Paramaribo inner-city conservation and development
Paramaribo’s inner-city was inscribed on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage for its Outstanding Universal Value in 2002. But current developments tend to affect the city’s authenticity and integrity in a negative way. In order to define the capacities needed to revitalize Paramaribo’s World Heritage Site, there was an explorative workshop on conservation and development of Paramaribo’s inner-city. The outcomes of this workshop are described in this report.
The city is an exceptional example of the gradual fusion of European architecture and construction techniques with indigenous South American materials and crafs to create a new architectural idiom. It is a unique example of the contact between the European culture of the Netherlands and the indigenous cultures and environment of South America in the years of intensive colonization of this region in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Notwithstanding its World Heritage status, current developments tend to affect the city’s authenticity and integrity in a negative way. To overcome these negative impacts and to provide the inner-city with a vital future perspective, Suriname requested a loan from the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB). The loan was granted and its implementation put in the hands of the Paramaribo Urban Rehabilitation Program (PURP). The aim thus is to re-create a vital inner-city.
A vital inner-city is understood as one where people live, work and pass leisure time. It is a place where culture is part of daily live and where education is embraced. In order to define the capacities needed to revitalize Paramaribo’s World Heritage Site (PWHS), PURP commissioned the execution of the ‘explorative workshop on conservation and development of Paramaribo’s inner-city’.
The workshop was executed by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science) in collaboration with the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS, Erasmus University of Rotterdam) and Stadsherstel Amsterdam. The outcomes of this workshop are described in this report.
Colofon
Authors:
Jean-Paul Corten, Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands
Nicholas Clarke and Carley Pennink, Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (Erasmus University of Rotterdam)
Paul Morel, Stadsherstel Amsterdam
Design/production: Osage/Xerox
Policy: Policy Framework on International Cultural Cooperation
© Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, Amersfoort 2024