Abstract
Despite an objectivist vision by many heritage conservation bodies, the extant literature mostly dwells on the value of heritage as something subjective and arbitrary. Semiotically treating built-heritage as a Peircian triadic sign, instead of a dyadic sign, could reconcile this apparent dichotomy. Some squares of Macau]’s Historic Centre are taken as case study. Using a Coasian perspective, this paper argues how the meaning-delimiting consequences of a triadic semiotic framework allow for a lower transaction cost in valuation and eventually a more sustainable conservation. This has been confirmed by an expert decision in designating the relatively new squares as heritage protected areas.
Highlights
Every assessment of values has an underlying epistemological foundation
The way the assessment and evaluation of heritage values are carried out affects the conservation, land use, and tourism of a site
In order to lessen the negative effects of this, what has become formalised as a “heritage impact assessment” (HIA) process recommends that the compositions of the assessment teams be experts and stakeholders from different fields and backgrounds [3]
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. “It should be possible in a given scene to determine wherein its special characters and beauty consists: what is essential and what may be changed. There must be, in a word, some sort of assessment of values; it is not enough to say which landscape or piece of country is precious and which of ordinary value, but in what consists the special quality for which it is valuable” [1] p. The above quote from Sir Patrick Abercrombie, a founder of the Royal Institute of Planners, illuminates the importance of uniqueness in heritage assessment as a type of value assessment in land use
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