Effects of urbanizati on onhistorical heritage buildings in Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

Urbanization is a common and inevitable occurrence everywhere. While growth and expansion are beneficial for manypeople and businesses, there is apotential for loss of historical areas that are the heritage value to people. This paper investigates the effects of urbanization on the heritage buildings in the historical-heritage temple town of Kumbakonam in Tamilnadu, India. Heritage temple towns are frequent targets for the rapid transition to urbanization that is often accompanied by alteration of historical areas. The primary objective of this study was to identify how urbanization could change the heritage characteristics in a temple town. An ordinal regression model was used to analyze urbanization data from the heritage town of Kumbakonam. Our findings revealed specific physical, socioeconomic, and sociocultural factors of urbanization that caused identifiable and significant changes in the heritage characteristics of Kumbakonam. These factors play a significant role and wouldaid in the implementation of the Local Development Plan (LDP) for sustainable urban growth and preservation of the heritage character of Kumbakonam.

Key words： Urbanization; Built heritage; Historic town; Kumbakonam