RURAL CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF KOTO GADANG
Koto Gadang in West Sumatra Province is the birthplace and home village of some prominent national leaders of Indonesia. Some were involved in the country's independence struggle, and some are still active in the national arena in various fields. It is famous as a village producing many intellectuals because education is the core of awareness of most parents in Koto Gadang. Parents in other villages will ask their children to go to the rice fields, but the parents in Koto Gadang will encourage their children to go to school. Study as high as possible. At the beginning of the 20th century, this village had even a kind of collective fund to finance studies of the children to Java or even to the Netherlands. In 1967 there was a survey that showed that almost 20% of the population of Koto Gadang, around 3000 people, graduated from universities.
Geographically, Koto Gadang is a village between Singgalang Mountain and a canyon called Ngarai Sianok. Its distance from the capital of West Sumatra, Padang, it is about 110 kilometers. Travel by car is about 3 hours. The closest city is Bukitttinggi, about 8 kilometers, and travel by car in half an hour. Due to its location about 1200 meters above sea level, the temperature is between 16-30 degrees Celsius all year round.
Heritage-wise, Koto Gadang has an abundant amount of tangible, intangible, and natural heritage. The daily life in Koto Gadang is very much influenced by the traditions, customs, and values of Islam and Minangkabau, an indigenous term for areas of West Sumatra. But it has also a footprint of the past from the colonial era by the Dutch. Houses in their original states are widespread in the village, some are still clustered as they used to be with the influence of the European style brought by the Dutch who came in the early 19th century. But that is not the case with the vernacular architecture of Rumah Gadang as known in West Sumatra, which now is endangered and slowly diminishing. This village is famous for its embroidery, silver crafts, and traditional cuisine. It is also famous for its landscape of rice fields, mountainous areas, and of course the Canyon of Ngarai Sianok.
I, supported by several organizations and individuals, initiated a program to support the heritage-led development of Koto Gadang titled Rural Cultural Landscape of Koto Gadang, 16-20 August 2025.
One of the foundations for the idea of the program is The Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) that was adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference in 2011.
It covers a holistic approach that “focuses on the entire human environment with all of its tangible and intangible qualities. It seeks to increase the sustainability of planning and design interventions by considering the existing built environment, intangible heritage, and cultural diversity, socio-economic and environmental factors along with local community values.
Inspired by the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), we would like to adapt the recommendation to a rural area with Koto Gadang as a showcase. Rural areas have different characteristics and dynamics than urban areas, that is why we would like to examine if the Recommendation of Historic Landscape works, too, with some adaptation according to local characteristics.
Not every rural area is one and similar, each rural area has its own uniqueness, nevertheless the common characteristics of the rural areas are:
2. A generally low population density.
3. A smaller choice when it comes to shopping, medical services, and so on.
4. A lower cost of living.
5. Lower wages and more poverty.
6. Lots of nature and natural resources, farming, and ranch land; and.
7. An aging population.
According to the Indonesian Statistic Bureau, Indonesia has more than 80 thousand rural areas and this approach could be beneficial for exploration and exploitation of their historic potentials.
A lot of rural areas face economic, social, cultural, and environmental challenges. They face problems of unemployment, disengagement, depopulation, and marginalization or loss of cultural, biological, and landscape diversity. On the other hand, there are numerous best practices on how tangible and intangible heritage could potentially become engines of development.
Goals of the program are:
2. Raising awareness about historic landscapes of rural areas in Indonesia with Koto Gadang as a show case.
3. Empowerment of the youth through heritage-led activities in rural areas such as Koto Gadang.
We aim to deliver ann integrated report consists of recommendations about heritage-led development of Koto Gadang. This integrated report will be handed over to Ka Ge and the local authorities as input and feedback for heritage-led development plans of Koto Gadang.
If you are interested in having more information about the program, please send me an email to tarekathasti@yahoo.com
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