Revitalization of historic temple precincts in urban core areas – a socio-cultural assessment

Abstract

Urban revitalization is a viable approach to revive historic temple precincts which imbibe physical, social and cultural aspects of not only bygone times but the present, woven seamlessly into the precinct's functioning, offering a rich cultural milieu. This paper discusses the case of one such revitalization project of the 'Tali Temple Tank Precinct' in Calicut City, Kerala; to demonstrate the value added to society through such initiatives. A mixed-methods approach was adopted to gauge socio-cultural factors contributing to perceptions of success and failure of the project. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 20 key stakeholders within the temple tank precinct. Thematic analysis of responses suggests that a relatively high percentage of respondents appreciate the revitalization, as it contributes to maintaining the cultural character and integrity of the temple heritage precinct while solving societal challenges and issues. The study underscores the need for community stakeholder participation during developmental stages of the project, and to carry out subsequent community perception assessments. This will allow successes or failures to be monitored and measured for sustainable development or remedial interventions and improvements. Such a cyclic process of management for the urban revitalization of sacred precincts will enable it to be genuinely appreciated and successful.

Keywords

• urban heritage
• urban conservation
• cultural heritage
• stakeholder participation
• sustainable development