As cities evolve and their societies progress, their buildings, infrastructure, neighbourhoods and landscape might change, impacting tangible heritage aspects as well as intangible cultural practices that normally impart a sense of identity about a city and its residents. Planners and civic decision-makers are working hard to protect civic heritage around the world. Through culturally rich heritage artifacts such as historical buildings, infrastructure and neighbourhoods, the history and culture of specific ethnic groups can be traced, which has contributed significantly to a city’s evolution, identity and broader civic fabric. This can usually translate to a sense of belonging and reflect the character of the community at large. Recognising this can often make or break a sense of community and is at the heart of what makes a city liveable.
This is true of historic civic structures such as churches and districts representative of historic streets and houses, but also of man-made and natural features such as railway corridors, ports as well as rivers and forests. These help us to understand their influence and relationship to the city and the evolution of its inhabitants in these communities. Understanding our past helps us to understand and prepare for our future. As a result, governments and their engaged community groups recognise that the loss of their civic heritage has significant consequences on their economic, social and environmental future. Companies, entrepreneurs and agencies are using technological and non-technological innovation to help these groups in this pursuit.
Technology, as it has evolved, has helped communities to collect and analyse data for real-time heritage-related decision-making. Through satellite imagery and the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), land uses, heritage structures and other cultural aspects of cities and regions can be monitored, and changes tracked and measured, helping to identify heritage entities that need to be protected and restored. This data can also be derived from crowdsourcing through social media and applications sharing data such as photographs and videos and through social pressure to help save these heritage and cultural elements in a community. Applications using light detection remote sensing technology use lasers to create digital twins forming three-dimensional modeling capabilities in the restoration process. Other digital tools ranging from virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), and augmented reality (AR) can assist in promoting education about the importance of heritage in civic development, raising vital awareness, increasing civic pride and influencing civic and individual behaviour about their relationship with these heritage artifacts. Even climate change related technology can help to maintain and preserve heritage elements in communities through the use of energy-efficient technologies to minimise the environmental impact on these structures and artifacts. Passive cooling measures and applications such as green roofs can be used to help preserve the environmental heritage of the community.
Governments and their engaged community groups recognise that the loss of their civic heritage has significant consequences
Some examples of best practices include the use of applications to digitally archive historical documents, oral histories and cultural artifacts, ensuring accessibility and preservation over time; the use of VR and AR in explaining and promoting heritage sites and landmarks and the use of 3D printing technologies to replicate heritage aspects of cities for education and restoration. Creating opportunities for mobile applications, drones and other technology to assist in creating interactive relationships with civic heritage will help in educating citizens about the value and importance of heritage. The use of social media campaigns, online educational programmes, geotagging and mapping technologies can also help in heritage and cultural resource management and conservation practices.
Understanding our past helps us to understand and prepare for our future
On the other hand, overuse of technology can also have negative consequences, such as exclusively focusing on digital preservation at the expense of preservation and restoration of physical artifacts. Another is the application of technology in circumstances that are disrespectful or violate cultural and traditional protocols and practices such as the use of drones, disregard for community consultation through technologies that invade privacy and the use of misinformation through social media are just some examples. To avoid these missteps and perhaps unintended consequences, it is always important to undertake robust research and analysis about their potential impact before using technology to address any potential heritage and culturally related issue. It is also important to consider collaborative and holistic approaches to any initiative to avoid these unintended consequences and impacts, especially when dealing with sensitive aboriginal and indigenous heritage initiatives. Overall, policies, and if possible, regulations should be in place to ensure the ethical, transparent and respectful use of technology in promoting and preserving cultural heritage. The impact of deploying any technology that might unduly have impacts on indigenous communities and the heritage aspects of their lands must be considered. One way to ensure that this is done properly is to engage community members, its elders and leaders from the onset of the proposal to utilise technologies in these initiatives, thereby ensuring that its implementation aligns with their cultural values and priorities.
In Canada, for instance, the government and the private sector are working closely with indigenous communities to provide broadband and digital technologies to help them to advance their economic, social and cultural way of life while protecting and preserving their heritage by adapting to the needs and priorities of the indigenous communities. They start with consultations, developing training and educational programmes that support digital skills and the implementation of technologies appropriate to their needs. Once they have the necessary digital infrastructure and training, the indigenous population can leverage the technology themselves to promote and advance their language, culture and heritage through digital storytelling, cultural heritage mapping and transference of traditions and knowledge as well as promote indigenous entrepreneurial opportunities involving tourism, digital media productions and e-commerce trade.
Top Right: Indigenous use of technology in maintaining their language, culture and heritage
Bottom: Three icons of London: a K2 red telephone box, Big Ben and a red double-decker bus
Other examples around the world provide excellent instances where technology has been applied in sensitive and unique ways to preserve a community’s heritage into the future.
In Thailand, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the historic city of Ayutthaya promotes its Ayutthaya Smart City initiative as a means to preserve and promote itself as a citywide heritage site. As a public-private partnership and community-wide initiative, they have leveraged technology such as drones to map, monitor and analyse changes and potential damage in real time, especially in monitoring damage from floods. Tourists and citizens learn about the city’s heritage through mobile apps, including the use of AR to show the historical features as compared to its current condition as well as proposals to restore its heritage features. Community volunteers help to maintain and preserve the community’s legacy adding to their sense of pride and deeper connection with its traditions.
A scan of other regions deploying the use of technology in their heritage preservation initiatives and programmes includes Smart City Jaipur in Rajasthan, India, which incorporates the use of technology in its mobility programmes. Electric rickshaws, bike-sharing programmes and intelligent traffic management systems help to improve access while reducing climate-impacting environmental degradation that would impact the associated heritage aspects of the city. In North America, Philadelphia aims to preserve its rich history and culture by leveraging smart sensors that monitor and control air quality and traffic congestion adding to the quality of life in these historic districts. AI-supported sensors, routers and Wi-Fi-supported technologies also help to spread information via digital applications over mobile devices promoting and preserving the physical heritage and its cultural aspects to all those interested. Similarly, in Adelaide, Australia, its Smart City programme aims to preserve its heritage while utilising technology to become a leader in developing a liveable, sustainable city. Its AI-supported smart lighting system is at the heart of its traffic management and pedestrian programme that allows its citizens access to its heritage buildings, extensive green spaces and water bodies.
Many city departments maintain data and leverage technologies for people to access its cultural treasures and landmarks
Non-profit organisations, academia and the private sector have also been providing leadership in a community’s heritage initiatives. The World Monuments Fund has been protecting 600 cultural heritage sites in 90 countries since 1965. The Smithsonian Institution offers digitisation and preservation of artifacts and provides grants for conservation and restoration programmes. The United Nations through UNESCO has preserved and promoted nearly 1200 cultural and natural heritage sites around the world. Companies such as Autodesk and CyArk leverage 3D technology to produce digital models and digital twins for assessing the impacts of development on heritage structures and features in a city. Universities such as Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology have been at the forefront of digitising cultural and historical artifacts. Google has a Cultural Institute that it started in 2011. It has collaborated with heritage organisations to digitise and preserve a community’s artifacts and landmarks. IBM’s Watson AI technology has been used to conserve heritage aspects in Venice by predicting floods as well as simulating VR tours of the city. Many city departments maintain data and leverage technologies for people to access its cultural treasures and landmarks, sometimes even from the comfort of their homes or from across the world. And cities like London have been working tirelessly to preserve their heritage as a city through maintaining their character, skyline, vistas, walkways and other heritage aspects that make London a special place.
In conclusion, if a community wishes to preserve and maintain its heritage aspects, it should consider developing a strategic plan focusing on the unique aspects of its built and natural heritage elements, the people who live there and who have come before, as well as the potential use and application of any man-made interventions including the use of technology and passive non-technological designs. Such a strategic plan must develop a comprehensive inventory of the city’s man-made and natural resources and identify all existing and potential initiatives that could be applied to preserve and maintain these heritage aspects of the city. Public policies and programmes that aim to support its preservation and maintenance should be developed which would establish heritage conservation districts, sites and artifacts as well as the indigenous culture, language and other aspects of their way of life. Such a strategy should also include setting aside annual funding and programmes to encourage continuous improvement of these heritage aspects of a community through community engagement and public education programmes. All of these strategies can be aided through the use and application of broadband-enabled sensors, data analytics and the advanced use of technological tools such as AI, AR and VR.
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