Urban Conservation Planning Of Built Heritage In The Municipality Of Bantay, Ilocos Sur

Abstract

Bantay was once part of Vigan, a historic town uniquely preserved for its Hispanic colonial identity. Bantay’s continuous urban growth development on its urban areas displaces the town from its tangible inherited assets resulting to unvalued and abandonment of historic structures. This study examines the preservation and mapping of built heritage sites and structures of the town engaging with the challenges concerning to the gradual loss of heritage buildings’ recognition on the town’s expanding urbanization along the stretch of its urban areas. The study aims to fully understand the historical heritage significances, identify built sites and locations with heritage significance, map potential immovable tangible-built heritage structures, create a comprehensive map with multi-layered geospatial information on the locations of heritage structures and evaluate social impacts on the community. The study applies a selection of techniques and strategies to make this possible to promote community involvement, site documentation, historical analysis, and feasibility evaluations of the inventory of built heritage sites. The result of this study highlights the demand of heritage preservation balancing adaptation of heritage structures, embracing modern urban fabric within the urban areas. The study provides answers to the challenges of how historically significant structures coexist harmoniously with swiftly growing urban developments. Heritage buildings play a key role in sustainable urbanization and development which fosters a more inclusive and diverse sense of place, promotes economic growth, and enhances town’s spatial experience of its historical and cultural significance. The study contributes to the body of knowledge in the fields of urban planning and heritage preservation while proposing policy recommendations highlighting the importance of heritage preservation in forming cities.