Four streets in Shuidong ancient town : finding the spirit of place of living street communities in a cultural heritage place

Abstract

The author’s hometown, Xuancheng city, is a typical historical and cultural city that is increasingly attracting domestic tourists, while the local city government has ambition to develop it into an attraction for overseas tourists. Within the city is a historical water town that the author regularly visits, and this is the Shuidong Ancient Town (henceforth referred to as “SDAT”). SDAT is a traditional canal town in Anhui dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The ways of life of the community had been relatively unchanged until recent times. In the 21st century, while the SDAT community is relatively intact, but the community is declining socially and economically. The local government has attempted to revitalize the town through tourism, but so far without much success. The author sees a potential threat for her beloved SDAT, stemming from a proposed tourism plan for the town. As a trained urban planner and now studying architectural conservation, she senses that the plan seems to have neglected an important factor, and that is the “spirit of place” in relation to its people. Without an understanding of the cultural spirit of place, there is the danger of the town becoming a commercialized tourism theme park with the community displaced by tourists. This threat of incompatible commercialization has already happened in a number of historic water towns in China, and the loss suffered by these tourist-oriented water towns is not only confined to their heritage character, but, worse, the entire community that has given up living and working within their community and lease or sell their properties to commercial organizations that have no connection with the town and therefore have no commitment to protect the town’s cultural heritage. This dissertation seeks to establish the “spirit of place” of SDAT, and argues for its incorporation into a cultural heritage management plan, in order for the local community’s culture be protected. The rationale is that by understanding the spirit of place of the local community and integrating this spirit of place into the tourism plan, then the economic opportunities presented by tourism development will not undermine the inherent living cultural heritage of the community. The community can then protect this cultural heritage to provide an authentic cultural tourism experience and thereby using it to develop a sustainable economy with cultural sustainably.