An exploration of the ‘ecomuseum ideal’ for living heritage management under the context rural revitalization in China (article)

Abstract

Integrated heritage management has become increasingly important for both urban and rural areas, and has now been frequently used as both a philosophy and an approach to revive the decayed areas under various transitional contexts such as rapid urban expansion, economic restructuring, industrial relocation, and globalization. Recent decades have witnessed understandings of heritage value, along with shifting paradigms of urban and rural conservation doctrines. By placing urban and rural development into the ‘bigger picture’, sustainable development which aims to solve contemporary issues without compromising either what has come to us from past generations or what is passed on to future generations, has attracted worldwide attention from all levels of stakeholders. Issues associated with some conservation models have entailed social, economic and environmental conflicts to society, along with the rising tensions related to tourism, commodification, real estates, social justice.