Integrating heritage conservation and sustainable tourism through landscape planning: the case of Taman Taiping, Perak

Taiping Lake Gardens, known as the oldest public garden in Malaysia, is a major cultural landscape feature with great historical and cultural significance. Taiping Lake Gardens, being the oldest public garden within Malaysia, is experiencing a number of challenges such as growing popularity with tourists, mature heritage trees, rapid urbanization, and a lack of awareness among the community concerning its cultural significance. These issues can be considered to a great extent the result of the lack of a holistic landscape planning approach that successfully links the conservation of the heritage with the management of sustainable tourism. The study aims to link the conservation of the heritage with the management of sustainable tourism by adopting a holistic landscape approach. For the purpose of this study, it will analyze the cultural landscape value of the case study area, namely Taman Tasik Taiping, and the effect of the tourism and surrounding urban development activities associated with the park’s heritage value and develop a set of planning proposals for improving the conservation and visiting experience. The research design and approach for the study are a mixed-method design that includes site visits, questionnaires, and analysis of secondary information. When it comes to quantitative information, it will use of descriptive statistical analysis, whereas for the qualitative information, there is a need to analyze the information by employing the Atlas.ti. The results show a strong level of visitor awareness and appropriate conservation behaviors, although there are some management concerns, especially in relating to the upkeep of rain trees and the sufficiency of waste management infrastructure. This research proposed holistic landscape planning approaches that help to emphasize the cultural landscape character and lead the way in conserving the cultural heritage values within the planned tourist destination in a sustainable manner. In a general manner, this study contributes positively towards the efficient management of Taman Tasik Taiping for the intended purposes of conserving cultural heritage through the development of sustainable tourism in Malaysia.