Quo Vadis Revitalization of the Old Town: Case Study of Three Urban Heritage at Kesawan Medan

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-499-0_49How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Revitalization; Urban Heritage; Historical Buildings

Abstract

Based on the Spatial Plan of Medan Municipality for the years 2011-2031, several Cultural Heritage Areas have been designated, which contain various historical buildings, one of which is located in the Old Town area, specifically in Kesawan. The actual condition indicates that revitalization of historical buildings has been carried out, including on the Lonsum Building, Tjong A Fie, and Pos Bloc. This research aims to analyze tourists’ perceptions of the revitalization of historical buildings, both pro and con arguments. This study employs a qualitative approach, utilizing data collection methods that include in-depth interviews, observations, and document analysis. In-depth interviews were conducted with 36 selected informants obtained through purposive sampling techniques. The results show that the condition of the three historical buildings after revitalization indicates that the changes to the building and its supporting facilities are varied. The Lonsum building is still used as the company’s office, but public access remains limited, as it is not part of the historical tourism routes. Tjong A Fie, which is well maintained and still functions as a museum of historical value and multicultural significance. Pos Bloc shows changes in the shape of the post office, but the post museum gallery continues to function as an effort to preserve historical elements. The interviews with visitors reveal that the majority of tourists at three historical sites agree with or are supportive of the revitalization program. At the same time, a small minority disagrees or is opposed to it. The counter-meanings articulated in this study suggest that revitalization is justifiable, but with an emphasis on the need to change the function of the old buildings without losing their historical and architectural character entirely.

Copyright

© 2025 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  - Sendi Permana
AU  - Darwin Parlaungan Lubis
AU  - Sahala Fransiskus Marbun
AU  - Puteri Atikah
AU  - Zulfajri Zulfajri
AU  - Hilda Syahrani
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/12
TI  - Quo Vadis Revitalization of the Old Town: Case Study of Three Urban Heritage at Kesawan Medan
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies (ICSSIS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 626
EP  - 640
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-499-0_49
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-499-0_49
ID  - Permana2025
ER  -