A study on conservation enforcement and compliance of historical shop houses in Penang / Nurul Fadzila Zahari

These past few years has seen that the urban outlook has changed due to the rapid development that takes its toll on the urban scene. Realising the importance of conserving what once were the traces of the historical heritage in Malaysia, this dissertation which titled "A Study on Conservation Enforcement and Compliance of Historical Shop Houses in Penang" is documented. This research comprises of 6 chapters. This research intends to identify the guidelines being used as references for conservation works and those that are imposed on by the Conservation Unit of Penang City Council. In addition to this, compliance to the guidelines based on the site observation and inventory record was also undertaken. Case studies on three numbers of conservation areas that are located in Penang were undertaken to highlight the background information on the case studies area, inventory survey, and the typology of the shop houses; and all this information are documented in Chapter 3. Analysis for this research comprise of comparative and descriptive approach as well as statistical analysis which are based on case studies and questionnaire survey. The findings revealed that the conservation practice in Malaysia with the main emphasis on the conservation guidelines and the compliance of the works to the imposing guidelines. Other than this, public opinions on the implementation of conservation works undertaken by the authorities and other contributing organizations were gathered through structured questionnaire survey and the results were then critically analyzed. From the findings, the author hopes that the research would give clear perception to the reader on the current conservation practice and its implementation in Penang.