Land Use Change and Cultural Heritage Preservation in Trowulan: A Spatial Analysis of Majapahit Legacy

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-613-0_16How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Cultural Heritage Preservation; Archaeological Landscape; Majapahit Kingdom; Land Use and Land Cover (LULC); Spatial Analysis; Google Earth

Abstract

The Trowulan National Cultural Heritage Area, once the capital centre of the Majapahit Kingdom, is rich in cultural and archaeological remains. Covering six sub-districts and fifty villages across Mojokerto and Jombang Regencies, the area is legally protected under Indonesia’s Cultural Heritage Law No. 11/2010. Nevertheless, rapid changes in land use and land cover (LULC) have increasingly posed threats to the preservation of cultural heritage, particularly to archaeological data still buried beneath the ground. This study aims to analyse LULC changes within the Trowulan heritage area between 2011 and 2024 by employing Google Earth satellite imagery combined with spatial digitisation techniques. A comparative spatial–temporal analysis was carried out to identify the extent of built-up expansion, agricultural land conversion, and the proliferation of brick-making industries that are directly linked to the degradation of the cultural landscape. The findings reveal a significant increase in built-up land, particularly in peri-urban zones, alongside a decline in agricultural areas and an intensification of small-scale extractive industries. These dynamics highlight an escalating risk of disturbance to archaeological contexts and the potential permanent loss of cultural memory. The study emphasizes the necessity of conservation-based spatial planning, community awareness, and stricter development control. By integrating geospatial data with heritage management strategies, this research contributes to the sustainable preservation of Trowulan as one of Indonesia’s most valuable cultural heritage landscapes.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Dimas Nugroho
AU  - Adi Wibowo
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - Land Use Change and Cultural Heritage Preservation in Trowulan: A Spatial Analysis of Majapahit Legacy
BT  - Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Linguistics and Cultural Studies (ICLC-6 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 173
EP  - 187
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-613-0_16
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-613-0_16
ID  - Nugroho2026
ER  -