Galle Fort

At the intersection of lived experience and heritage conservation, Galle Fort emerges as a living and evolving World Heritage site shaped as much by its resident community as by its historic fabric. This book foregrounds the perspectives of the residents, often marginalised yet critical stakeholders who actively contribute to sustaining the site’s identity, authenticity and cultural significance. By endorsing the significance of residents' heritage values, conceptualised as living heritage values, the book advocates for a more inclusive, holistic, and socially democratic conservation process aimed at sustaining and prioritising the continuity of communities in place. Methodologically, it offers insights into the identification and interpretation of heritage values within lived contexts. By juxtaposing community-derived values with conventional, expert-defined frameworks, the study reveals inherent tensions within the management of living heritage sites. The book ultimately calls for socially responsible and context-sensitive conservation praxis. While grounded in the case of Galle Fort, its theoretical and practical implications extend to a broader range of urban living heritage contexts, enriching contemporary debates on the values-based approach to conservation.