Once It's Gone, It's Gone

http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/asias-old-communities-vanishing-amid[rapid-growth?utm_content=buffer3260e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com...

Chinatown Gate
Bangkok, Thailand
bangkokforvisitors.com

Hello Everyone:

First an apology.  Yesterday's post "When it's gone, it's gone" was accidentally posted while it was still in draft status.  I intended to hit the save button and finish it today.  The post has been deleted and my plan is to post the actual completed version today.  Sorry if there was any confusion.

One of the sad facts of growing urbanization and economic development in Asia and around the world is historic quarters are giving way to glass and steel high rises.  This issue is particularly acute in Asia where many centuries old houses, crooked alleyways, temples still fragrant with incense are falling victim to jackhammers and cranes.  In a recent article for the Associated Press, Dennis D. Gray looks at this situation and what can be done to save these historic districts.

The story of economic development across the Asian continent is the same everywhere you go.  Urbanization and rapid economic development has raised the standard of living for millions.  However, this zeal to build, modernize, and mimic the West, combined with the thinking that equates old with backwardness, has doomed many traditional places to the rubble pile and with them a way of life.  "There is more than just architecture to preserve in the community.  If these old buildings are demolished, the people will go. So will the lifestyle and culture.  And that is is irreplaceable," said Tiamsoom Siririsak, a cultural researcher at Mahidol University in Bangkok.  Civic official often justify clearing these quarters as getting rid of old, decrepit, unsanitary structures.  Yet, while those who into newer more sanitary communities are generally pleased with their new environments, they often lament the loss of their old neighborhoods.  Rapid urbanization, weak legislation, corruption, and even certain religious beliefs have been contributors to this trend.  Mr. Gray reports that most Asian cities have ignored recommendations to keep their traditional cores intact and relocate modern development to the outer rings, as European cities have done.

Phnom Penh streetscape
cambodiamuseum.info

Historic Phnom Penh has survived the devastation of war and the reign of terror brought about by the Khmer Rouge.  Despite all this, more than 40 percent of about 300 French colonial buildings that gave the capital city its unique character have been leveled in the past twenty years.  In 2004, Prime Minister Hun Sen threw out a zoning law that kept the city's buildings low and allowed for plenty of green spaces, giving the go-ahead for high-rises to be built anywhere in the city.  One minister reasoned that the tall, steel and glass buildings would attract more tourists.  Allow me to inform this anonymous minister that this would-be tourist would certainly not be attracted to steel and glass monuments to your shortcomings.

Rue Catinat c.1954
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
flickr.com

Meanwhile, in neighboring Viet Nam, the wholesale demolition of Rue Catinat (Dong Khoi), the historic core of Ho Chi Minh City, is moving along block by block, victim of soaring land prices.  A joint Vietnamese-French urban research agency revealed that at least 207 heritage sites have ben destroyed or defaced in the last ten years.  Ho Chi Minh City's last colonial period department store is slated to be replaced by a 40-story complex sometime this year.

Hong Kong street view
onebigphoto.com

If you are planning to visit Hong Kong, do not expect to see much of its earlier history, which has been hemmed in by a dense urban-scape.  Hong Kong's metamorphosis was driven by the former colonial British government's land fire sale to developers who eliminated both the traditional Chinese communities and any traces of the Imperial British legacy. Speaking of the Peoples Republic of China, the Chinese, who have the longest continuous historic architectural legacies, tops the list when it comes to widespread destruction of its built heritage.  The Red Guard, in a massive and violent campaign to root out China's feudal past, destroyed thousands of historic properties during the Cultural Revolution in the sixties and seventies.  During the economic boom that followed, the destruction not only continued but also intensified.

Id Kah Mosque
Kashgar Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
beijingservice.com

According to James Stent, an American involved in heritage preservation in China and Thailand, "The flattening of historic cores of cities across China, from Kunming in the south to Kashgar in the far West, is Asia's greatest 'cultural atrocity.'"  One example is the bulldozing of the iconic Kashgar way station along the Silk Road, one of the planet's best examples of a traditional Islamic city.  The flattening of this fabled city began in 2009 and all but complete.  Local authorities said the clearance was necessary because of seismic concerns.  In 2011, a survey revealed that 44,000-about a fifth of the approximate 225,000 important Chinese cultural heritage sites have disappeared under new construction.  The inclusion of the vernacular communities in the broad definition of cultural heritage is a new concept for many Asians.  Mr. Stent continues, "In China, they will preserve a temple but raze everything around it...You don't want little islands of culture, you need to protect larger areas and the whole fabric within them but make them vibrant so people can make a living there."

Beijing at night
waahhh.com

Matthew Hu, a leading Chinese conservationist in charge of The Prince's Charity foundation stated, "In Beijing, modern structures and roads have replaced some 60 percent of the city's inner core, with its narrow alleyways and traditional courtyard residences." Further, "Modernity is really defined by modern Western culture, so when people consider modernity they want to get rid of things from the past."  To this, Erica Avrami, the director of research and education at the World Monuments Fund adds, "Although the scale and speed of this destruction appears greater than in Western countries, in many respects Asians are 'simply mirroring similar dynamics from the West,' that took place long ago."  One example, the elegant home and public buildings in midtown Manhattan were demolished in the early twentieth century.  In Europe, while many of the historic buildings were destroyed by bombs during World War II, researchers discovered that an even greater number were flattened by bulldozers during the post-War reconstruction.  One other point, younger Asians are not that interested in preservation.

Bangkok, Thailand
northernhotels.co.uk

In Thailand, only palaces and religious structures were built out of substantial material and considered preservation-worthy, while vernacular architecture, mostly made of wood, deteriorated quickly, and rarely rehabilitated.  "The idea that you preserve the old wooden house of your grandfather or grand-grandfather is not in the Thai psyche," says Euayporn Kerdchouay of the Siam Society.  Scholars have also noted that one of the basic Buddhist beliefs is that the world is in a constant state of change, therefore, the devotees tend eschew the notion of permanence.  Most Buddhists believe that donating to build a new temple or shrine will earn them greater merit than rehabilitating an existing temple or shrine.

Chinatown marketplace
Bangkok, Thailand
heinzalbers.org

To date, about forty old shop houses in Bangkok's Chinatown have been razed to make room for a subway station intended to ease traffic.  In their place, structures up to twelve stories tall will be built.  Third-generation Chinatown resident and community leader Sirinee Urunanont says "Chinese media have come to film and report on tradition and lifestyles that don't exist in their country anymore.  Ms. Urunanont's quarter, Charoen Chai, is well-known for its handcrafted joss paper products used for festivals and funerals.  "The culture, traditions, you don't see them anymore.  They have been lost.  So the Chinese media comes here to see them," adds Ms. Urunanont.

Block print of machiya merchant house
Kyoto, Japan
en.japantravel.com

There are some wonderful examples of preservation in Asia, often motivated by tourism.  One such example is the seventeenth century machiya townhouses in Japan's cultural capital of Kyoto.  In China, The Temple Hotel in Beijing is another case study of a prize winning restoration effort and the campaign to save British colonial buildings of Yangon, Myanmar are more examples of successful historic preservation initiatives on the Asian continent.  However, for all of the success stories, there have been downsides.  Malaysia's George Town, a 2008 UNESCO World Heritage Site noted for its blend of Asian and colonial architecture, was probably saved from demolition because tourist came in droves to see it.  However, the the long-term residents were displaced by boutique hotels, cafes, and restaurants, which resulted in a drop in population from 50,000 to 10,000.  According to leading Malaysian conservationist Khoo Salma, "People don't understand that the inner-city residents have kept our traditions alive...This has happened to many world heritage sites, where they have become a playground for others and no longer the people's city.  We don't want the soul of (our) city to die."

I remember when I talked to non-preservation people about my thesis on Japanese preservation law, they looked amazed at the fact that preservation even existed in Japan.  I explained to them that Japan had historic preservation laws that pre-dated our own.  More astonishment.  Most of the non-preservation people were under the impression that Japan was all about build, then tear it down after twenty-thirty years.  This not something specific to Asia, it applies everywhere.  The point made by Erica Avrami regarding Asia mirroring Western dynamics in the early twentieth century is valid.  I know from my research when Japan began to embrace modernity, anything connected with Feudal period was torn down lock, stock, and gold leaf. To extent, that is true but when you tear down a historic district, you lose a part of your cultural heritage that you cannot get back.