Understanding the social value of a historical street : the cultural mapping of Heqiao Old Street, Heqiao Town, Zhejiang

Abstract

Heqiao Old Street, located at the heart of the historical Heqiao Town, is an important historic community with historic buildings dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. These historic buildings are intact with a living community that has maintained its traditional festivals and cultural practices. The town, being located at the intersection of three rivers, was historically an important quay for the river trade. However, with the decline of water transport and the development of land transport, Heqiao Town lost its former prosperity. Nowadays, this place has developed into a tourist attraction, and the original residents living in this community become fewer and fewer. The community of Heqiao Old Street, which is the carrier and transmitter of the cultural heritage of the town, is facing changes, and, as such, there is urgency to understand what the community’s heritage is before it is too late. Existing published research on this place only focuses on the spatial arrangement and the protection aspects, and almost nothing on the heritage value aspect. This is the research gap and an issue, because: how do you know what to protect if you do not know the community? And what is the real meaning of spaces if you do not know what the spaces is used for and by whom. In other words, understanding the community is the fundamental basis for other research. The scope of the research is to identify the tangible and intangible cultural heritage elements of Heqiao Old Street community and understand the social value of Heqiao Old Street community. The methodology to achieve the research objective is by means of first establishing the cultural heritage values of the place, and then under each value, map the key tangible and intangible character-defining elements (CDEs) of the street. By this means, the research provides a more holistic picture of the community, which may become the basis for future conservation.