Daniel O'Hare

Making heritage in an Australian coastal tourist resort: Constructing a cultural landscape through a comparative narrative

Abstract The concept of cultural landscape embodies a dynamic understanding of history, in which past, present and future are seamlessly connected. This paper, drawn from a larger research project investigating the integration of tourism in small coastal settlements, introduces a multi‐method research strategy for interpreting cultural landscapes of tourism. The case study of a well‐known resort area on the east coast of Australia demonstrates the dynamic relationship between patterns in the landscape narrative and patterns in the built environment of small coastal settlements. In Noosa, a distinctive built form has evolved in parallel with the narrative of the place as a relaxed but stylish resort village dominated by nature. Both the narrative and physical landscape have been shaped by local and external processes of constant comparison and contrast with well known Australian and international coastal resorts. The paper illustrates how recurring themes in the local dialogue of place have flowed between ...

‘Sahaspura’: the first high-rise housing project for low-income people in Colombo, Sri Lanka

‘Sahaspura’, the first high-rise low-income housing project in Sri Lanka, was completed in 2001, and the project was a new experience both for low-income people and for housing professionals in the country. Consisting of 671 housing units over 14 floors, the construction of Sahaspura was not just a housing project, but it was one outcome of an entire city development under the Sustainable Township Development Programme (STP). The mission of STP was to help Sri Lanka meet the shelter requirements of the urban poor by creating socially acceptable, economically viable and environmentally friendly housing and urban and spatial developments to ensure sustainable living in Colombo. The Sahaspura high-rise low-income housing project was the pilot project under the STP, and this paper discusses to what extent Sahaspura has achieved the STP mission to ensure sustainable living, 12 years after its construction.

Australian cultural built heritage: Stakeholders' perceived conservation barriers and motivations

Abstract Stakeholders are recognised as drivers of effective conservation of cultural built heritage. Yet, as stakeholders have eclectic views in terms of their interest in, knowledge of and perceptions about the management of historic fabric, their practices are often diverse. The objective of this paper is to gain an understanding of the stakeholders’ views drawn from relevant professional field on the issues that act as barriers to conservation and identify the factors that motivate built heritage management in Australia. Using a qualitative research design, two focus groups were conducted in Queensland and New South Wales with purposely selected key informants (N = 14) working in the Australian heritage sector. The study presents stakeholders’ interest in managing built heritage and the perceptions concerning the application of conservation policy and practices in the Australian built heritage sector, as influenced by the interdisciplinary backgrounds of participants. The paper contributes to an in-depth understanding of the conservation barriers and motivators and their implications for policy and practices in the management of Australian built heritage. The study is based on the perceptions of key informants with diverse interests and knowledge about the conservation of cultural built heritage; this makes the research analysis and implications inclusive and influential from both theoretical and practical points of view.