Asean cities face uphill battle to preserve heritage

In some other Asean nations, like Thailand or Cambodia, which prioritized their tourism agenda to propel economic growth, activists are fighting a losing battle against developers for heritage preservation.

“The impact of this is the commodification of natural and cultural heritage with the results in the loss of authenticity, and sometimes irreversible damage not just to nature but also culture,” said Johannes Widodo, Professor at the National University of Singapore and a senior adviser to the Southeast Asian Cultural Heritage Alliance (SEACHA).

But through a combination of grass-root NGOs, interest groups, a wave of new youth thinking and lifestyle, some silver-linings have started to appear on the horizon which could shape the transformation of old and new cities in the years to come.

Not least, heritage and culture will be offered as among solutions to climate change – a dimension that will be featured in the upcoming COP28, according to Catrini Pratihari Kubontubuh, President, Indonesian Heritage Trust and current chair of SEACHA.

SEACHA was formed with NGOs from Asean countries as an alliance to help empower voices from the ground and help Asean governments address key heritage issues through clinics, programmes, workshops and conferences.

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