How ton conserve the Old Town of Lijian and its settings

Zhao, Zhongshu (2005) How ton conserve the Old Town of Lijian and its settings. In: 15th ICOMOS General Assembly and International Symposium: ‘Monuments and sites in their setting - conserving cultural heritage in changing townscapes and landscapes’, 17 – 21 oct 2005, Xi'an, China. [Conference or Workshop Item]

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Abstract (in English)

Lijiang city, the World Cultural Heritage, is located in Yunan province, Southeast China. Having become a popular international tourist destination over the past years, Lijiang is now facing the serious threat of losing local characteristics such as the local customs, languages, dresses and cultural atmosphere, due to over-commercialism and too much trade mainly be people from outside the Lijiang region. Lijiang has a beautiful natural setting of hills, lakes, rivers, trees and green belts of agricultural fields and forests. However, due to the rapid urbanization and large-scale construction in the north, west and south parts of the city, many new buildings are being constructed, which are not in harmony with the old buildings and therefore it seriously destroyed the settings. More potential danger is to expect from plans of the local authorities to develop the local economy faster by means of transforming the fringe of Lijiang city in industrial zones and residential areas as well to build a new city just in the south. As urban planners, in charge of preparing the Lijiang master plan, we suggested the following: 1) To consider Lijiang city in a regional perspective: no polluting industry projects in the small and middle-sized towns in the northern part within a range of 20-30km from Lijiang city, so that we can both develop the local economy and conserve Lijiang city and its settings. 2) In Lijiang city, we encourage the local residents to develop their handicrafts, family hotels and other special activities showing their typical local products and characteristics to visitors, while limiting people from outside the area to undertake such activities. 3) As to the setting of the Lijiang city, we propose measures to preserve and enhance the natural scenery, and stop the construction of new buildings in it. Through architectural rehabilitation, new buildings should be brought into harmony with the Lijiangs cityscape and surrounding landscape. As to the green belts, at least the southeastern part -as the only part where the city is still in its original rural setting - no any construction should be allowed. Unfortunately, we so far didn’t succeed to convince the local authorities, and Lijiang City and its setting are still in danger.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Authors:	Authors Email Zhao, Zhongshu UNSPECIFIED
Languages:	English
Keywords:	Historic town centre; World Heritage List; setting; threats; urbanization; tourism; tourist influx; economic development; tourism management; tourist industry; master plan; town planning; rehabilitation
Subjects:	J.HERITAGE ECONOMICS > 05. Heritage and sustainable development G.DETERIORATION > 02. Causes of deterioration D.URBANISM > 02. Urban planning I.CULTURAL TOURISM > 02. Tourism management H.HERITAGE TYPOLOGIES > 13. Historic town centres I.CULTURAL TOURISM > 03. Tourist industry I.CULTURAL TOURISM > 05. Tourism impact M.WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION > 03. World Heritage List I.CULTURAL TOURISM > 04. Sustainable tourism I.CULTURAL TOURISM > 07. Carrying capacity and visitors flow
Name of monument, town, site, museum:	Old Town of Lijiang, China
UNESCO WHC Number:	811
ICOMOS Special Collection:	Scientific Symposium (ICOMOS General Assemblies)
ICOMOS Special Collection Volume:	2005, 15th
Depositing User:	Jose Garcia
Date Deposited:	29 Nov 2010 10:34
Last Modified:	13 Jan 2011 19:15
References:	1. Peng ZHAO Master plan for Lijiang City (2003-2020), Report, China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, ( in Chinese) 2. Beijing Daily May 31,2005 3. Peng ZHAO Master plan for Lijiang City (2003-2020), Caption, China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, ( in Chinese) 4. Peng ZHAO Master plan for Lijiang City (2003-2020), Text, China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, ( in Chinese)
URI:	https://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/408

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