Transformation of Management of the Cultural Landscape of the Yogyakarta Special Region

Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) reframes heritage management practice by enhancing the role of local communities. However, the implementation remains challenging and contested. This paper examines these complexities in the Yogyakarta Special Region following the 2023 UNESCO inscription of the Yogyakarta Cosmological Axis of Philosophy. Two recent major conservation projects supported for the inscription have largely focused on the physical restoration of the axis to its original form. This selective approach risks disrupting the site’s historical continuity over the past two centuries. Although the official management plan adopts HUL principles, current practices do not seem to reflect its core principles of community engagement. Using a case study and literature review approaches, this paper shows that the cultural landscape of Yogyakarta has unfolded as a manifestation of both spatial and political processes, instigated by the enactment of the Yogyakarta Specialty Law that introduces the traditional institution of Kasultanan (Yogyakarta Sultanate) and Kadipaten (Pakualaman Duchy) as the main stakeholders in managing cultural heritage. With HUL's six-phase identification, the Yogyakarta Strategic Regional Development (SPW) instrument could potentially connect the power structure and the community in Yogyakarta through cultural landscape management. To ensure HUL implementation, a new ad-hoc institution that integrates urban development and heritage planning formation is required.