PROTECTION WITHOUT CAPACITY: AN EXPLORATORY MIXED-METHODS STUDY OF URBAN HERITAGE DETERIORATION IN TWO ALGERIAN PROTECTED DISTRICTS

Abstract

Despite legal protection under Algeria's Law 98-04, many designated historic districts exhibit advanced physical decay, suggesting that formal heritage designation alone may be insufficient under conditions of weak institutional capacity. This exploratory mixed-methods study investigates this disjuncture through two protected districts: Souika, Constantine (n=1,065 buildings; 250 resident surveys; 15 interviews) and Casbah, Algiers (n=890 buildings; 210 surveys; 12 interviews), with a descriptive longitudinal comparison (2015–2025). Results reveal that 52.0% (Souika) and 58.2% (Casbah) of buildings are in poor or ruinous condition, with deterioration accelerating over the decade. Renter occupancy dominates (92.8% and 89.1%), while unconditional willingness to participate in heritage activities is virtually absent (0–0.5%). We propose an exploratory Protection without Capacity (PWC) framework comprising three interrelated barriers—regulatory burden, tenure fragmentation, and trust erosion—which demonstrate moderate-to-strong intercorrelations (r=0.58–0.71) and acceptable confirmatory factor analysis fit (CFI=0.94; RMSEA=0.07). These findings suggest that legal protection may correlate with continued deterioration when institutional capacity is low. We offer six testable, low-cost policy hypotheses (microgrants, one-stop shops, flexible tiers) for future action research rather than evidence-based recommendations. The PWC framework provides structured propositions for comparative heritage research in postcolonial and resource-constrained settings.