Building Sustainable Futures for Asia’s Historic Towns: A Holistic Legal Framework

“Heritage” is an all-encompassing term, where in protection, conservation, and preservation of cultural, natural or any other forms of value and significance hold importance to that place. While tangible heritage is more visible and easily regulated, the protection of intangible heritage presents unique challenges due to its dynamic and evolving nature. The jurisprudential perspectives of heritage are a broad mix of legal measures. These systems of legal protection change as per the state parties (i.e., countries involved). However, these laws account mostly only for the tangible, while the intangible also accounts for and contributes to heritage in a big way, especially within the South Asian context. Examples of the same, specifically from India, have been illustrated through photographs, revealing how heritage is both tangible and intangible elements. The jurisprudence is having an opportunity to bridge the intangible to the tangible since both elements contribute to the heritage.