October 21, 2004
By Lucille Davie
CARING for the historical environment of a city should be seen as a catalyst for economic development of the city, mostly in the form of "encouraging investment, regenerating depressed neighbourhoods and creating jobs", and in the process, helping the City to achieve its 2030 goals.
This is the premise of the City's Arts, Culture and Heritage Services' Heritage Policy Framework, recently approved by the mayoral committee.
"Heritage resources are viewed as positive instruments for growth and change and identified as a major driver of inner city revitalisation," says the report.
The 21-page document outlines the policy for managing Joburg's heritage resources, in compliance with international conservation practice and in accordance with the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999. The challenge, according to the document, is not only to preserve the city's historic resources, but to use them as "positive instruments for growth and change".
Furthermore, in a globalised world, it is "only cities with a strong sense of place" that will stand out and promote a local identity, "ensuring that a place has historic depth, interest, image and meaning".
The framework elaborates: "Johannesburg's heritage creates a unique sense of place and has a critical role to play in the construction of a World Class African City as envisioned by Council. Key assets from Johannesburg's past provide the makings, in cultural terms, of a world class African city which is at the same time both cosmopolitan and distinctively African."
Heritage or cultural tourism is the fastest growing area of the tourism industry worldwide, and it therefore offers a firm source of income and employment. Heritage tourists "tend to visit more places, stay longer and spend more money than other visitors", providing benefits in terms of the development of an area as a result of "renewed interest, confidence and investment".
For these reasons, it is imperative that Johannesburg preserve its heritage creatively and sensitively.
Heritage agencies
Heritage resources are managed by several agencies. On the national level, the South African Heritage Resources Agency has responsibility for nationally significant resources. The Provincial Heritage Resources Authority of Gauteng (PHRAG) oversees provincial or regional heritage resources, and the local authorities are concerned with implementing the bylaws under the resources act, specifically approving and supplying permission to alter or demolish structures older than 60 years.
The City can only establish a heritage management structure once the PHRAG has declared it competent to carry out these responsibilities, a procedure not yet complete.
Heritage buildings
The greatest concentration of the city's heritage buildings is in the CBD and older residential areas like Fordsburg, Brixton, Bertrams, Jeppestown and Yeoville, each of which have their distinct contribution to make to the city's heritage register. In some cases it's Edwardian-style buildings (Brixton), in others it's Art Deco and Modern Movement styles (Yeoville), while others simply contain some of the city's oldest surviving buildings (Jeppestown).
In the absence of a clear heritage policy, some of the city's major heritage buildings, like the Rissik Street Post Office, the Barbican or the second Trades Hall (both in Rissik Street), have deteriorated and have subsequently been bricked or boarded up, in an effort to arrest this decay.
The Inner City Regeneration Programme and the Better Buildings Programme have played a role in reclaiming and rehabilitating run-down buildings, although in most cases these are often residential buildings and not buildings of heritage value.
Heritage register
The framework indicates that at present there is no comprehensive listing of Johannesburg's heritage. This means that there is no "consistent definition of what constitutes heritage or what is considered significant". The result of this is that neither city officials nor owners of property can easily ascertain whether a building is significant or not.
One way of working around this is to have a Johannesburg City Heritage Register, listing property of significant heritage value. This will allow the city to conduct a heritage impact assessment before issuing a renovation or demolition permit to prospective developers.
The city is obliged in terms of the act to supply the provincial body with this inventory, for inclusion on their provincial heritage roll.
The criteria for listing a building or area worthy of inclusion on the inventory are:
- social and cultural significance - an association with an important social pattern or belief system, or the esteem with which it is held by a community;
- historical significance - where a notable figure, organisation, event or period has a claim;
- archaeological significance - its contribution to understanding prehistoric or early human settlement;
- architectural significance - the representation of a particular building type, style, period or major architect;
- aesthetic significance - for its beauty or the creativity in the methods or materials used;
- scientific and technological significance - scientific, industrial and technical innovations linked to a particular period;
- group and relationship significance - its degree of unity in relation to scale, form, materials or other elements in its setting or surrounding buildings, which could include streetscapes and heritage areas;
- landmark significance - the degree to which an area or building is significant in the consciousness of a community.
The policy framework outlines a five-point plan for dealing with heritage resources under the city's control and ownership. Firstly, an ongoing maintenance programme for these sites and resources should be put in place. Secondly, an internal monitoring process should be instituted. Thirdly, these resources should be restored according to internationally recognised conservation standards. Fourthly, the city should place interpretive plaques on these heritage sites. And lastly, all these sites should in time receive legal protection.
Heritage principles
The City recognises that its heritage resources are "unique, finite and irreplaceable and must be conserved for future generations". To this end it is proposing that the
Burra Charter of 1999, a set of internationally accepted principles for the conservation of places of cultural significance, be adopted.
The charter states that besides understanding the significance of heritage places, the sites are preserved "by doing as much as necessary to preserve their fabric but as little as possible to alter it". At the same time, records must be kept of whatever is done.
The framework calls for a need to balance the needs of specially significant heritage sites against less significant sites which may be changed and developed.
Heritage management unit
The Arts, Culture and Heritage Services intends setting up a Heritage Management Unit which will carry out an ongoing programme for identifying, listing and researching heritage resources, co-ordinating their efforts with other city departments and liaising with the national and provincial resources agencies.
Permission to demolish buildings shall only be given when loss or damage to cultural property is unavoidable, and in such cases, a careful record of the dynamics of the building should be kept as well as the possible retention of architectural and other artefacts before demolition takes place.
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