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Life and History: Challenges on Urban Conservation and a Possible Solution: Case Studies on Historic Quarters in Beijing and Shanghai, China

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Conservation of Architectural Heritage (CAH) (CAH 2022)

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Abstract

In recent decades, the redevelopment process in Chinese cities has challenged historic quarters. While conservation awareness rises, scholars started to criticise these quarters for being restored in “improper methods”. Moreover, property privatisation and tourism development in historic quarters caused dilemmas: the majority of inhabitants were relocated under the monetary compensation system; the overwhelming tourism activities resulted in a significant loss of the uniqueness of living elements. They all pushed the local government and the inhabitants to a deeper collaboration with other stakeholders. This paper first overviewed the approaches to urban conservation, from integrity conservation to the Historic Urban Landscape, and analysed their merits and defects. Focusing on two cases in Beijing and Shanghai, it further illustrated processes of inhabitants’ participation and collaboration modes with other stakeholders, including local organisations and authorities, to safeguard the architectural heritage and redevelop the historic quarters. The measures could provide feasible approaches to balance the conflict between urban conservation and redevelopment in the aspect of heritage management.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Classification and Evaluation of the Quality Level of Tourist Attractions (GB/T 17,775–2003) required a AAA Tourist Attraction to be equipped with satisfying scenes, services, facilities, and so on, as well as the capacity of serving 300,000 individuals per year.

  2. 2.

    Lilong houses indicate two or three-floor terraced houses which distributed along the alleys.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the editors of this proceeding and two anonymous reviewers for providing constructive comments. The research was supported by the Chinese Scholarship Council (NO.201806120033).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico Di Milano, Milano, Italy

    Yanhan Zhu

Authors
  1. Yanhan Zhu
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Correspondence to Yanhan Zhu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Architettura, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Maria Luisa Germanà

  2. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Natsuko Akagawa

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Kore University of Enna, Enna, Italy

    Antonella Versaci

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Nicola Cavalagli

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Zhu, Y. (2024). Life and History: Challenges on Urban Conservation and a Possible Solution: Case Studies on Historic Quarters in Beijing and Shanghai, China. In: Germanà, M.L., Akagawa, N., Versaci, A., Cavalagli, N. (eds) Conservation of Architectural Heritage (CAH). CAH 2022. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33222-7_3

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