Urban Renewal and Built Heritage Management

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue on ‘Urban Renewal and Built Heritage Management’ aims to address challenges arise in the process of urban renewal in old decayed districts while addressing the need of conserving the built heritage.

Cities worldwide face urban decay in the older districts. Urban renewal has been a responsive approach to tackle the problem of dilapidated buildings and urban fabrics, obsolete urban infrastructure and land uses. However, it is often believed that built heritage conservation sits uneasily with the demand for urban redevelopment and the balance between conservation and redevelopment has not been easy to achieve. Yet, redevelopment and heritage conservation should not be mutually exclusive. What would be the sustainable management of built heritage under the dynamic changes brought by urban redevelopment? The role of the built heritage in the urban renewal process is complex and the understanding of the multifaceted impacts of urban renewal process on built heritage has not yet been comprehensive. The common issues recognized including, but not limited to: district-wide concept to built heritage conservation, gentrification, community involvement, social exclusion, social justice, property rights, authenticity, commodification, governance, institutional arrangements, decision makings and business models on built heritage management  etc. Integrated efforts in the field of urban planning, land use control, urban economics and heritage conservation could contribute to minimize, if not resolve these problems.

It is expected that collection of high quality papers in this special issue will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the juxtapositions and interactions between the two discourses from the broader urban sustainability framework.  Papers published in this special issue will not only enrich the literature, but also will contribute to the practice and policy in the field.

Dr. Esther H.K. Yung
Dr. Michael C.P. Sing
Prof. Dr. Edwin H.W. Chan
Guest Editors

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