Ablutionary Urbanisms: Water Infrastructures, Cultural Production and Charitable Dispensation

With interest in advancing inclusive urban landscapes and guided by principles of social and cultural sustainability, this essay speculates as to localized water infrastructures as “ablutionary urbanisms,” important forms of contemporary design expression in a context of rapid growth, widening inequalities, climate change and lack of resilience. It derives inspiration from vernacular precedents in advocating for an integrated, decentralized approach to addressing current urban water challenges. It explores the contemporary relevance of the sabil, a prominent civic feature of Islamic cities intended for the charitable dispensation of water. More specifically, this essay considers the contemporary relevance and potency of the sabil-kuttab, a hybrid building type unique to the city of Cairo in which a school (kuttab) sits atop a sabil. Such a type offers helpful guidance in devising principles and precepts relevant to contemporary infrastructural design in that: (1) it offers encouragement to advocate for distributed urban water systems as civically prominent elements of cities, particularly as these systems combine with other important community-focused programmatic features; and (2) given a reimagining of urban water systems as critical forms of cultural production, it offers encouragement for interdisciplinary teams to commit to the task of infrastructure planning as a promising locus of integrative design.

Sustainability Education in China: Lessons Learnt from the Teaching of Geography

Since its emergence, the concept of sustainability has been incorporated in geography education across the globe. China is no exception. As one of the pioneer countries in advocating environmental protection, the Chinese government has called for a paradigm shift in pedagogies in order to encourage students to effectively learn the concept and develop their ability to think in new ways, especially engaging themselves with contemporary worldviews. However, many teachers may feel that they are incapable of teaching sustainability. Therefore, it is important to examine whether subject teachers have the ability to implement sustainability education. To fill this research gap, the present research focused on a case study of an in-service Chinese geography teacher teaching sustainability in a junior middle school in China. In order to deeply understand his teaching, this research adopted the form of interviews, supplemented by the analysis of relevant teaching documents. The results indicated that the two themes taught in the seventh and eighth grades, respectively, involved mainly environmental sustainability with some connection to economic sustainability, but fell short of socio-cultural sustainability. This study calls for more sustainability elements in geography curriculums, particularly with the inclusion of socio-cultural sustainability. In this article, research and practical implications have been given.

CULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THE HEARTH CONCEPT IN TURKISH SHELTERS

From the cave to today's residence, in addition to the need for shelter in every place, nutrition has been another important need. While the nutritional needs were met, the concept of the hearth was formed with the discovery of fire and the emergence of the act of cooking. The hearth, which continues to exist in different forms in shelters; It has also had an important place in Turkish culture over time. The cultural sustainability of the concept of the hearth, which can still exist today under different names and places, is a matter of debate. The aim of the study is to examine the spatial and structural changes of the concept of hearth and its cultural sustainability. In this context, a literature review on the use of the concept of hearth in four different periods has been made and its position in the space has been examined. In addition, online and face-to-face surveys were conducted with age groups in three different generations (X, Y and Z generations) in order to evaluate the cultural sustainability of the concept of hearth. The questionnaire form was prepared on a Likert type scale, and the data at the end of the questionnaire were analyzed using the SPSS 23.0 program. While evaluating the data, frequency, percentile distribution and arithmetic mean were used. As a result of the examinations, the change of the concept of the hearth in the Turkish shelters was tried to be revealed, and inferences were made about the cultural sustainability of the hearth. Keywords: Hearth, Housing, Cultural Sustainability, Traditional Turkish House

Tourism and Cultural Sustainability: Views and Prospects from Cyclades, Greece

The objective of this paper is to explore cultural tourism perceptions, practices, concerns and prospects among local residents, tourists and business representatives in the Cycladic Islands, specifically three sites (Andros, Syros and Santorini). The concept and framework of cultural sustainability are employed to analyze the variable interrelationships between culture and tourism in the development of cultural tourism and in overall local sustainability, from a bottom-up/destination perspective. The methodological approach was an on-site exploratory questionnaire survey, effectuated in the context of the SPOT Horizon 2020 EU project, on cultural tourism in the Cyclades. Our findings show that the role of culture as an actual tourism attraction and the potential for further growth in cultural tourism, and consequently local development, are broadly recognized. However, the role of tourism in cultural development, management and appropriation is viewed with a certain degree of trepidation and ambivalence. Culture and tourism emerge from the results of this research study as positively interlinked in the minds of the locals, the visitors and the entrepreneurs involved in cultural tourism and tourism more generally. Despite the fact that it is mostly privately driven, the culture–tourism relationship is viewed as holding great potential for all sides involved and for local cultural and overall sustainability.

A Living Heritage Approach Toward Sustainability of Islamic City in The Northern Coastal of Java, Indonesia

Cultural diversity is one of the global issue underlined by UN. Indonesia known as a very rich country has more than 300 ethnic cultures. One of them is Islamic architecture and cities that spread in the North Coast of Java. In the span of 6 centuries, we can still witness the existence of these works as living heritage that saves tangible and intangible culture. The role of the community is very significant which are take care, plan and develop for the next generation. However, the changes that have occurred are caused by urbanization, and the shift in the political and economic map poses a threat to the sustainability of this legacy. The purpose of writing this article is to provide views on the importance of an approach to the process of preserving living cultural heritage by involving community participation in order to maintain the sustainability of cultural heritage. The locus in the North Coast of Java is based on the consideration that the cities in this region inherit the distinctive Islamic culture of the Coastal Java and its dynamics. The digital-legacy approach combines the use of information technology in this case is Web GIS for archiving artifact data. Meanwhile, the living heritage approach encourages community participation to play an active role with stakeholders on an ongoing basis in the preservation of artifacts. Kudus Kulon is an interesting and unique case with the Gusjigang community who have cared for Omah Joglo Pencu for almost three centuries. Architectural sustainability – Muslim cities include historical and cultural sustainability, function, and maintenance