Abstract
Many studies on Lijiang Old Town, the World Heritage Site in China, criticise the negative impact that the rapid tourism development caused on its ‘outstanding universal value’. However, tourism is a very important driving force for the local development of heritage sites in poverty areas of developing countries. So how to balance the relationship between ‘heritage’, ‘community’ and ‘tourism’ is an important issue for human-inhabited World Heritage Sites in developing countries. The paper takes Lijiang as a case, introducing the huge changes of the ‘heritage’ and ‘community’ with the rapid tourism development since it was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997. It points out that since 2002, according to the social and economic development status then, Lijiang has redefined its general goals to protect its authenticity and integrity as a World Heritage Site, to improve the living condition, to guarantee the interests of local people, and to enhance harmonious social development. A series of public policies have been designed and implemented to integrate heritage conservation with local development. Based on data analysis, field investigation and questionnaire survey, the paper analyses this intervention process and the experience and lessons of it, providing certain reference for the conservation and sustainable development of human-inhabited World Heritage Sites.
Highlights
Surrounded by mountains, Lijiang Old Town is located in Lijiang-bazi of Yunnan Province of China at an altitude of 2,400 m
Based on the long-term tracking and research on conservation and development of Lijiang Old Town by the author’s team from Tongji University, the analysis data which the paper adopts mainly include two sources: (1) the data published by the local government; (2) the large amount of first-hand data investigated in the scene separately in the year of 2002, 2005 and 2012 in the process of participating in the ‘World Heritage Site—Lijiang Old Town Conservation Plan’, including questionnaire survey, interviews, field surveying and mapping, etc. by the author’s team
Realising the above problems, the plan emphasises on the establishment of management mechanism, building management, tourism management, capital management, file management, disaster prevention and crisis management, daily monitoring, human resource management, social management, and intangible heritage conservation, etc
Summary
Surrounded by mountains, Lijiang Old Town is located in Lijiang-bazi (basin area) of Yunnan Province of China at an altitude of 2,400 m. The magnificent Yulong Mountain is covered with snow all the year round. Springs and ponds constitute a diverse water network here. Built up against mountains and near waters, they give a perfect glance into local cultures and ethnic customs. Features such as fluid urban space, dynamic water network, properly–sized residential architectures, comfortable spatial environment, and unique ethnic art reflect the creativity of human being in urban construction under given historical conditions and set up an excellent example of a livable environment in China (He 2011) (Figure 1)
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