Penang: Penang's Esplanade Seawall and Promenade project has been internationally recognised in the 2025 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, receiving the New Design in Heritage Contexts award with Special Recognition for Sustainable Development. State Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai shared the news via a Facebook post today.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the jury citation praised the project for setting a national benchmark for conservation-cum-new design in the reimagining of a historic civic space. The project successfully incorporates a hybrid of traditional and modern engineering elements to address coastal degradation.

The seven-member international jury highlighted that the design maintains form and function, enhancing community well-being, improving access to the waterfront, and supporting environmental stewardship in response to climate change. The new seawall includes a wide promenade that replicates its 19th-century structure, using traditional granite construction with modern elements such as a concealed sheet-pile toe and rock revetment to resist erosion. A unique feature of the design is a lower terrace that submerges during spring tides, revealing the original seawall near the Cenotaph War Memorial.

Under expert guidance, the enhancement of Esplanade's historicity emphasizes the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage property 'Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca.' The project's dual-structure design, use of local materials, and stakeholder governance are studied as models across Malaysia.