Developing a Comprehensive Assessment Model of Social Value with Respect to Heritage Value for Sustainable Heritage Management

Yabing Xu,John Rollo,Yolanda Esteban,Hui Tong,Xin Yin

doi:10.3390/su132313373

Yabing Xu, John Rollo + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313373

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Dec 2, 2021
Citations: 7	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Shandong Jianzhu University, Deakin University

Abstract

By the end of the 20th century, the influence of economic globalization had impacted many aspects of society, including in particular cultural heritage. Additionally, economic globalization has brought a ‘compression’ of the cultures of different ethnic groups and regions around the world. Due to the loss of cultural confidence and economic benefits, many historical areas with cultural and social significance are no longer protected and valued. If this deficit is to be addressed, then the evaluation of heritage value is an important step in establishing effective conservation policies. China’s Grand Canal is a case in point. The loss of historical culture in the past 30 years, often due to the increasing numbers of both large and small developments, has given rise to the forfeit and distortion of many historically significant areas of China’s Grand Canal towns and cities. This research proposes a qualitative and quantitative methodology to develop a comprehensive assessment model of social value with respect to heritage value. The methodology selected conceptual framework, and questionnaire surveys as major approaches to the development of the research and is applied to the Grand Canal towns of Nanyang, Wuzhen, Tongli and Nanxun. The conceptual framework is used to establish the indicators and hypotheses for the evaluation of social value in order to develop a comprehensive assessment model for sustainable heritage management.

Highlights

Heritage conservation can promote the unity of a country, intensify its self-image, improve the quality of life for its society and community, and enhance the awareness of national spirit [1]
Four canal towns along the Grand Canal will be selected as case studies toFramework study their heritage value through analysing their social value
Site (WHS), To better understand the location of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, this paper presents the map in Figure 5, which has been sourced from ‘The Grand Canal Volume I’, State Administration of Cultural Heritage of People’s Republic of China, 2010

Summary

Introduction

Heritage conservation can promote the unity of a country, intensify its self-image, improve the quality of life for its society and community, and enhance the awareness of national spirit [1]. This ‘cultural crisis’ in the era of globalization plays an important role in protecting historical heritages, but it has made it increasingly challengeable to protect diverse local and national cultures [2]. Due to the loss of cultural confidence and economic benefits, many historical areas with cultural and social significance are no longer protected and valued [3]. Governments are spending large sums of money to build historically styled areas in order to attract tourists, as can be seen in most tourist cities and towns such as Tianjin, Guilin, Xi’an and Fenghuang. The major reason for this investment lies in promoting the value of cultural heritage by attempting to reproduce heritage focused spatial and stylistic qualities, some more genuine than others, in order to Sustainability 2021, 13, 13373.

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