PARADIGM SHIFTS IN URBAN HERITAGE CONSERVATION: THE CASE OF CLARKE QUAY CONSERVATION AREA

Abstract

Unlike preservation, urban conservation faces the pressure to change and adapt to new economic and socio-cultural conditions. There exists paradigm shifts in urban heritage conservation to emphasise increasingly on intangible values of places rather than a sole focus of the tangible aspects, hence strategies of conservation reflect the change in theory. Urban heritage conservation requires justification of why, what and how we conserve in response to the underlying philosophy. This paper questions the translation of paradigm shifts and approaches of urban conservation in Singapore. How did the public-private partnership really contribute to urban heritage conservation given the paradigm shifts? Has the value of conservation been overshadowed by economical benefits as the conserved areas continue to develop over the years? Which paradigm does Singapore fit in today? Clarke Quay conservation area, is an example that has already undergone a second phase of development. It will be analysed as a case study to illustrate the complexities and inadequacy faced in Singapore's urban conservation. A consolidation of historical accounts, official documentation, maps and photographs form the basis to the study of urban changes within the two phases of conservation. This research hypothesises that in the case of Clarke Quay, intangible aspects of the place has been devalued overtime by the conservation strategies employed, but it is also given the historical contexts of these warehouses and shophouses that poses an issue as to how such values can be retained in practice without impeding development.