VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages

Abstract

The East End of Sunderland in the United Kingdom, the home of a wide range of industries, was not only marginalized as a consequence of the deindustrialization and slum clearances but also the area was physically segregated and isolated from the rest of the city with the construction of a ring road. There is an ongoing heritage-led regeneration project in Sunderland aiming to reinvigorate the city and engage the community with their heritage. Through the investigation of this regeneration project, the perception of the heritage of different groups within the local community and the conservation approach of the local authority will be unpacked. I will present the notion of industrial heritage for varied groups among the residents of a specific area and present the unexpected findings that indicate the connection to the past could be found in any form and conservation could be performed in various ways. Heritage may cultivate both diversity and inclusion if we look beyond the conventional ways of heritage thinking. Through a discussion on the transience and change in the notion of heritage and the reification of temporality through acts of conservation, this paper criticizes the conventional conservation approaches and seeks alternatives in unconventional ways of heritage thinking and raises the questions of what is heritage, why we conserve and whether conservation was decided by an individual or by collective reasoning. The heritage of a place is not only formed by physical or material aspects but also comprises experiences and actions happening within the tangible background that create collective memories and are communicated with stories and narratives related to the place. Heritage is a manifestation of memory, identity, sense of belonging, and sense of place. Regeneration should not be executed without understanding the context. Therefore, while ‘levelling up’ the city, it is crucial to consider different dimensions of heritage.