Thesis

The complexities of cultural heritage management : a case study of Edinburgh's Old and New Towns World Heritage Site

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2012
Thesis identifier
  • T13366
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • This dissertation explores the difficulties of cultural heritage management through the lens of stakeholder theory. The literature review examined the current body of academic research in the areas of cultural heritage management, World Heritage Sites, stakeholder collaboration within cultural heritage management, and stakeholder theory. The literature uncovered that, despite the wealth of research in respects to the difficulties of cultural heritage management, and the prevailing discourse of stakeholder collaboration, there appears to be an overly prescriptive and positivist approach to research in both fields. Interestingly, in relation to cultural heritage management research, few studies focus on the managers and how dealing with multiple stakeholders impacts on their decisions and administration of heritage sites; instead tend to focus on local communities and the tourism industry. Therefore, this research aimed to get to the core of these managerial complexities through a case study analysis of Edinburgh's Old and New Towns, a United Kingdom World Heritage Site. The information gathered for this research was accomplished through a series of semi-structured interviews with managers responsible for the administration of Edinburgh's World Heritage. This research found that Edinburgh's heritage managers faced many of the common problems already professed throughout academia. However, unlike past research this study investigated deeper into the heritage manager's role. This included highlighting the pressures on daily activities and administrative decisions, and the institutional difficulties which dominate managerial roles. Also, this research demonstrates that while stakeholder collaboration can lead to constructive frameworks for successful heritage management, this is over ambitious. This is because, in Edinburgh's case, many managerial difficulties originate from stakeholder groups pressure regardless of managerial actions to encourage collaboration. Additionally, deeper analysis discovered numerous issues which current studies fail to fully acknowledge. This includes the pressures of inter-managerial relationships, and the need for development in the face of persistent opposition.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Created
  • 2012
Former identifier
  • 988699

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