The Culture-Oriented Urban Regeneration: Place Narrative in the Case of the Inner City of Haiyan (Zhejiang, China)

Abstract

Recent decades have seen an increasing interest in the urban regeneration of inner-city areas in China. As urban areas take shape based on cultural aspects as much as on physical aspects, this paper employs the theory of place narrative to explore the strategies involved in culture-oriented urban regeneration. Initially, this paper sets out the basic theory of place narrative, which is relevant not only for the way in which a particular regenerated urban area is presented to the general public, but also for the way in which the hidden cultural information of the city translates into concrete urban developments. It also examines the urban regeneration of Haiyan (Zhejiang), an ongoing case, by applying methods and concepts of narrative theory. The main idea of urban regeneration is illustrated, based on the use of ‘culture’ as the revitalizing mechanism. Firstly, the method of place narrative is used to sort out and interpret the cultural information, which is commonly attached to the cultural resources in the context of urban space. Secondly, based on the idea of narrative structures, cultural resources can be integrated into the urban system connotationally and physically as well. Thirdly, cultural events are organized in the urban space to promote the experience of the place. The greatest contribution of this research is to provide a new approach, i.e., place narrative, to culture-oriented urban regeneration and for its sustainable development as well.