Systemic Approaches in Revitalization of Semarang Old City Heritage Site: From Neglected Area to Tourism Destination

Abstract

Many heritage areas, with different typologies, problems, and existing levels of decays, in several countries, were left abandoned and causing various economic, social, and urban complications. Some typologies of urban heritage areas often found in previous studies are ex-colonial settlement, industrial cultural-heritage, park, ancient cemetery, etc. The typical problems that repeatedly occurred, such as decays, depreciation of land value, and safety/security issues, show that although located in different places, urban heritage areas might face the same glitches. The existing condition of those places are ranging from relatively well preserved, regular, medium severe, severely damaged, and even totally damaged, thus needed to be taken care of using different conservation approaches; preservation, reconstruction, restoration, and (or) adaptation. Despite the current conditions, such sites are nowadays considered as an essential part of humans’ and cities’ history. Some of those heritage sites face challenges in gaining sustainable conservation in cultural, environmental, social, economic, and territorial aspects. They usually have been left behind by their “enablers” that previously led the growth of these areas, not to mention the specific and latent characteristics of the urban heritage area that could be very different from today’s urban ecosystem. One current case worth to be observed is Semarang Old City (Kota Lama Semarang), a previously abandoned ex-Dutch colonial towns located in Java Island, Indonesia, that shows interesting trends of ups and downs throughout this last century. This urban heritage area, being left abandoned for decades, finally emerges as a new tourism destination in Central Java province within the last couple of years. The booming visits of tourists and enthusiasts is a remarkable phenomenon to be studied since numbers of researches on the same cases in other countries show various impacts regarding the sustainability of such urban heritage areas. This article aims to identify the strategic approach in the revitalization of the Semarang Old City urban heritage area using six critical steps from the Historic Urban Landscape Approach and principles of Urban Facility Management. METHODOLOGY: This qualitative study uses literature research and observational technique to obtain information and conduct a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon; RESULTS: the matriculation table resulted in this article is a useful resource to understand the strategic approach in the management of urban heritage conservation, so that the stakeholders of any specific urban heritage in general, and Kota Lama Semarang in specific, could benefit from the knowledge, and therefore contribute more according to their individual and collective roles; TYPE OF PAPER: Viewpoint paper.