The primary aim of this study was to determine who claims the corbelled buildings in the Karoo as their heritage and why. Through the use of vernacular architecture and heritage identification theory, interviews and research it is clear that the buildings are significant and a heritage resource. Their significance lies in their historical, social, aesthetic, symbolic and cultural values, as well as their unique vernacular construction and limited distribution. The corbelled buildings as vernacular buildings are part of the natural landscape which the local community associate as part of their identity and heritage. The buildings also possess academic and historical potential as they have the potential through further archaeological and vernacular architectural research, to provide more information on the northern frontier during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a time that is not well recorded or documented. The buildings were built in 19th century along the ‘open’ northern frontier where there was intermingling and creolisation of people from different economic and social groups. As a result, they cannot be claimed by a single group of people in the present. The vast range in types and styles of corbelled buildings indicate that they were built by most people living in the area. They can therefore, be claimed by everyone who lives in the area today. They can also be claimed as national heritage as they possess values that are common to the whole country.

The rapid post-Independence development of the city of Windhoek, Namibia; and the ensuing destruction of a substantial number of German colonial buildings in the capital city, prompted speculation as to why these buildings are inadequately protected as heritage – and whether they are, in fact, considered to be heritage. The study explores the issues pertaining to the presence of German colonial architecture, as artefacts of the German colonial period, within the postcolonial context of Windhoek. The trauma and pain of the Namibian War and genocide (1904 – 1908) are recurring themes in the body of literature on postcolonial Namibia; and this informs a wider discourse on memory. Memory is found to play a crucial role in evoking a sense of both individual and shared ownership, through its capacity to create meaning, which can in turn ascribe value to a place. Memory is also dependent on visual cues for its continued existence, which suggests the importance of colonial architecture as a material prompt to sustain memory. The research therefore investigates the memories and multiple meanings attributable to colonial architecture in this plural society, and how these meanings can be created, or possibly reinvented, through the continued use of these buildings. The study is based on an assessment of three halls in Windhoek – the Grüner Kranz Hall (1906), the Kaiserkrone Hall (1909), and the Turnhalle (1909; 1912), all designed by the German architect Otto Busch – which illustrates in part, the need for the development of historical building surveys that assess the social values and significances of these contested spaces; and moreover, the potential that these spaces have to support memory work through their continued use.

This three-year PhD study looks at heritage performance in impact assessment (IA) practices, analysing the urban planning context and management experiences of selected urban World Heritage (WH) sites in the UK. The research develops recommendations for assessing the impact of plans, programmes and projects on heritage values in culturally significant urban areas with the emphasis on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of large-scale projects in an urban environment. The research analyses theoretical and empirical approaches to heritage management, investigates methodologies for heritage IA and explores opportunities for and barriers to improved heritage IA in the context of current UK policy. In particular, the research contributes with the conceptual framework of identification, interpretation and management of the cultural heritage in the urban planning system. The review of academic and other relevant literature helped to develop the conceptual framework. The data was collected by means of desk-based documents analysis, case studies, focus-group seminars and an on-line Questionnaire with the experts in the heritage and IA fields. The world’s most well-known and arguably most protected sites with officially identified Outstanding Universal Value – WH sites – provide general lessons for the heritage management and IA of new developments and infrastructure projects. The management of UK WH sites could be said to have the features of what is known as a values-based approach to conservation. This approach emphasises the identification of cultural heritage significance with the early participation of different stakeholders in the planning process; the latter has a scope for improvement in the UK context. Research on the boundaries of the heritage and IA fields leads to an improved understanding of cultural heritage and provides a framework for the IA process. The developed framework and the criteria for an enabling environment could be useful for achieving agreement between the different stakeholders, and could allow a smoother planning decision-making process, leading in turn to a reduced need for monitoring from international bodies. The results are useful for planners and developers in the context of western practice, and could also be relevant to the development of international guidelines.