Planning for heritage - tourism in Ujjain city, Madhya Pradesh.

Abstract

Heritage tourism serves as a critical intersection of cultural preservation and local economic development, particularly in cities with deep-rooted socio-cultural identities. It is an emerging research domain since late 20th CE, with studies emphasizing cultural heritage conservation, sustainable tourism development, and community participation. This thesis explores how heritage-rich cities like Ujjain can navigate modernization while maintaining the authenticity and integrity of their historical assets. Positioned within the broader discourse of sustainable tourism and heritage conservation, the study draws on authoritative secondary sources to contextualize the challenges faced by historic urban centers in India. It is identified that the ongoing government-driven tourism strategies often follow a top-down approach, leading to challenges in prioritizing heritage resources for development aspects, within budgetary and temporal constraints. Focusing on Ujjain, one of India’s oldest and holiest cities known for the Kumbh Mela, ancient temples, ghats, and sacred lakes, the research addresses the city’s underutilized tourism potential. It develops a structured methodology that integrates Heritage Conservation and Tourism management via Urban planning as a tool. Key objectives include the identification and classification of heritage assets, evaluation of their tourism potential, and the formulation of strategic, site-specific interventions aligned with sustainability and cultural stewardship goals. The study employs quantitative and qualitative methods, including Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Weighted Sum Model (WSM), Benchmarking, Buffer method and Input-Output model to evaluate tourism potential, Infrastructure gap assessment and economic impacts. Primary data was collected through field surveys, stakeholder consultations, and visitor perception questionnaires based on the Importance-Satisfaction model. Supplementary assessments of accessibility, infrastructure, and local business dynamics were informed by observational surveys and literature-based tourism multipliers and formulas. Findings inform a comprehensive heritage tourism strategy rooted in planning principles and policy coherence, aiming to bridge the gap between cultural preservation and tourism-led economic upliftment. The proposed strategy of Heritage-Tourism Circuit respects indigenous nature-culture linkages such that it aligns with the processional route and proposed bus connectivity route, while also advocating for innovative approaches to cultural identity co-creation, visitor engagement, and spatial upgradation though new project identification . Key words – Heritage-Tourism, Conservation, Tourism-Potential, Ujjain, Urban Planning, Tourism Circuit