conservation of landscape heritage along Sanur beach borderline by Local Government officials and visitors. Both groups have strong awareness of the conservation process of the area. Figure 3 illustrate the result of the Matrix Coding of the understanding and awareness of the issues. It shows that the conservation process has more priority than planning and development. The figure demonstrates that conservation is the most
important process needed in this site and its surrounding area to conserve the landscape heritage and at the same time promote quality tourism rather than quantity.
Fig. 3. Matrix Coding Result
Sanur Beach borderline has a strong identity. The site and its surrounding area are the favorite tourist destination and it is also significant for its cultural and traditional activities. In order to improve conservation of its heritage and promote tourism there is a need to improve planning policies and adopt integrated and multidisciplinary approach to development. The strategy to conserve the heritage of the site simultaneously promoting tourism requires mutual relationship between government, local community and private sector and awareness of visitors about environmental quality.
References
[1] T. Gilmour, Sustaining Heritage: Giving the Past a Future, Sydney University Press, Sydney, 2007.
[2] F. Kohlbacher, (2006), The Use of Qualitative Content Analysis in Case Study Research, Forum: Qualitative Research 7:1(2006)1-30.
[3] W. Nuryanti, Heritage and Postmodern Tourism, Annals of Tourism Research 23:2(1996) 249- 260.
[4] B. C. Ozkan, Using NVivo to Analyse Qualitative Classroom Data on Constructivist Learning Environments, The Qualitative Report 9:4 (2004) 589-603.
[5] C.L. Redman, N. S. Jones, The Environmental, Social, and Health Dimensions of Urban Expansion, Population and Environment 26:6 (2005) 505-520.
[6] J. Schilling, On the Pragmatics of Qualitative Assessment, European Journal of Psychological Assessment 22:1(2006) 28-37.
[7] M. Stubbs, Heritage-Sustainability: Developing a Methodology for the Sustainable Appraisal of the Historic Environment, Planning, Practice & Research 19:3 (2004) 285-305.
[8] B. Yuen, Reclaiming Cultural Heritage in Singapore, Urban Affairs Review 41:6 (2006) 830- 854.
