Sustainable industrial heritage management: A new theoretical model

Broken Hill, along with many industrial regions in the First World, has experienced a period of steady decline since the 1960’s. While not conforming to the stereotypical image of aesthetically pleasing and monumental heritage, industrial heritage is increasingly being utilised in government policy to combat the regional decline associated with de-industrialisation, under-employment and social fragmentation. However, industrial heritage sites face a number of unique issues that impact on their management. Seen in isolation, the scale, complexity and aesthetics of industrial heritage sites offer many unique challenges. The recent affirmation by UNESCO that heritage is ‘an instrument for the sustainable development of all societies’ offers an additional challenge, not only to industrial heritage but to heritage management practice generally.This paper will firstly, identify the unique issues confronting managers of industrial heritage sites such as Broken Hill, and secondly, present a management model that responds to the requirements for their conservation and sustainable use. Using the results of a case study of six industrial World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom, the paper challenges the emphasis placed on authenticity and tangible heritage and argues that the current management frameworks and collaboration processes ensure the conservation of physical heritage but limit the development of sustainable cultural economies and associative meanings. The paper concludes with a model of sustainable heritage management that is relevant to industrial heritage sites as well as other complex heritage sites such as historic town centres.