Valuing Urban Heritage Through Participatory Heritage Websites: Citizen Perceptions of Historic Urban Landscapes

Dynamic Urban Landscapes

A vital characteristic of cities is that they are ever-changing (Zancheti & Jokilehto, 1997). Extensive urban developments or mass tourism, for example, can potentially alter the look and feel of cities when the number of large-scale offices and hotels increases. Many cities are thus changing significantly as they seek to compete and innovate within a global economy (Taylor, 2016). Indeed, the HUL recommendation (UNESCO, 2011) notes, “[R]apid and frequently uncontrolled development is transforming urban areas and their settings, which may cause fragmentation and deterioration to urban heritage with deep impacts on community values, throughout the world.”

Given the dynamic nature of cities, it is vital to find ways to manage urban development. This is precisely what the HUL recommendation does in its attempt to integrate heritage conservation and urban planning. Instead of understanding heritage as static, this approach seeks to preserve it through change. As Bandarin (2015) argues, it is an illusion to think that particular sections of a city can be conserved by shielding them from urban developments: “This was perhaps possible for monuments, individual buildings and archaeological areas. It proved impossible for a living open system like a city, no matter how historic and protected” (p. 2). In that sense, it is more fruitful to identify moderate forms of urban development that preserve the unique character and identity of a place; for example, change and conservation are integrated when new uses are found for older parts of a city, such as industrial areas.

To manage change in dynamic urban landscapes, the contemporary meanings of urban heritage for local communities need to be considered in urban planning (Taylor, 2016). The character of an urban landscape is largely shaped by the ways in which people use it and the social practices taking place in it (Angrisano et al., 2016). As cities host many different communities, this implies that the values attributed to the urban landscape are equally diverse and not static (Taylor, 2016).

Multilayered Urban Landscapes

The HUL recommendation addresses the dynamic nature of urban landscapes by regarding them as multilayered (UNESCO, 2011): “The historic urban landscape is the urban area understood as the result of a historic layering of cultural and natural values and attributes” (para. 8). These layers represent the traditions and experiences of the times in which they were formed. Successive generations and urban communities each contribute to the further development of urban landscapes by responding to their cultural, social, and physical environment. This implies that every new layer adds to the rich and diverse heritage of cities.

To assess this urban heritage, the HUL recommendation introduces a distinction between attributes and values. Attributes refer to what is preserved in urban landscapes, encompassing both intangible and tangible heritage (Veldpaus, 2015). Over the years, the scope of what is defined as heritage has broadened to include “living,” intangible heritage, such as traditions and rituals (Aikawa-Faure, 2009; Graham, 2002; Vecco, 2010). Furthermore, we can observe the growing attention paid to the contemporary meanings and the values attached to heritage (Bandarin, 2015). These values concern the reasons why people want to protect heritage attributes (e.g., aesthetic, historic, and social values). Instead of conflating attributes and values, which often happens in the literature, Veldpaus (2015) succinctly clarifies the distinction between the two terms: “Attributes are what we value, or what creates values, and the values are the reason(s) why a resource is valuable” (p. 128). She goes on to explain (pp. 135-136) that the two concepts could offer a more neutral, open, and socially just way of assessing urban heritage, because a landscape may consist of diverse and conflicting attributes and values.

A growing concern with more democratic forms of heritage valuing can be observed, following on from the insight that what is defined as heritage is not intrinsic to the heritage artifact but, rather, is constructed through present-day decisions that are generally made by heritage experts (Rivero, 2017; Smith, 2006; Stephenson, 2008). These expert-driven decision-making processes have been criticized for being too top-down, thereby neglecting the views of citizens and communities (Schofield, 2014; Van der Auwera, Vandesande, & Van Balen, 2015). Jones (2017) observes that expert views can be biased toward specific types of value:

I argue that expert-driven modes of significance assessment tend to focus on historic and scientific values, and consequently often fail to capture the dynamic, iterative and embodied nature of people’ s relationships with the historic environment in the present. (p. 22)

Similarly, it has been observed that the focus on famous buildings as isolated objects leads to an aesthetic bias (Smith, 2015; Taylor, 2016). This orientation privileges the perspective of professionals, such as architectural historians, instead of paying attention to the social meanings that heritage has for contemporary communities. Such concerns are acknowledged in the HUL recommendation as it explicitly addresses social values and seeks to let underrepresented groups participate in urban conservation.

To recognize the identifications that citizens have with cities, attention needs to be paid to the memories associated with urban landscapes (Hoelscher & Alderman, 2004). As Zancheti and Loretto (2015) argue, memories provide continuity in a context of change: “The meanings carried forward from the past are grasped by virtue of the memory of individuals, with the help of instruments that support social memory such as books, documents, photographs, buildings and so forth” (p. 85). In the digital age, the World Wide Web has emerged as a new place where the meanings of urban landscapes are discussed and remembered (Affleck & Kvan, 2008; Freeman, 2018; Gregory, 2015).

Mediated Urban Landscapes

Online media increasingly shape the ways in which people interact with each other and their urban environment (Couldry & Hepp, 2016; Silberman & Purser, 2012). The Internet is used through, for example, smartphones for instant communication and access to information such as maps and timetables. Social media in particular are places where online interactions and sharing user-generated content thrive (Giaccardi, 2012).

Online media are also vital tools for involving citizens in the conservation of urban heritage (Giaccardi, 2012; Van der Hoeven, 2016). Indeed, the HUL recommendation encourages “the use of information and communication technology to document, understand and present the complex layering of urban areas and their constituent components” (UNESCO, 2011, Article 27). It does not, however, consider how media and communication actually constitute our experience of urban landscapes. In fact, the emerging literature on the HUL approach also seems to largely ignore the fact that urban landscapes are increasingly mediated through mass and online media. ²

Nevertheless, if we turn to the fields of media studies and urban branding, there is growing evidence that the media are actually fundamental to our engagement with cities. According to Georgiou (2011), the “media and ICTs provide the technological infrastructure to connect, communicate and exchange information within the city and beyond, consumed by its inhabitants, prospective inhabitants, visitors and audiences” (p. 346). Local governments use the media to communicate a favorable image to attract tourists and investors (Graham, 2002; Oguztimur & Akturan, 2016; Paganoni, 2015) and to garner support for architectural projects in a city (Jensen, 2007). The ways in which the identities of cities are portrayed in the media narratives of, for example, movies and journalism, shape how these places are experienced (Milestone, 2008; Reijnders, 2016). Such media representations of cities (e.g., “a city of love,” “a modern city,” “a multicultural city”), in turn, affect urban policies. Arguably, a city that communicates an urban brand of being modern and forward looking is more likely to invest in urban development than protect its heritage. The media thus represent and shape the character of cities.

In the context of this article, it is particularly vital to consider how the heritage of a city is mediated through online media. The Internet has enriched the ways in which urban heritage is preserved and represented. Processes of digitization have rendered heritage collections more accessible, enabling people to explore archives from their home (Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt & Aljas, 2009). Furthermore, interactive social media enable users to become active participants in the conservation of urban heritage (Giaccardi, 2012; Roud-Cunliffe & Copeland, 2017). This feeds into the trend of a participatory culture, in which audiences have more communication tools at their disposal to produce and share content (Freeman, 2018). Heritage institutions such as archives and museums invite their audiences to participate in urban heritage practices; in crowdsourcing initiatives, for example, audiences contribute to tasks such as the tagging of heritage artifacts (Ridge, 2014). Furthermore, heritage institutions solicit neighborhood stories through local memory websites (De Kreek & Van Zoonen, 2013). In fact, Internet users can bypass established institutions by setting up their own initiatives, such as heritage-oriented city blogs, local Wikipedia pages, or Facebook groups dedicated to the heritage of a city (Giaccardi, 2012; Gregory, 2015; Lewi et al., 2016). These grassroots initiatives are often strongly embedded in the community and could raise awareness about heritage narratives such as the experiences of minority groups that are underrepresented in established heritage organizations (Caswell & Mallick, 2014). Furthermore, they can mobilize people around shared interests and bolster a sense of belonging among participants (Gregory, 2015; Silberman & Purser, 2012).

Participatory Heritage Websites and the HUL Approach

This literature review has discussed the shift in focus from isolated heritage objects to a more dynamic conceptualization of urban heritage (Zancheti & Jokilehto, 1997; Zancheti & Loretto, 2015). Furthermore, it has been argued that existing value typologies have neglected the perspectives of citizens and intangible aspects of heritage (Taylor, 2016). Despite these criticisms, statements of value are still widely used because conservation is impossible without first considering the significance of heritage. Instead of abandoning the values approach altogether, Fredheim and Khalaf (2016) argue for a broader conceptualization of value that addresses these challenges. Against this background, I seek to extend the assessment of value to the virtual domain. Participatory heritage websites offer an accessible means of studying how citizens attach meaning to the heritage of cities.

In this study, I use the term participatory heritage websites to describe all online platforms where people are actively involved in the conservation of urban heritage (Van der Hoeven, 2018). These websites present heritage content that is either contributed by citizens on their own terms or crowdsourced by cultural institutions. Websites that merely provide access to digital archives are excluded from my definition because they do not involve user participation. To be clear, participatory heritage websites can have physical components such as a museum or meetings in which stories are collected that are subsequently posted online.

In a comparison of digital heritage applications and social media, Lewi et al. (2016) helpfully distinguish websites with a low curatorial presence (e.g., heritage-oriented Facebook groups) from highly curated sites, such as those established by institutions. Since I also included the latter group of institutional projects in this study, my definition of participatory heritage websites is broader than Roued-Cunliffe and Copeland’s (2017) understanding of participatory heritage as “a space in which individuals engage in cultural activities outside of formal institutions [italics added] for the purpose of knowledge sharing and co-creating with others” (p. XV). Although I share their concern with bottom-up heritage, I do include formal institutions because many participatory heritage websites are initiated by established heritage organizations or actively support citizen initiatives. Even if participatory heritage websites originate in an institutional context, they can still be relevant platforms for citizen engagement.

As participatory heritage websites offer a rich resource to explore the understandings that citizens have of the urban past, I will examine what kind of heritage is preserved in these online spaces (attributes) and what meanings are ascribed to heritage (values). In so doing, my study addresses the challenges of developing participatory approaches to heritage conservation and including intangible values in heritage assessments. Furthermore, my study answers the call for more research on people’s digital engagement with heritage within and outside institutional structures (King, Stark, & Cooke, 2016). This research objective ties into the existing literature that considers the everyday ways in which people engage with local heritage as meaningful constructions of heritage value (Atkinson, 2007; Taylor, 2016; Jones, 2017; Rivero, 2017).

Built Environment and Public Space

This first heritage attribute category is concerned with the visual appearance and architecture of cities, as well as the ways in which the built environment and public space are experienced. This includes how people navigate the city using urban forms of transport. The webpage titled “Memory of the Amsterdam Trams,” for example, presents the heritage of the different tramlines in this city. ⁴ Furthermore, many websites are focused on specific buildings (e.g., churches), architectural styles, or architects.

These heritage attributes are presented through photos, maps, personal memories, and the histories of buildings or specific spaces. To illustrate, the website “Memory of East” presents memories and photos of a former nursing home in Amsterdam that later became a music venue and a hotel. As cities are dynamic, participatory heritage websites document the ways in which past urban planning decisions shape the contemporary built environment.

Rather than focusing on the built environment and the public space, the next categories of heritage attribute are dedicated to what is happening in these places.

Social Fabric and Identity

Many of the contributions by citizens address the social fabric and identity of cities or neighborhoods. This includes the social relationships between people, as these are formed in, for example, school, religious institutions, and community centers. Identity refers to the character of a place and its citizens. Among other things, urban dialects and traditional costumes are discussed on the websites as expressions of identity.

Some of the websites specifically raise awareness of the heritage of minority groups, such as migrants or those who are LGBT. The multilayered nature of urban landscapes implies that different groups contribute in diverse ways to the heritage of cities. In 2014, for example, the oral history project “Memories of the Hague” commemorated the arrival of Turkish guest workers 50 years earlier. The website shares the memories of first- and second-generation Turkish people in this city. Another example is the website “OUT!”—which is entirely dedicated to the spaces and events associated with LGBT communities in Manchester.

Culture and Leisure

Although “culture and leisure” are arguably also part of the social fabric of cities, they warrant a different category. In many cases, these attributes have a separate section on websites or even a dedicated project. Examples include websites focused on the popular music heritage of cities, such as music venues and local bands from the past, and people sharing memories of particular football teams. This category also includes the nightlife of cities: pubs, clubs, and cinemas that have disappeared over the years. Of course, these attributes are strongly connected to the first category of the built environment, as culture always takes place in specific buildings or public spaces. The presence of culture and leisure on the websites underscores the finding from earlier research that former recreational spaces can be part of the collective memory of a neighborhood (Madgin, Bradley, & Hastings, 2016; Rivero, 2017). It has been observed in those studies that the disappearance of such spaces often evokes a sense of loss.

Business and Industry

The next category of attributes concerns urban businesses and industries. On the various websites, people often recall shops and companies that existed in the past or have a long local history. These companies can actually be part of the social fabric of cities, as they provided jobs to a large number of people. This is particularly the case when specific neighborhoods were built to house the employees of a company. An example is the website dedicated to what used to be the largest shipyard in Amsterdam (“Ndsm-werfmuseum.nl”). This website, which was set up by a former employee, provides historical photos and information about the ships that were built at this location and the people who worked there. It also provides an overview of how this urban area has changed over the years. As the shipyard was part of the cityscape because of its sheer size, it arguably also relates to the category “built environment and public space.”

Politics and Public Order

The final category focuses on the politicians and policy makers whose decisions have shaped urban developments. “WaalwijkWiki,” for example, discusses the biographies and accomplishments of every mayor in the city of Waalwijk. This category of heritage attributes also includes the maintenance of security and public order in cities. Tragic events such as terrorism, wars, natural disasters, and fires can have a huge impact on the look and feel of cities. These kinds of topic are remembered on many of the websites in my sample. The “Aston Brook Through Aston Manor” website, for instance, shares memories of a survivor of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings carried out by the Irish Republican Army. This illustrates how the websites also pay attention to the ways in which unfortunate events affected the built environment and social life in cities.

Experiential Value

Because of the large-scale commemorations here in South-East Brabant, I was thinking of the war and the liberation of Tilburg—as far as I can remember that period as a kid of four or five years old at the time. . . . So this isn’t a historical account at all, but perhaps my peers also have some memories to write about. (Geheugenvantilburg.nl)

As a small kid, I went to the Heinze School in Amsterdam. This school was next to a block of houses designed by Piet Kramer. The teaching style of this school didn’t work for me, so I went to another primary in Cornelis Dirkz Street. This school was also in an environment full of Amsterdam School architecture. Perhaps it’s in those years that my love for the remarkable form language of this movement started. (Amsterdamse-school.nl)

Experiential value is a new category that, to my knowledge, is not a part of existing value typologies. This concerns the ways in which people relate urban heritage to their own lives. As the quotations illustrate, participatory heritage websites have a strong focus on contributions by citizens. Consequently, much of the content deals with how individuals experienced certain events and places. This value thus captures the personal significance attached to urban heritage, as expressed through memories, emotions, and opinions. Furthermore, it includes personal statements about the look and feel of urban heritage. Underscoring this personal engagement with heritage, the second quotation illustrates how a user relates biographical experiences (i.e., where he grew up) to architectural heritage (i.e., the architectural style of the Amsterdam School).

The emotions expressed on the website can involve a sense of nostalgia, as the content seems to make people aware of the passage of time. Furthermore, the personal perspective of this category implies that people use the websites to give their opinions in response to urban heritage. The images and stories from the past prompt people to reflect on how cities have changed for the better or worse. As one user laments in response to a blog post by the Bijlmer Museum website on past urban planning ideas for a neighborhood in Amsterdam, “There is so much that could have been different and better in our beautiful neighborhood!” Reflecting on the provocative plans that did not make it (e.g., a drive-in theater and a skate park), he conjectures how the urban planners and architects seem to have turned the area into an “ordinary and cozy place,” attracting “somewhat boring and colorless people.”

Social Value

By sharing the lost and forgotten parts of the city it reminds us to take stock of where we come from and what it is that gives this great city its unique identity. We aspire to grow as a modern, vibrant city that remains firmly connected to its heritage by celebrating the remaining tangible links to the past. (Hiddenbrum.com)

Above all we tell them of the Aston people, of hard-collaring and community-minded folk who’d never back down from a fight but would give you the world if they’d had it. I’m proud to have Aston in my blood. (Astonbrook-through-astonmanor.co.uk)

Jones (2017) defines social value as “a collective attachment to place that embodies meanings and values that are important to a community or communities” (p. 22). She goes on to explain that this encompasses “the ways in which the historic environment provides a basis for identity, distinctiveness, belonging and social interaction” (p. 22).

The presence of this value on the websites is reflected in the quotations above, which specifically discuss the unique identities of Birmingham and the ward of Aston, respectively. These websites demonstrate that people derive a sense of pride from heritage attributes. The dialect of a city and its cultural achievements, for example, provide people with a sense of belonging. Finally, the social value of the websites is also apparent in the ways in which they are used by people to find old neighbors and friends. This category is different from experiential value because social values concern collective meanings and the social relationships between people, instead of merely personal perspectives.

Historical Value

I aim for a historical reconstruction of these companies. However, I’m aware that the content of this website will never be complete. Over the years, the number of occupations, departments and technologies is too large in complexity and diversity for one person to describe. I aspire to again put a face to NSM, NDM and NDSM, but to achieve that I will always need more information, corrections and contributions in whatever form. (Ndsm-werfmuseum.nl)

The action group Zaanse pop history aims to create an overview of the complete history of popular music from the Zaan district in the period from the late fifties until the present day. (Zaansepophistorie.nl)

Historical value concerns the ways in which participatory heritage websites contribute to our understanding of how cities have evolved to the places we know today. Through the participation of, among others, volunteering citizens and “amateur experts” (Baym & Burnett, 2009), the websites aim to make urban histories more complete. As the quotations illustrate, the initiators seek to fill historical gaps by collecting as much information as possible about specific topics such as local culture and architecture. In so doing, they uncover the multiple layers of historical knowledge associated with urban landscapes.

This category of historical value is different from the first two categories as it largely focuses on factual information about the past. However, it would be wrong to assume that experiential and social values are entirely separate from this category. In fact, it can be useful for historians to learn more about how people experienced events in the past. As Caswell and Mallick (2014) argue about “participatory microhistory projects” in which communities share stories, “These projects can successfully contribute to archives by filling in historical gaps, by documenting emotion and affect, and by directly involving community members in the archival endeavour” (p. 83).

In many cases, participatory websites have particular aims in mind for these collections of historical data. The next two quotations demonstrate the focus on educational and research purposes:

One of the other intended uses of this map and the concept is to act as a resource for education and PhD research . . . or as a reference work for historical events. (Financieelerfgoedopdekaart.nl)

In 2012, the national archive reported that this website will be preserved for future research. This means that the “memory of Tilburg,” which exists thanks to the contributions by people from Tilburg themselves, is of national interest. (Geheugenvantilburg.nl)

Although a study of the actual applications of historical knowledge would require additional research, such as interviews with users, my content analysis does provide insight into the intended uses and some of the benefits that people derive from them. The website mentioned earlier about the shipyard in Amsterdam provides an overview of the different motivations that people had for contacting the initiator about the website’s content. This includes the provision of information and photos for educational projects, publications such as history books, interviews for local and national media, heritage tours, and genealogy research. Furthermore, the descriptions in Appendix A show that the initiators of participatory heritage websites often collaborate with other organizations to host activities such as guided tours and workshops. These diverse uses of this particular project illustrate how participatory heritage websites can serve a wide range of contemporary purposes.