The most recent version of the French travel guide, Le Petit Futé, recommends that those tourists with an

eye for architecture come to Phnom Penh sooner rather than later. Otherwise, all the "colonial buildings and
old Khmer houses [will be] destroyed (even if they are classified and protected), [and] replaced by towers or
horrible buildings."
Other regional cities have got it right: Hanoi in Vietnam is perhaps the best known city for period
architecture, but the colonial quarter in Luang Prabang in Laos has also been preserved by a government
aware of its tourist potential.
That, says Darryl Collins, a researcher at Architecture Research Khmer, is part of the problem: Phnom Penh
no longer has a distinctive colonial quarter, which makes preserving a particular area more difficult. "Phnom
Penh has no area left as a unit. The Post Office is the only place where you can find a concentration of
French buildings," says Collins.
Collins says there are many reasons, including economic and aesthetic ones why the city's old buildings
were lost. Some were knocked down as it would have cost more to repair them than to replace them. "Also,
old buildings were not seen as beautiful, whereas the new ones were seen in that light," he says.
Marie-Paule Halgand, coordinator with Asia Urbs, says the quality of renovations is partly to blame for the
lack of period buildings. Second rate materials are often used, which can ultimately result in demolition.
Halgand points out some examples: the former military administration office in Street 118, which was
demolished as recently as 2001. Another French-period building adjacent to the Japanese embassy on
Norodom Boulevard was flattened three years earlier. On the same road nearer the Central Market stand the
imposing yet decaying remains of the former headquarters of the Cambodian Red Cross. Then there is the
old military compound on the river behind Wat Phnom. Squatters now live in the buildings, which are now
sadly neglected. "A lot of buildings are flagged for renovation, but none of these projects has yet started,"
says Halgand. "The municipality is trying to maintain the old buildings, but has no specific program
designed to improve the knowledge of those architects who would be involved in preserving this heritage."
Working out exactly what remains is therefore key to conservation efforts. The Municipality's Bureau des
Affairs Urbaines de Phnom Penh (BAU) undertook a study to determine that in October 1996. Architecture
students from Royal University of Phnom Penh were given advice by experts, then sent out to identify the
capital's most interesting sites and buildings. They took into account such factors as technical characteristics
as well as the historical and architectural value of the buildings they studied. The final list contained 615
sites, and is recognized by experts as vital. "The listing made by BAU is as important as the classification of
Angkor as a world heritage site," says a renowned local architect Vann Molyvann.
Despite its importance, the list hasn't been officially recognized by the municipality responsible for the city's
architectural heritage. "The delay is partly due to the sheer number of divisions involved at the
municipality," says deputy governor of Phnom Penh Seng Tong. "We are also waiting for the approval of the
government so that the list can be officially adopted," he says. "Another problem concerns the land owners
who often don't realize the heritage value of what they own." The UN's cultural heritage body UNESCO also
wants to see that happen. Country head Etienne Clement speaks of the need to raise awareness of the value
of the capital's old building stock among Luceepp 2 program, a joint conservation initiative involving the
municipality, concentrated on improving the management of old buildings, as well as rehabilitating
historically valuable parts of Phnom Penh, such as the area behind the Royal Palace. It also involved
improving the knowledge of architecture students.
The next urban conservation project from UNESCO, titled Luceepp-3, will run for a year. UNESCO's
culture program specialist, Teruo Jinnai, says the new program will need to do better than the previous
program at raising awareness. "We would like to adapt BAU's list of old buildings for the public," says
Jinnai. "And we have also suggested a permanent exhibition at the municipality's office."
Unfortunately, says Vann Molyvann, for there to be meaningful conservation, the country's future architects
must understand just how important the old buildings are. When that happens it will not only be the tourists
who benefit; more importantly, Cambodians, whose heritage these structures represent, will be enriched. At
the moment, says Molyvann, that is not happening. However, he is hopeful that his book, which he recently
finished writing in French, will help remedy that, particularly once it is translated into Khmer and English
and distributed to schools and libraries. "Architecture students don't have any information about building
regulations or their country's history, but they do want to learn," he says. "It is important to provide them
with good teachers and to open their minds about building practices and new technologies. After all the
future is in their hands."