Maitri will give a presentation at the Department of Conservation on the 2nd of November from 15:00 – 17:00 (CET), which can be followed on Zoom. For more information and the Zoom-link visit the website of University of Gothenburg.
Abstract from Maitri Dore:
Major urban infrastructure projects in old cities often encounter material historical features during planning or execution, presenting several challenges for local heritage management. Using the cases of the West Link train tunnel in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Mumbai Metro, India, the seminar will discuss how public actors deal with loss of heritage in situations of large urban development.
The results in the case of the West Link show that compensation as an approach is mobilised as a response to loss, wherein compensation takes the form of storytelling. The seminar will discuss how storytelling is attempted (for example, by exposing archaeological finds and incorporating them into art and architecture), and its scope. It will also discuss how compensation is understood by the actors more broadly, and other actions that may or may not count towards it.
In the Mumbai Metro case, the seminar will focus on the larger context of heritage conservation in Mumbai and India. These results help give an understanding of the ecosystem in which the case is embedded, and serve as groundwork for more in-depth fieldwork at a later stage in the PhD. Based on the results so far, heritage is seen to be dealt with through preservation of built fabric. There are additionally several issues related to corruption and government apathy, lack of awareness, and heritage conservation, in general, being a low priority.
Points for discussion include the question of connecting two vastly disparate cases, while evaluating them on their own merits and applying context-specific theory to each.