Heritage regulations andresultant negotiations
Saha, Priyanka
Heritage regulations andresultant negotiations : the case of Kolkata rajbaris - Vol.21(3), Jul-Sep - New Delhi Institute of Town Planners 2024 - 57-68p.
Taking the case of six ‘Rajbaris’ of North Kolkata, the paper highlights the existential struggle and contemporary
negotiation that native built forms undergo due to imposition of ‘heritage tag’ and resultant heritage regulations in
neoliberal cities. Adopting a qualitative approach, the paper argues on benefits and legal tensions that tagging has
done, highlighting the gap between policy formulation and its execution. Findings reveal that prescribed regulation
could only prevent the structures from demolition. Financial constraints, uniform rules both for public and private
properties in terms of maintenance followed by lack of participatory approach in heritage management while forces
the mansion to get their name delisted from heritage list, the entire process provided the corporation officials a
way to extract money from residents by enforcing legal bindings. However, few cases of successful restorations have
emerged as silver lining, encouraging a search for alternative.
URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN (AR-UPD)
Heritage regulations andresultant negotiations : the case of Kolkata rajbaris - Vol.21(3), Jul-Sep - New Delhi Institute of Town Planners 2024 - 57-68p.
Taking the case of six ‘Rajbaris’ of North Kolkata, the paper highlights the existential struggle and contemporary
negotiation that native built forms undergo due to imposition of ‘heritage tag’ and resultant heritage regulations in
neoliberal cities. Adopting a qualitative approach, the paper argues on benefits and legal tensions that tagging has
done, highlighting the gap between policy formulation and its execution. Findings reveal that prescribed regulation
could only prevent the structures from demolition. Financial constraints, uniform rules both for public and private
properties in terms of maintenance followed by lack of participatory approach in heritage management while forces
the mansion to get their name delisted from heritage list, the entire process provided the corporation officials a
way to extract money from residents by enforcing legal bindings. However, few cases of successful restorations have
emerged as silver lining, encouraging a search for alternative.
URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN (AR-UPD)