KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 20 -- The Esplanade Seawall and Promenade project in George Town has been 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.

The project was among ten winners selected from six countries, including China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal and Vanuatu.

"The Esplanade Seawall and Promenade project has set a national benchmark for conservation-cum-new design in the reimagining of a historic civic space, incorporating an innovative hybrid of traditional and modern-day engineering elements in the face of coastal degradation," the jury said.

"The design maintains form and function to enha...