Creative Destruction and the Social (Re) Construction of Heritage

Abstract

In an era when war, acts of terror, and the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change loom large in the public conscience, the conservation community is grappling with the associated loss of the historic built environment and potential responses. But the built environment—at least some aspects of it—is becoming progressively obsolete due to environmental and social changes. Coastal sea-level rise, inefficient resource and land use, and the role of the built environment in perpetuating social exclusion raise questions about the potential value of destruction and the opportunities it affords for reframing spatial memory and historical narrative in more just and sustainable ways. The heritage field’s preoccupation with the physical, place-based fabric will be challenged in the face of this obsolescence, compelling a reexamination of attitudes toward destruction and reconstruction. This article borrows loosely from Joseph Schumpeter’s economic concept of creative destruction to explore the ways in which both innovation and new lenses on history and memory may be borne of change, loss, and obsolescence. Using the discourse surrounding past and contemporary North American cases, it examines some fundamental ideas regarding capital in the built environment and the economic value of destruction. It also explores the negative social consequences of destruction and the historical influence cum perspective of the heritage enterprise and posits potentially positive values and opportunities engendered through destruction. Finally, it reimagines how approaches to reconstruction by the heritage field may contribute to more socially just and sustainable futures.