Historic District Research Articles

Migrants as agents in placemaking: A socio-spatial analysis of Basmane area in Izmir, Türkiye

This article explores the place-making practices of displaced Syrian refugees living in Basmane area of Izmir's historic Konak district. By examining everyday spaces, the spatio-material and socio-relational outcomes of Syrians’ placemaking practices, the study positions refugees as active agents of placemaking. Through empirical fieldwork, it underscores the spatio-material consequences and socio-relational wellbeing outcomes of Syrians’ placemaking practices, illustrating how these are shaped and constrained by multi-scale configurations of Türkiye's refugee policies and the perceptions of the local population towards migrants.

Understanding the attractiveness of types of historic districts in Bandung: implementing heritage conservation based on public perception

ABSTRACT Cultural heritage conceptually addresses the conservation of physical and non-physical dimensions. Heritage conservation generally intends to create pleasant spatial experiences and socio-culturally friendly living environments while accommodating contemporary needs. Conservation frameworks for protecting urban fabric driven by physical authenticity and expert judgment need to pay increased attention to public-based assessment experiences to improve people’s perspectives on the quality of urban historic areas. The notions of inclusive conservation posit that community understanding is essential for appreciating historic urban areas due to various social, cultural, historical, and political conditions. According to public narratives and perspectives, this study describes the types of urban historic districts perceived as attractive. The investigation uses the qualitative method to analyze data from 170 participants obtained through an online questionnaire and content analysis methods with open, axial, and selective coding. The findings reveal that from the public perspective of environmental quality assessment, historic districts are categorized under three types according to attractiveness. Three types of historic areas are vibrant, relaxing, and dull districts. As such, the study emphasizes the importance of human sensory experience in urban planning and design and its consequences for urban heritage conservation.

Measuring urban walkability index in Surakarta historic district to promote sustainable mobility

Measuring urban walkability index in Surakarta historic district to promote sustainable mobility

A Post Occupancy Evaluation of the Space Utilization of Cultural Heritage in Children’s Education: A Case Study of Wuhan’s Historical Districts, China

Cultural heritage has educational value because it provides children with a realistic learning environment and a wealth of educational resources. This study intends to fill a gap in academic research by evaluating the efficiency of utilizing cultural heritage in children’s education. This study uses the Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) method to create a comprehensive evaluation index system. Through research and analysis of six key elements—inheritance of historical context, improvement in environmental quality, completion of infrastructure, achievement of educational goals, participation in children in activities, and sustainable development—it was discovered that rational utilization of cultural heritage space significantly improves the educational experience and promotes cultural heritage transmission. This study is significant since it provides an empirical foundation for educational practice and serves as a valuable guide for innovative heritage transmission and policy creation. Our findings emphasize the necessity of incorporating educational goals into preserving and revitalizing cultural heritage, advocating for a forward-thinking approach that honors the past while fostering learning and progress for future generations.

A Study on Cultural Tourism Development in Historic Districts from the Viewpoint of Social Innovation

The rapid rise of the cultural tourism industry has benefited from the strategic promotion of the integration of culture and tourism, a process that plays an indispensable and important role in enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of the local economy, the cultural industry and the image of the city. The core of the charm of the historic district lies in the living inheritance and presentation of culture, which not only meets the aesthetic needs of the modern society, but is also closely related to the profound humanistic and historical development of the historic district. This study takes Taipei Dadaocheng Dihua Street as the main research object, adopts literature exploration and field observation method to conduct the study, and employs graphical inductive analysis to discover the humanistic landscape of Dihua Street in which the old and the new are intertwined. And using the social innovation theory as the theoretical support, it discusses in depth the innovative development direction of the historical district from the point of view of cultural and tourism integration.

Temple Corridors in Indian Cities: A Blend of Tradition and Modernity

Temples and heritage corridors have successfully contributed to the redesign of Indian cities, yielding positive outcomes in terms of cultural heritage, tourism, and business. Such projects aid in revitalizing historical districts, preserving traditions, and fostering greater public concern for urban environments. Nevertheless, several challenges persist, such as the risk of commercialization, altering the authentic image or identity of places, social inequality during gentrification, and balancing modernization with conservation. Despite these challenges, these initiatives highlight cultural identity, which should be safeguarded through careful planning to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth. A critical question remains: has the transformation of Indian cities diminished their aesthetic and cultural value? Temple corridors in Indian cities blend Indian culture with contemporary architectural and planning techniques. This paper reviews the development, significance, and evolution of temple corridors within the urban Indian context, focusing on their roles as cultural institutions, social amenities, and tourist attractions.

Peculiarities of the participative methodology application in the process of revitalization of the architectural heritage of the Yerevan historical district of Kond in Armenia

Peculiarities of the participative methodology application in the process of revitalization of the architectural heritage of the Yerevan historical district of Kond in Armenia

The Southern Chinese Eclectic Style Wall Floral Ornamentation of Sun Yat Sen Mainsion, George Town, Penang

The Sun Yat Sen Mansion, located in the Armenian Street historic district of George Town, Penang, is a shophouse that has been meticulously transformed into a Peranakan private museum. The building has its own history, which stems from Dr. Sun Yat Sen's involvement with the Chinese revolutionary movement. Despite the fact that Sun Yat Sen is regarded as one of the greatest leaders in contemporary China, his political career was marked by continual conflict and repeated exile. Sun Yat Sen Mansion is one example of an architectural heritage building with beautiful ornamentations of Straits Settlement shophouses. Shophouses and townhouses are listed under UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, possess unique architectural and cultural characteristics. The building is influenced by the Southern Chinese Eclectic Style (1840s–1900s), where Chinese masons contributed their methods and supplies. Additionally, ornamental details and ventilation holes have been added. Ornamentation such as floral and fauna has been applied to this building's facade to create eye-catching colours, making for an appreciative sight in these buildings with their own philosophy. Peranakan shophouses with beautiful wall floral ornamentation can be found in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand; however, there is still no documentation based on the philosophy of wall floral ornamentation as references. This paper investigates the floral ornamentation wall motif in façade design and analyses the philosophy of the floral ornamentation on the Sun Yat Sen Mansion. This building has interesting ornamentation that will influence the Southern Chinese eclectic style philosophy. Through the utilization of the Sun Yat Sen Museum as a case study, this inquiry employs a qualitative research methodology to gather data and comprehend wall floral ornamentations that influence the eclectic southern Chinese style. Based on this research, the findings provide an understanding of the philosophy of wall floral ornamentation influences that govern the design of architectural characteristics and façade design on Sun Yat Sen Mansion.

Geo-Semiotic Analysis of Shared Streets in Urban Historical Districts: The Case of Jiefangbei, Chongqing, China

Geo-Semiotic Analysis of Shared Streets in Urban Historical Districts: The Case of Jiefangbei, Chongqing, China

Influencing Factors of Street Vitality in Historic Districts Based on Multisource Data: Evidence from China

Amid urban expansion, historic districts face challenges such as declining vitality and deteriorating spatial quality. Using the streets of Xi’an’s historical and cultural district as examples, this research utilizes multisource data, including points of interest (POIs), street view images, and Baidu heatmaps, alongside analytical techniques such as machine learning. This study explores the determinants of street vitality from the dual perspectives of its external manifestation and spatial carriers. A quantitative framework for measuring street vitality in historic districts is established, thoroughly examining the driving factors behind street vitality. Additionally, the relationship between built environment indicators and street vitality is elucidated through statistical analysis methods. The findings reveal significant, time-varying influences of these spatial carriers on human vitality, with distinct spatial distribution patterns of human activity across different times, and the significance of the influence of external representations of human vitality and various types of spatial carriers varies over time. Based on these insights, this paper proposes strategies for enhancing the vitality of historic streets, aiming to rejuvenate and sustain the diverse and dynamic energy of these districts. It provides a foundation for revitalizing the vigor of cultural heritage zones and offers strategies applicable to similar urban contexts.

Evaluation of the In2Care Mosquito Station at low deployment density: a field study to manage Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) in North Central Florida.

In the last 2 decades, there has been an increase in the geographic range and frequency of vector-borne diseases. Management of mosquito populations has become challenging due to increasing rates of resistance to existing insecticidal products and formulations. Several alternative tools have emerged to suppress or replace mosquito populations. One of these tools is the In2Care Mosquito Station (In2Care station). This dual-action station contains the insect growth regulator pyriproxyfen which disrupts the development of immatures and the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (B. bassiana) strain GHA which kills exposed adult mosquitoes. The In2Care stations have previously been shown to effectively control Aedes aegypti in field settings at a density of 6 stations/acre rather than the label-recommended 10 stations/acre. To further test the efficacy of low station density deployment, we deployed In2Care stations in the Pleasant Street Historic District of Gainesville, Florida, at a density of 3 stations/acre over a period of 2 years in the presence or absence of ground larvicidal applications. The deployment of stations resulted in no measurable impact on Ae. aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus adult or immature abundance suggesting that the low-density deployment of In2Care stations is insufficient to reduce Ae. aegypti and Cu. quinquefasciatus abundance within treatment areas.

The Guidance of Public Value in China’s Historic Environment: Research on Regeneration Strategies Using Taiyuan’s Bell Tower Street as an Example

When profit-driven renewal is difficult to implement, many historic districts in China become “frozen” under protection. In the recent social context of “building cities for the people”, public value-oriented renewal of urban historic areas has become crucial in city transformation. This study investigates strategies for historic district regeneration in China by integrating spatial form, urban governance, and public value. We propose a novel framework to analyze the regeneration of historic districts, using Taiyuan’s Bell Tower Street as a case study. The framework distinguishes between two dimensions: spatial and economic–social. In the spatial dimension, we focus on the transformation of spatial form to regenerate public value, emphasizing the attribute of “publicness” as central to urban regeneration efforts. This involves a tiered approach to excavating and upgrading historic districts at macro, meso, and micro levels. The economic–social dimension explores urban governance to enhance public value through collaboration between government, market, and societal actors. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, including document reviews, interviews, field observations, and statistical data analysis. The analysis highlights that a public value-oriented approach to heritage regeneration can balance historical preservation with contemporary urban needs, offering a sustainable model for other cities.

Design framework to renewal abandoned areas in historic districts

ABSTRACT Urbanization and population growth have profoundly impacted the environment of historic and cultural blocks, resulting in a lack of public buildings and spaces for internal adjustment, fostering pronounced homogeneity. This study focuses on completely abandoned areas within historical streets, integrating space syntax analysis with semantic analysis to explore reshaping regional public buildings. Unlike previous studies centered around restoring old objects, the abandoned disconnected areas require a novel regional public architecture design framework through the semantic transformation of archival photographs, historical plans, and local culture. Taking Huishan Ancient Town in Wuxi as a case study, this research comprehends the abandoned disconnection area through a literature review and examination of archival data. By using spatial syntax analysis to combine the overall pedestrian flow space with the depth of ancient historical plans, entrances are set according to the pedestrian flow, preserving unique spatial characteristics and transforming the abandoned land into new public building spaces with distinct regional and contiguous features. Through semantic translation rooted in local culture, classical elements were extracted from intangible cultural heritage and applied to the ancient town’s architectural facades, navigation systems, and structures, thereby mitigating homogenization tendencies in both spatial and cultural elements.

Variability of Land Surface Temperatures in Beijing’s Historic Districts

Variability of Land Surface Temperatures in Beijing’s Historic Districts

Language politics and prestige in The Walled City: an exploratory study of the linguistic landscape of Intramuros, Manila

Abstract Tupas and Lorente (2014. A ‘new’ politics of language in the Philippines: Bilingual education and the new challenge of the mother tongues. In Peter Sercombe & Ruanni Tupas (eds.), Language, education and nation-building: Assimilation and shift in Southeast Asia, 165–180. New York: Springer) contended that “the politics of language in the Philippines always featured the tension between English on the one hand and the vernacular languages on the other.” But how exactly does this language dynamic manifest itself in the linguistic landscapes (LL) of the Philippines? To explore this question, this paper conducted an exploratory LL analysis of Intramuros, the famed “Walled City” of Manila, using Scollon and Scollon’s (2003. Discourses in place: Language in the material world. London: Routledge) place semiotics and Ben-Rafael et al.’s (2006. Linguistic landscape as symbolic construction of the public space: The case of Israel. International Journal of Multilingualism 3(1). 7–30) top-down and bottom-up sign classification. It found that English-based signs are used to accommodate a global audience, i.e., foreign tourists, whereas Filipino-based signs are used to police and regulate the behavior of residents and, to a certain extent, local tourists. To conclude, it argued that by looking at its linguistic landscape, historical districts like Intramuros articulate beliefs and assumptions on language that, in turn, make them deeply political and ideological sites.

Research on the Impact of Landscape Planning on Visual and Spatial Perception in Historical District Tourism: A Case Study of Laomendong

Research on the Impact of Landscape Planning on Visual and Spatial Perception in Historical District Tourism: A Case Study of Laomendong

Developing and validating a scale to measure perceived cultural atmosphere in historic districts

ABSTRACT Nurturing cultural atmosphere and making such atmosphere perceivable are critical for revitalizing historic districts and attracting tourists. However, lacking understanding of and measurement tools for cultural atmosphere impedes both research and managerial practices. To fill the gaps, the present study adopted a mixed-method approach developing a scale of perceived cultural atmosphere in the context of a historic district, Yongqing Fang. Using UGC content and 30 interview data, the qualitative part served for initial item generation. Through two questionnaire surveys with 513 participants, the quantitative part completed scale refinement and validation. A 13-item, four-dimension structure was suggested, including architectural setting, interior decoration, traditional activity, and shared affects. Theoretically, the present study improves the understanding of cultural atmosphere and provides a measurement tool for future studies. Pragmatically, destination managers may apply the scale in cultivating and maintaining a sense of culturalness in historic districts or other heritage sites.

Beijing Symbiotic Courtyard Model’s Post Evaluation from the Perspective of Stock Renewal

Stock renewal is one of the important methods of urban renewal, which focuses on optimizing and reusing existing urban spaces. With the increasing land pressure in present-day China and the need for land to be reclassified, the thinking mode of stock updating has become increasingly important. Beijing symbiotic courtyard is a representative urban renewal model that combines the characteristics of traditional quadrangle dwelling and modern architecture, aiming to achieve the symbiosis of history and modernity. After several years of implementation, the effectiveness of this model has become a matter of concern for all parties involved. Therefore, this paper takes stock renewal as the observation perspective, describing an evaluation for the Beijing symbiotic courtyard model, which contains different types of residents living in particular historical districts. It attempts to propose corresponding strategies, aiming to provide a more comprehensive thinking angle and planning method for the sustainability of stock renewal. In contrast to earlier studies, the proposed methods involve a specific mathematical statistical model called the IPA-KANO model, in addition to other traditional urban renewal methods. For a wide range of problems including historical district evaluation and renewal, the approach leads to potentially less errors than caused by manual operation. This comes from the fact that all the data are collected through survey questionnaires and big data, so the technical restriction of using mathematical model is to some extent ruled out in this new approach. Moreover, the approach offers new potential problems that cannot be handled using earlier techniques. After the calculation, although there are still defects, local residents are generally satisfied with the Beijing symbiotic courtyard model. The result suggests that it is of importance to reference this model for urban renewal so that can be widely promoted in historical district vitality regeneration.

Visual Analysis of Social Media Data on Experiences at a World Heritage Tourist Destination: Historic Centre of Macau

The burgeoning field of sustainable tourism in historically significant urban districts has derived increasing attention in tandem with broader urban economic development. The perceived image of a tourist destination significantly affects tourist consumption behaviors and destination choices, while negative evaluations provide destination managers with insights for targeted improvements to tourist amenities, thereby contributing to the sustainable development of these historically significant districts. This study leveraged Python 3.12.3 software to collect online textual data from popular tourism websites, specifically Ctrip 8.71.4 and Mafengwo 11.1.7. Then, ROST CM6.0 software facilitated high-frequency word analysis, network semantic analysis, and sentiment analysis to outline the perceived image and characteristics of the Macau Historic District, a UNESCO World Heritage site, from the perspective of tourists. The findings are as follows: (1) The image of the Historic Centre of Macao as a tourist destination comprises four primary dimensions: cultural (16.02%), landscape (30.85%), emotional (16.97%), and local (36.16%). (2) Tourists perceive the Historic Centre of Macao as a blend of dynamism and tranquility, tradition, and modernity. (3) Emotional evaluations of the Historic Centre of Macao as a tourist destination are primarily positive (85.45%), whereas negative sentiments constitute 5.76%, with recurring themes pertaining to overcrowding, high prices, a lack of interactive experiences at attractions, excessive commercialization, and insufficient public rest facilities. These findings offer valuable directives for the future planning and development of tourism in Macau, a city recognized for its World Heritage status. (4) In summary, the thematic image of the Historic Centre of Macao can be considered authentic, romantic, and commercialized.

Development of a Method for Commercial Style Transfer of Historical Architectural Facades Based on Stable Diffusion Models.

In the sphere of urban renewal of historic districts, preserving and innovatively reinterpreting traditional architectural styles remains a primary research focus. However, the modernization and adaptive reuse of traditional buildings often necessitate changes in their functionality. To cater to the demands of tourism in historic districts, many traditional residential buildings require conversion to commercial use, resulting in a mismatch between their external form and their internal function. This study explored an automated approach to transform traditional residences into commercially viable designs, offering an efficient and scalable solution for the modernization of historic architecture. We developed a methodology based on diffusion models, focusing on a dataset of nighttime shopfront facades. By training a low-rank adaptation (LoRA) model and integrating the ControlNet model, we enhanced the accuracy and stability of the generated images. The methodology's performance was validated through qualitative and quantitative assessments, optimizing the batch size, repetition, and learning rate configurations. These evaluations confirmed the method's effectiveness. Our findings significantly advance the modern commercial style transformation of historical architectural facades, providing a novel solution that maintains the aesthetic and functional integrity, thereby fostering breakthroughs in traditional design thinking and exploring new possibilities for the preservation and commercial adaptation of historical buildings.