Changing the conversation about heritage: Donovan Rypkema
Debates around heritage can often be polarising, with arguments for and against resulting in more heat than light.
The former State Labor Government took an adversarial approach to heritage, with the former Planning Minister proposing a number of measures to dilute or remove heritage protections, pursuing a simplistic ‘pro-development, anti-heritage’ agenda.
For the past 10 years, South Australia has lagged the rest of the country in investing in heritage conservation and in improving heritage protections. The one exception has been the Adelaide City Council, whose investment through its heritage incentives program leads the nation.
The National Trust aims to change the conversation around heritage in South Australia so that the true value of heritage is recognised and that the opportunities it presents are fully realised. As Rypkema argues, heritage conservation can be one of the most productive forms of economic development.
As part of that changing that conversation, in partnership with the Adelaide City Council, the National Trust has invited to South Australia one to the world’s foremost heritage economists, Donovan Rypkema, principal of PlaceEconomics, based in Washington DC, Rypkema has worked in more than fifty countries to help identify and realise the many benefits of heritage conservation. He brings the intellectual rigor of an economics background to the complex problem of conserving and utilising our heritage assets.
Tonight, at 5pm, the Adelaide Town Hall Donovan Rypkema is giving a free public lecture on the economic value of heritage to our cities.
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