Contemporary Landscape Structure within Monumental Zone-1 at Bagan Cultural Heritage Site, Myanmar

Abstract

This study examines the contemporary landscape structure of the Monumental Zone (MZ)-1 at the Bagan Cultural Heritage Site in the Dry Zone of Myanmar. With respect to hundreds of medieval monuments, how local residents in the residential areas within the MZ-1 manage the landscape was the focus of the current study, conducted with two objectives: (1) Identifying land covers as features of the contemporary landscape on the basis of land use and (2) evaluating how the features interrelate. The landscape features were identified by the analysis of Landsat 8 satellite imagery, followed by variance analysis for comparison of the features’ areas, and interrelationships of features were evaluated by multivariate analysis. Vegetated features were identified in coexistence with non-vegetated ones, while crop coverage and non-vegetated features were smaller than the area of the other two vegetated features. Semi-natural woody vegetation was found in proximity to monuments and was dependent on the occurrence of the shrub-prone patch that, in turn, was triggered by the expansion of exposed land containing a large segment of cultivatable area. The current study suggests the need to prioritise timely land use and management, focusing on local agricultural activity for safeguarding the heritage as well as the historical settings.