Local community engagement is seen as the most crucial factor in determining the sustainability of the future development of historic cities in the state of Melaka (Malacca). This is because a community’s attachment to the place will encourage engagement and participation as well as a desire to protect and care for the historic cities. It is hypothesised that once a community no longer has a sense of attachment towards a place, their engagement and participation declines. Hence, the objective of the research is to study the community of Melaka’s engagement towards the place. Interviews were held with 23 participants, consisting of local communities of different ethnic groups residing in Melaka. These interviews suggested that the meaning of heritage is orientated through the experiences of individuals and groups rather than contextually. Community heritage management is highly shaped by internal (intra-community relationship, local conservation knowledge and local autonomy) and external (funding, WHS contributions and tourism values) factors. The research further explores the various levels of community engagement, which comprise of disengagement, engagement at the individual, family, organisation, social media, community, national and international levels. Furthermore, it also highlights the potential of youth engagement and identifies the meanings attached to the given indicators which are physical (history and origin, sense of place, group affiliation, economic), psychological (belongingness, pride, difference, identity) and sociological (language, cultural and spiritual). Also, the results have identified several barriers and challenges in dealing with community heritage management which are development, a different worldview, structural conflict, maintenance, politics, generation gap, minority issues, tourism values, support and power struggle. Local community engagement requires negotiation in two spheres. The first is among the communities and between the different ethnic groups. The second is between the communities and local authorities, government and stakeholders in order to sustain a possible future connection between local communities and the place.
