Research & Article

Dissonance is by nature a significant feature of heritage, habitually recognised in the conservation and management of the historic environment. This paper questions the benefits, in terms of the sociocultural values of urban conservation, from the intervention of tourism and gentrification in the historic quarters of Bangkok, Thailand - a living heritage place that has been struggling to cope with its own ‘people value’. The socio-political and legal conflicts over the so-called heritage properties of ‘Bangkok Old Town’ were explored through the three case study communities: Mahakan Fortress, Luen Rit and Banglamphu. These cases respectively represented the heritage dissonance of a community with the authority, with the landlord, and within the community itself. Tourism and gentrification, together a major driving force of contradiction in this context, were not marked out to take the blame but rather to emphasise the misunderstanding of heritage value that can accompany top-down policies and insensitive management. For the sake of safeguarding the cultural significance of a heritage place, the relevant policies and plans should aim to tackle the social value aspects, as constituted in the people of the place, to achieve appropriate and sustainable governance in urban conservation and heritage management.