Introduction
World heritage comprises of four main components. These are natural, physical, human and cultural components. Natural heritage is made up of environmental factors such as mountains, rivers, forests, fauna and flora.
On the other hand, physical heritage might be natural or man made features other than living things. Human and cultural heritages go hand bearing in mind that human heritage is more about the culture of people and their historical cultural activities. Therefore, heritage is associated with aesthetic, social, historical and scientific innovations valued by society.
The word economics is defined as the study of social science which deals with production, distribution and consumption of commodities and services in regards to the management of economics systems. Economic issues such as necessary fiscal and monetary relations are of great interest to economists.
In addition, economics underscores the fact that resources are scarce and that they must be put into proper and prudent utilization in order to achieve the highest utility value. The cost of production and that of distribution must be minimized as much as possible whereas as the output should be as high as possible (Kahn 200).
The world population has for a long time devised methods of ensuring that best economic systems are achieved. For instance, it has led to many nations and different countries developing their own various economic policies which have seen the emergence of the capitalism and the communism as some of the most divergent economic policies the world governments ever employed. Some systems combine both capitalism and communism systems of governance.
From time to time, some economies have suffered setbacks in what is referred to us depression and economic down turn as it has been experienced lately in the major world economies such as the United States and the Euro zone crisis except for china which had adopted a different economic approach policy from her Western counterparts.
When economies of various nations suffer, it is the citizens who are hard hit since they are taxpayers to their respective governments. The greater economic burden is directly transferred to the individuals and they suffer the grueling and daunting task of putting up with the increased spending without reciprocal increase on income.
It is therefore only prudent that people have to give an in-depth view concerning all situations and living styles in order to come up with economic ventures that would in turn lead to benefits and increased income through wealth creation. This paper therefore, attempts to outline an economic approach to heritage issues in society with a view offering an insight into the relationship between heritage and economics.
Natural heritage
There seems to be a close link between natural heritage and natural resources. However, natural heritage differs from the latter in the sense that heritage goes with that which has been identified for some special attention. For instance, wild life being set aside officially for conservation and managed in a proper way for all users is a critical example of natural heritage attached to economics.
Natural heritage may also include reserved, non reserved, marked and unmarked lands and other resources which are cherished and of great value to society. Landscape forms part of natural heritage and it applies both to cultural and natural perspective.
Natural heritage is distinctive based on the combinations of the physical area and attributes of the surrounding environment which can be categorized as being jungle, forest, national park or a desert. This essay is largely concerned with the discussion on economic approach to world heritage. As a matter of fact, world heritage is an aspect which is attached to value that transcends continental and economic significance.
The world oceanic waters, highest mountains which have the icecaps such as the mount Everest, Kilimanjaro, Kenya as well as lakes, gulfs, rivers like Nile, Mississippi, Tennessee, lakes, forests, game reserves and parks, are quite phenomenon as natural heritages which attract foreign exchange towards building respective economies. Other natural heritages include Wilder beast migration in East Africa, Egyptian Pyramids and Mayan kingdom. They all form a long list of the renowned world heritage.
An economic approach to natural heritage would be necessary since it would be of economic value to manage the natural resource such as mountains, and national parks thus being a source of income to earn revenue by the concerned government and a means of wealth creation (Stimson, Stouch and Nijkamp 400). Tourism industry is a major source of foreign exchange to many countries in the world. This shows that world heritage can be of great economic value.
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage concerns people’s way of living and practices that ranges from economic, social, and political life and which also touch on their general well being in society. The culture of a given community would determine the history of such a community in terms of architectural designs of the past such as the Great Wall of China and so on.
This are aboriginal and non aboriginal when it comes to looking at the cultural landscape which differ on the basis of appearance and character of landscapes derived from a mixture of historical evidence and the physical development an area.
Another way of looking at cultural heritage is by studying the attributes of an environment which will show discernible patterns correlations between people and their environment based on the outlook of the landscape which may have vegetation cover of planted or natural plants, gardens, parks, urban or rural set ups. This is and evidence of a cultural heritage (Bishop and Phillips 310).
Economic approach to cultural heritage therefore would help an economist into understanding how to devise an economic model system for wealth creation in such a culture.
History accounts specifically to the occupation and utilization of the continents from time since before by mankind. People’s interactions and settlements, historic places reveal much about a given society and would be of great economic significance. Historic heritage demonstrates the way people have shaped, modified and transformed their cultures and still continue to evolve in the present time yet still achieves an identity as a unit in the changing community.
Religion is one of the oldest heritages cherished all over the world and every single community or society has its own way of practicing religion. For a long time, man has been trying to find answers to mysteries and comfort during times of calamities, disasters, catastrophes and pestilence. When man becomes helpless and stranded, he becomes religious and will often seek help from the super natural being who would then intervene by their spirits and other means.
Religion which modernizes itself through secularization, reformation, Counter Reformation, Pentecostalism and Protestantism has been of immense economic value to the society. The Ancient religions have been the centers of governance as well as economic bases of their kingdoms. For instance, the ancient kingdoms saw the kings being installed as the heads of state as well as the heads of their governments. The Kings controlled all the wealth and economic activities of their kingdoms.
The agricultural activities, trade and trading routes, commercial activities and precious stones all were controlled by the kings who also doubled as priests. For example, the Catholic Church as a religion is one religious organization which has lasted close to between 1700 to 200 years and yet still remains one single most powerful religious body with close to slightly above one billion members in the world and one of the richest in wealth accumulation.
The Islam religion is another vital religious organization which cannot go without mentioning. Others are Buddhism, Judaism, Christian Protestants and the Pentecostal churches. It is imperative to look at these religious organizations with an economic view since they control a lot of resources. Religion controls what believers are taught. Their lifestyles including how they are married and the kind of games they watch.
With a clear understanding of a given religion, one would be able to devise an economic approach that befits the kind of venture to deploy. For instance, the Muslims are forbidden from eating pork. It is therefore important for an economist to analyze economic benefit in this kind of belief system. Would it be prudent to start pork business in a Muslim dominated nation like Iran? Certainly, it won’t work as a business venture.
We also understand that every religion has a standard for its members. Some religions also control the dress codes of their faithful. Therefore, religion is part of culture and in this context we look at religion as a cultural aspect and practice. When we tie it to an economic approach, the intention here is to bring it out as part of culture hence falls under cultural heritage.
An economic approach to heritage
Religion which defines man’s relationship with the spiritual world is actually man’s way of reaching God is one of the oldest practices of mankind carried out by people in different parts of the world from time immemorial. Man for a long time has been trying to find answers to mysteries and comfort during times of calamities, disasters, catastrophes and pestilence.
When man becomes helpless and stranded, he becomes religious and soften seek help form the super natural beings in the gods and who would then intervene by their spirits and other means. Religion which modernizes itself through secularization, reformation, Counter Reformation, Pentecostalism and Protestantism has been of immense economic value to the society (Stimson, Stouch and Nijkamp 74).
The Ancient religions have been the centers of government as well as the economic bases of their kingdoms (Segal 286). For instance, the ancient kingdoms saw the kings being the head of state as well as the heads of then government. The Kings controlled all the wealth and economic activities of their kingdoms.
The agricultural activities, the trades and trade routes, commercial activities and precious stones all were controlled by the kings who also doubled as priest s. The Catholic Church as a religion for instance is one religious organization which has lasted close to between 1700 to 200 years historically and yet still remains one single most powerful religious body with close to over slightly above one billion members in the world and one of the richest in wealth accumulation.
The Islam religion is another vital religious organization which cannot go without mentioning. Others are the Buddhism, Judaism, Christian Protestants and the Pentecostal churches (Rao and Walton 280). It is imperative to look at these religious organizations with an economic view since they control a lot of resources.
Religion controls what they faithful are taught and what they eat. Their lifestyles including how they are married and the kind of games they watch. With a clear understanding of a given religion, one would be able to devise an economic approach that befits the kind of venture to deploy. For instance, the Muslims are forbidden from eating pork, it is therefore important for an economist to analyze what economic sense there is in such a belief.
Would it be prudent to start pork business in a Muslim dominated nation like Iran? Certainly not! We also understand that every religion has a standard for its members. Some religions also control the dress codes of their faithful. The priests of the Catholic church have particular priestly robes which differ depending on rank such as whether one is just an alter boy, catechist, seminarian, priest, bishop or arch bishop and even a pope (Segal 360).
An economic approach this fact would be; how do the priests acquire their robes? Who makes the robes, and how much does it cost, how are the robes distributed, how many are supplied? What about other numerous materials and items that go with the worship such as the candles, the Eucharist’s and the anointed water? The religious books that are read all over the world such as the Bible, the Catholic Douay, the Quran, the Christian Science and health and the Scriptures by the Judaism. It is really important to know how much in terms of resources it would cost to print a copy of the bible or any of the many other religious books.
Another important think to consider while giving an economic approach to religion is not just to concentrate on the opportunities that are presented by the religious practices and activities but also the economic challenges posed by the same. For example many religions go on fasting such as the Lenten campaign, camping and Ramadhan (the Muslim holy month); periods in which people do not eat certain meals and foods.
Some religions do not believe in taking the sick to the hospitals yet others still do not believe in taking children to the secular and formal school. With an economic approach, issues such as necessary fiscal and monetary relations are of course being of interest to economists does give insights in trying to underscores the fact that the resources are scarce and that these scarce resources must be put into proper and prudent utilization in order to achieve the highest utility value.
The cost of production and that of distribution must be minimized as much as possible whereas as the output should be of the highest expectation as possible. Religion would best be practiced under an economic microscope therefore for a healthy faithful flock to be bred (Stimson, Stouch and Nijkamp 52).
Notes on how to present the paper
This essay discusses economic approach to world heritage. As a matter of fact, world heritage is an aspect which is attached to value that transcends continental and economic significance. Tourism industry is a major source of foreign exchange to many countries in the world.
This shows that world heritage can be of economic value. Natural heritage is more concerned with the natural endowments with respect to aesthetic and economic values. For instance, tourism majorly thrives on natural resources such as vast wildlife and beautiful landscapes which provide perfect scenic sites of attractions. These would include attractions such as water falls, craters, reefs, cliffs, escarpments, lakes, mountains, rivers, oceans, pedestals and even underground features.
It is important to note that some of the tourist attraction scenes are manmade. Case examples include the Egyptian and Sudanese pyramids, tall buildings, large roads, manmade lakes and canals. The natural collection forms part of the natural heritage whereas the artificial combination is part and parcel of the human heritage.
However, the latter goes beyond just what man has made to the extent of exploring people’s way of life. This consequently brings us to the cultural heritage whereby we find historical evidences on the past of man.
The culture of a given community would determine the history of such a community in terms of their buildings of the pas such as the Great Wall of China and so on (Bishop and Phillips 134). These are aboriginal and non aboriginals when it comes to looking at the cultural landscape which differ on the basis of appearance and character of landscapes derived from a mixture of historical evidence and the physical development of an area.
Another way of looking at cultural heritage is by studying the attributes of an environment which will show discernible patterns and correlations between people and their environment based on the outlook of the landscape which may have vegetation cover of planted or natural plants, gardens, parks, urban or rural set ups. This is a clear evidence of a cultural heritage. Economic approach to cultural heritage would therefore be of help to an economist.
Religion is one of the oldest heritages cherished all over the world and every single community or society in the world has its own way of practicing their religion.
The Ancient religions have been the centers of government as well as the economic bases of their kingdoms. For instance, the ancient kingdoms saw the kings being the heads of state as well as heads of governments.
The Kings controlled all the wealth and economic activities of their kingdoms. The agricultural activities, trading and trade routes, commercial activities and precious stones were all controlled by the kings who also doubled as priests.
An economic sense is found in the religious books that are read all over the world such as the Bible, the Catholic Douay, and the Quran, the Christian Science and health as well as the Scriptures by Judaism. Another important element to consider while giving an economic approach to religion is not just to concentrate on the opportunities that are presented by the religious practices and activities but also the economic challenges posed by the same.
Many religions practice prayer and fasting during which people do not eat certain meals yet some do not believe in taking the sick to hospitals and formal schooling. It is therefore imperative to find out the possibility of an economic significance in the practices of culture and religion which are closely intertwined.
Works Cited
Bishop, Kevin and Adrian, Phillips. Countryside Planning: New Approaches to Management and Conservation. London, UK: Earthscan, 2004. Print.
Kahn, James. The economic approach to environmental and natural resources. Tennessee: Dryden Press, 1998. Print.
Rao, Vijayendra and Michael, Walton. Culture and Public Action .Washington DC: Stanford University press, 2004.Print.
Segal, Robert. The Blackwell companion to the study of religion. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.Print.
Stimson Robert, Roger Stouch and Peter, Nijkamp. Endogenous regional development:Perspectives,measurements and empirical investigation. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing Inc., 2011.Print.