Building a sense of community through heritage : a comparative study in the shaping of community heritage perception between two historical markets in Taipei and Hong Kong

Abstract

This research is to examine the relationship between the sense of community and community heritage conservation by studying the cases of Dihua Street of Taipei and Yuen Long Old Market in Hong Kong, in order to understand how different local community groups might value same heritage site differently, so that recommendations could be made on improving the sense of community in Yuen Long Old Market. The research has four goals. First, to find out the significances of Dihua Street and Yuen Long Old Market respectively. Second, to determine how these two places are perceived by different local community groups. Third, to investigate how different factors might have led to different levels in sense of community within one community. Finally, to analyze and evaluate the current conservation progress of Dihua Street, so that experiences can be learnt and applied to Yuen Long Old Market. The study focuses on two scholarly areas, firstly, to determine the varied levels of sense of community between the two chosen sites, and secondly, to understand how local community percept their heritage through sense of community. To achieve these two objectives, there will be comparisons on historical backgrounds, processes of conservation, and current status between the two sites. In order to comprehend how sense of community contributes to the conservation of community heritage, surveys, site visits and observations will be conducted, and the outcomes will be utilized for comparative analysis purposes. By comparing the two similar old marketplaces, the similarities and differences between them could be clearly shown, between could be clearly shown, and one can therefore have a clearer view into the relationship between sense of community and community heritage conservation, as this is the vital component to the sustainable heritage conservation in a community.