UNAIR NEWS – The northern part of Surabaya is a potential Historical tourist destination. It stores various historical records of the past with great buildings that have historical value. There are buildings that became the residences of Arabic ethnicity, Chinese ethnicity to the Dutch Indies government relics.

To develop the area, one of the urban history experts from Universitas Airlangga  Dr. Purnawan Basundoro, M. Hum., was asked to provide input and ideas. It was aimed to develop the historical area into a new tourist rides in the city of Surabaya.

Therefore, Dr. Purnawan was invited in a discussion entitled “Initiating Old City Tour in Surabaya” which took place at Radar Surabaya office on Tuesday, January 30. There was also an inauguration of an art gallery at the office located in the area of ​​Kembang Jepun.

On that occasion, a member of the Surabaya City Government’s cultural heritage team said that Surabaya is a very old city. In the journey, some relics in Surabaya are partially lost and some can still be witnessed to this day.

“Well, the preserved ones should be explored more. Jakarta and Bandung have been successful in developing the old city. What about Surabaya? If we develop it, we can make a route on those unique relics, “explained Purnawan.

In addition, UNAIR History lecturer asserted that in order to carry out the development of the old city tour, it is necessary to map the tourist zone. He pointed out, for zone mapping, the area of ​​the old transportation zone can be developed in Kali Mas Port. For modern transport zones, it can be developed in the area of ​​Semut Railway Station.

“And there are many other zones. Ethnic zone, for example. In Surabaya, ethnic zones often merge with religious areas, “he explained.

At the end, Purnawan revealed that developing the old city tour should indeed involve many elements., from government, community, urban communities, to academics. By involving the elements, the development of the old city tour can be realized in the future.

“Academic support is also needed. Why? People will know that it has a strong historical value,  it can be seen from the references, “he concluded.

Author: Nuri Hermawan

Editor: Feri Fenoria