Inheritance Ethics in Engineering Development: Comparison Between Shenyang and Ruhr on Industrial Heritage Conservation

Abstract

This chapter develops an ethical approach to thinking about obligations toward the preservation of industrial heritage. Industrial heritage is an aspect of cultural heritage dealing specifically with the buildings and artifacts of industry which are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present, and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. We also refer to these broadly as “inheritance ethics.” As a central case study, we compare the approaches to the preservation of industrial heritage between the Ruhr district of western Germany and the Shenyang urban region of northeast China. We discuss how different engineering decision-making mechanisms lead to different ethical choices about heritage and inheritance. The main example of Shenyang city will demonstrate, similar to other cities in China, that architectural and older industrial ruins were considered unsightly and polluted. As such, these sites have often been destroyed, thus erasing the material, architectural, and industrial heritage of previous generations. While many sites of ancient cultural heritage are protected in China, the question goes unanswered as to whether we have the right to destroy the historical imprint left by our more recent industrial lineage. Further, we inquire as to whether China can realize a development ethics that considers both the needs of future generations as well as the heritage left by previous generations.