- Harmonizing the Sacred and the Profane. Bringing Together Cultural Heritage and Pop-Culture in the Urban Sphere   478 kb by    Navitas, Prananda | prananda@urplan.its.ac.id    Short Outline Do possibilities exist to mesh the sacred and the profane spaces in the urban environment? How are city authorities supposed to accommodate both sacred and profane activities and ensure a harmonic co-existence? Abstract Taman Bungkul (here on after referred to as Bungkul Park) can be considered as Surabaya’s city square (alun-alun). It is the final resting place of one of Surabaya’s elders, Mbah Bungkul, well known for his role in the spread of Islam in Surabaya. The park receives regular visits from people who would like to pay their respects to one of Surabaya’s iconic figures. In an attempt to breathe new life into the park, Surabaya city authorities converted a section of the park into a skateboard/BMX arena, and added free wireless internet hotspots, providing cheap-and-cheerful recreational facility within the city. During weekends, usually on Saturday night, the park is a popular spot to host live pop music performances. The conversion brought revenue to some stakeholders, namely street food hawkers around the vicinity, and the city also received income from vehicle parking retribution. However, pilgrims visiting Bungkul Park to pay their respects to Mbah Bungkul claim that the conversion has defaced the park, reducing its sacred values. The case of Bungkul Park is a unique case of friction between the sacred and the profane spaces within the urban sphere. This paper will attempt to determine whether economic revenue is worth achieving by defacing one of Surabaya’s cultural heritage sites through a thorough comparative study of similar cases across the globe, namely in Asia and Indonesia. Is economic gain a strong enough excuse to deface an iconic cultural heritage site? Do possibilities exist to mesh the sacred and the profane spaces in the urban environment? The answer perhaps lies within the city authorities’ ability to formulate an inclusive urban strategy. Keywords Sacred and profane spaces, cultural heritage, inclusive urban strategy Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2011: LIVEABLE CITIES: URBANISING WORLD, Meeting the Challenge   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper