Speaker
Description
The past rapid urbanization model, driven by economy, neglected the protection of cultural heritage and historical memory, leading to insufficient momentum for sustainable urban development. In response, in 1972, UNESCO proposed six evaluation criteria for assessing historical and cultural heritage, establishing the World Heritage evaluation system. In 2015, the World Heritage Convention also advocated integrating the concept of sustainable development into the conservation and management of World Heritage sites to ensure their conservation and sustainable use. During the construction of Chinese historical protection system, although a three-tier historical and cultural conservation framework serves as the backbone for safeguarding cultural heritage, basically forming a comprehensive conservation system covering diverse and profound cultural heritage types, numerous historical and cultural resources remain outside the legal conservation framework. Regarding the requirement for "comprehensive spatial coverage and inclusive element conservation," the current classification and evaluation standards for historical and cultural resources are inadequate, resulting in incomplete or controversial conservation and management efforts. The current contradiction in Chinese heritage conservation and legislative gaps lies in identifying elements of historical remains that exhibit outstanding value and reflect the long history of Chinese civilization. This paper attempts to explore a more systematic set of criteria for recognizing historical and cultural resources based on the existing regulatory framework, to address deficiencies in legal conservation planning, identify multi-scale, multi-level, and multi-form historical and cultural remains, elaborate on their outstanding value, and incorporate them into the existing conservation system.
Historical and cultural resources should not be simply viewed as individual local entities or physical elements but as the result of interconnected interactions across time and space. This paper aims to place historical and cultural remains within a dynamic development context and establish criteria for recognizing historical and cultural resource elements. By combining international evaluation rules with domestic practices, it seeks to determine identification standards for non-statutory historical and cultural resource elements. For example, through specialized classification conservation regulations, the conservation of place names, legends, intangible skills, and other historical and cultural resources can be strengthened. Consequently, this paper clarifies the recognition criteria for historical and cultural resource elements, prioritizing conservation and adopting a value-oriented approach to explore their cultural genetic value, era-spanning transmission value, regional identity value, and other modern values for sustainable development. The Taihu Lake Basin, as a significant region in southeast Chinese coastal area, has been the economic center since the Southern Song Dynasty and the birthplace of Wu and Yue cultures, nurturing numerous historical and cultural resources and relics. Taking the Taihu Lake Basin as an example, this paper examines and elaborates on historical and cultural resources elements from five value dimensions: political value, economy, social, science and technology and cultural, and geographical, encompassing various value themes such as national governance, trade and exchange, social organization, literature and art.
The establishment of a recognition standard system for historical and cultural resources is of great significance for protecting the common cultural resources of humanity within the context of dynamically interconnected historical sites and urban cultural contexts. By constructing recognition standards for historical and cultural resources, the value of these resources can be clarified, ensuring timely and effective conservation of the region's historical and cultural resources. Simultaneously, it can uncover the potential value of resources, avoiding isolated and fragmented cultural divides. Through the recognition of cultural resource value, this paper aims to better understand the trajectory of human historical development, preserve the integrity of historical culture through dynamic element identification, enhance urban cultural connotation, and promote cultural exchange and dissemination.
References
Chen, T. B., & Wang, L. F. (2021). Inheriting Historical Context and Telling Chinese Stories: A Review of the Construction of the "Urban - Rural Construction and Historical and Cultural Protection and Inheritance System (Ancient Part)".28 - 33. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1006 - 9607.2021.11.009
ICOMOS. (2021). The Cádiz Document - InnovaConcrete Guidelines for Conservation of Concrete Heritage.
Li, X., & Zhang, Y. (2022). Conserving and Managing Historical Urban Landscape: An Integrated Morphological Approach. The Urban Book Series. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
Throsby, D., & Petetskaya, K. (2022). Assessing the Impacts of Heritage-Led Urban Rehabilitation: The Case of George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Getty Conservation Institute.
| Keywords | Historical and Cultural Value; Dynamic Urban Development; Cultural Resource Conservation |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
