Preserving sense of place at historic waterfronts in malaysia

¹ School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang
² Sustainable Tourism Research Cluster, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang

Abstract

Historical preservation is important to protect significant historic resources from destruction and inappropriate changes. Urban waterfronts are unique cultural resources that have its own identity, represent the lifestyle of surrounding communities. Over the years, the activities along the waterfront have changed along with city development, resulting in the loss of sense of place. In recent years, the agenda of preservation the cultural value of waterfront areas has been a research focus among the civil society and NGOs. However, in the midst of rapid development, this aspect is often overlooked and deteriorates the historical values of the place. At the same time, the quality of life of waterfront communities is also affected. This conceptual paper is a call for a set of actions to ensure that historical values at these places are protected. Through content analysis from previous literature reviews, this paper investigates how regeneration of historic waterfronts can help in preserving sense of place and improve the quality of life among waterfront communities. Findings from the literature revealed that contextual integration is important for successful redevelopment of historic waterfronts in order to preserve their sense of place.