A gold mine of colonial heritage

Rising from Rangoon's cracked and chaotic streets is an extraordinary collection of colonial buildings - some elegant, some imposing, some delicate - but nearly all neglected and threatened by demolition to make way for new office blocks and shopping malls.

When Britain's colonial officers left Burma on independence in early 1948, they bequeathed a messy political legacy but also an array of grand buildings. Stored behind these red brick or pastel-painted stucco facades are secrets from a forgotten era when Rangoon was the most cosmopolitan city in Southeast Asia.

Many of the buildings were taken over, perhaps grudgingly, by the military authorities who seized power in 1962 and have governed the country ever since. But the abrupt relocation of the Government to a new, purpose-built capital, Naypyidaw, in 2005 has accelerated the neglect of Rangoon's colonial relics.

And as a wave of Chinese investment in the country has developers looking for new downtown plots, these crumbling buildings are under greater threat than ever.

"We're at a tipping point for Rangoon's architectural heritage," said historian Thant Myint U. "Some of the buildings have not been properly maintained and are reaching a point where they simply can't be renovated and will have to be pulled down.

"And with economic growth and the mini-construction boom that's under way, there's also the possibility that developers will want to tear down even the better-kept buildings to make way for new condominiums or shopping centres."

Today, with the street air thick with diesel fumes from decrepit Japanese cars and broken pavements spattered with the red spit of betel-nut chewers, it takes a leap of imagination to envisage Rangoon as it was a century ago, when the city boomed on exports of rice and timber. Its infrastructure and municipal services put it on a par with London.

Back then, the immaculate shop floors of the Rowe & Co department store were replete with European fashions, home wares and familiar comforts for homesick British colonialists. Now its grand entrance is boarded up and windows smashed. Its listing iron portico houses hawkers selling tangerines or DVDs.

The variety of styles of buildings constructed from the late 19th century is astounding. Colonial architects brought with them the fashions of the decade, often mixing the latest European styles with oriental influences, creating a dramatic and eclectic cityscape.

"The same economic influences that built the grand old mills and commercial firms of Manchester's city centre and Sheffield University's red-brick buildings after the industrial revolution helped to build colonial Rangoon, and the physical resemblances are startling," said Dr Su Lin Lewis, a fellow at the Institute of Historical Research in London.

"In contrast, the city's narrow apartment buildings have resonances in downtown [Kolkata] and Chinese shophouses in Penang and Singapore. The whole of Rangoon is so unique and evocative it could be used as a film set."

The fact that such buildings have survived owes more to Burma's retarded development than a strong will to preserve these gems.

The isolationist policies of the country's military rulers restricted foreign business dealings in the 1960s and 1970s, and more recently US and European sanctions have deterred Western investment. So while cities such as Bangkok underwent frenzies of development, Rangoon's centre is remarkably unchanged.

"There's a tremendous opportunity to renovate the old buildings as part of an urban planning initiative and make Rangoon one of the most beautiful cities in Asia," said Thant Myint U, author of the Burmese history The River of Lost Footsteps.

"These buildings could be a big draw for future tourism and provide critically needed income for tens of thousands of ordinary people."

Efforts to preserve these buildings as a strategy to boost tourism would be particularly timely given the recent decision by the National League for Democracy - the party of Aung San Suu Kyi - to relax its opposition to foreign tourists visiting Burma.

Hidden behind trees and creepers on a busy thoroughfare leading out of town is the teak-walled Pegu Club, where British imperial officers smoked cigars, sipped cocktails and played billiards.

A layer of dust and rat droppings covers the parquet floor, but its magnificent hardwood staircases are still standing and its original black light switches are still in place. A few renovations and a fresh coat of paint would restore it to its former glory.

Such a transformation has already occurred at the Governor's Residence, a 1920s mansion in the city's diplomatic quarter, which has been turned into a luxury hotel.

"Rangoon's heritage buildings are an important part of the city's and the country's history and contain a wealth of cultural capital," Lewis said. "They could become a draw for tourism as well as for creative development - some have already been restored as restaurants and hotels, but there's also room to restore them as museums, galleries and office buildings."

In 1996, the Yangon City Development Committee (using the official name for Rangoon) issued a heritage list that includes 189 buildings that cannot be altered or demolished without the committee's permission.

This has helped to ensure the survival of many of the city's most important old buildings, the YCDC's chief engineer, Dr Zaw Win, said, although many, especially those owned by relocated Government ministries, have been left to decay.

A resident of an early 20th century apartment building in central Rangoon said: "If a developer wants to build on a site, he can easily get the authorities to say a building is dangerous and must be pulled down.

"We see beautiful buildings destroyed all the time. They can never be replaced."

Occupation and repression

1852 Britain annexes lower Burma, including Rangoon.

1937 Britain separates Burma from India and makes it a crown colony.

1942 Japan invades Burma.

1945 Britain liberates it from Japanese occupation.

1947 Aung San and six members of his interim Government assassinated.

1948 Burma becomes independent.

1989 State Law and Order Restoration Council declares martial law; renames Burma Myanmar, with the capital, Rangoon, becoming Yangon. Aung San Suu Kyi is put under house arrest.

1991 Suu Kyi awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

2003 She is taken into "protective custody" after clashes between her supporters and those of the Government.

2005 Burma moves seat of Government to new site.

2007 Buddhist monks hold a series of anti-Government protests. Suu Kyi is allowed to leave her house to greet monks demonstrating in Rangoon. It is her first public appearance since 2003.

2008 Cyclone Nargis hits the low-lying Irrawaddy delta, killing up to 134,000.

2010 Government changes country's flag, national anthem and official name. Main military-backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), claims victory in first election for 20 years. Opposition groups allege widespread fraud. Suu Kyi released from house arrest.

2011 February: Prime Minister Thein Sein picked as President.

- INDEPENDENT