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Title
New perspectives to save cultural heritage
Author
Altan, M. Orhan

CJPA 2003 XIX th International Symposium, 30 September - 04 October, 2003, Antalya, Turkey
1.2 Da-Dau-Cheng, Taipei
three; it is also the seat of the Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County.
The other two townships forming the trio are Baisha and Shuhe,
HE • Population: 16,000
• Land Area: 40 hectares
both have remained rural.
Lijiang, situated in a basin that lies 2,400 meters above sea
Da-Dau-Cheng is located on the bank of Tamshuei River that
flows along the western edge of Taipei, the capital city of
Taiwan. The district got its start as a major trading port of
Oolong tea and other goods in northern Taiwan in 1861, after
the Ching government, as a result of its defeat by the French
and the British, was forced to open it to international trade. In
1896, Taiwan was ceded to the Japanese in the aftermath of the
Sino-Japanese War. During the next fifty years, Da-Dau-Cheng
continued to strengthen its role as the preeminent business,
cultural and entertainment center of Taipei.
level, lies to the southeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,
popularly known as the “roof of the world”. It formally came
under Chinese rule during the Tang Dynasty in 1235. Eventually
Lijiang prospered economically and politically as the main
exchange center for caravans traveling along the Ancient Trade
Route of Tea and Horses (Cha-Ma-Goo-Dau) which linked
China with the Near East by way of India. In the process, it also
became a stronghold of the Naxi people, one of the eleven
minority tribes residing in the region. Known for their Dongba
culture and an ancient music tradition dating back to the Tang
Dynasty, the Naxi built a multi-ethnic settlement.
By the time Taiwan was released from the Japanese rule in
1945, the district had become home to many of Taipei’s leading
j merchants, literati, and political activists. However, with the
;mization, and ’ ’ r . , , . .
iral herita e is suspense of the cross-strait trade and the continuing
la This is deterioration of the working harbor, Da-Dau-Cheng soon began
benticit ”ofa t0 * oose ds l uster - While Taipei went through an explosive
y growth during the ensuing decades, the district was largely left
iticit ” as well unheeded. As a result, legacies of over a century of high
, . . achievements are left standing in a rich reservoir of architectural
allel evolution , , T , „ , . ,
styles along Di-Hwa Street, the commercial spine for the
historic urban wholesale base of dry goods, textiles, and traditional herbal
nd the ancient medicines. The buildings range from simple Chinese courtyard
structures, grand western-style mercantile mansions, to
to thrive with shophouses built in elaborate pseudo-Baroque or Modernist
a rvation is one styles with a distinct Japanese-Chinese flare. And despite the
district’s fall from grace, a majority of the properties are still
owned by third or four generation residents who have chosen to
stay or become absentee owners.
United States. ., TT
uses that have n *^77, the government announced its plan to widen Di-Hwa
. . , Street from 7.8 meters wide to 20 meters wide - a move that
istructed at the
textile and the would obliterate the historic fabric of the neighborhood. Many
... in the neighborhood were more than ready to part with remains
of Chinatown °* t ' ie P ast in "°P e °‘ an economic redemption. After a
nmunity the prolonged struggle between contesting interests and ideologies,
[vine sunnort plan was P ut to rest w '^ die a ^°P t ‘ on °f “The Special Historic
■ Landscape District of Da-Dau-Cheng” in 2000. In addition to
ions, service F & .
s the needs of Transfer of Development Right as a mitigating measure, other
For many of related incentives and punitive provisions have also been
e Chinatown adopted. Nevertheless, skepticism and animosity toward
es ’ t yl es conservation lingers as much as economic uncertainty.
Lijiang’s strategic importance began to wane as the ancient
inland trade route was replaced by railroad and other modem
alternatives. Nevertheless, it continues to be the national home
base for the Naxi and a regional center politically and
commercially. As early as 1951, the local government formally
issued a policy that focused on “preserving the Ancient Town
and Cultivating the New City”. In 1983, the Ancient Town of
Lijiang received national designation as a Historic and Cultural
City. In 1994, the authorities began to prepare for a nomination
to UNESCO’s World Heritage List by launching a major
infrastructure improvement program. However, it was the
disastrous earthquake in 1996 that galvanized national as well
as world attention on the conservation and rebuilding of this
unique historic enclave - including the creation of a new
commercial sector in mocked traditional Lijiang style - an
indigenous adaptation of traditional Chinese courtyard houses.
Since the successful inscription on the World Heritage List, the
Old Town has been booming with the explosive growth in
tourism. However, most of the new revenues have been
generated by businesses in an “old town” that never existed
before the earthquake. Meanwhile, the community is going
through a forced transfusion, with the original Naxi residents
loosing out to new comers, and life becoming stage sets. To
help relieve the pressure from the historic quarters, the
government announced an ambitious plan to build a new 5000-
acre commercial/residential district, Siang-He-Li-Cheng (Town
of Peace and Beauty) to its south in April of 2003.
2. AUTHENTICITY AND /OR INTEGRITY
the expanded The Spring impotence and limitations of existing legal
)m other parts measures were made painfully clear when, around 1:20A.M.,
nation of the May 26 th , 2002, a bulldozer wrecked the front section of the Da-
t Zone into a Dau-Cheng Presbyterian Church - one of the 77 historic
the Midtown buildings in the district. The Church was planning a major
lias to contend expansion, while the evaluation for a municipal landmark
d educational designation was in progress. Two days after the midnight attack,
r ith the City’s the designation became official.
Authenticity and integrity are unquestionably two of the most
definitive criteria applied to the assessment of historic resources
as well as related treatments in modern times. Notably, the
current Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the
World Heritage Convention has established authenticity as a
condition for the definition of cultural heritage properties, and
integrity for that of natural heritage properties (UNESCO
1997). Whereas the authenticity of cultural properties is tested
1.3 The Old Town of Lijiang (Dayan Jen)
trification, the
nt of the 1990 • Population: 14,000
rezonin" plan * Land Area: 140 hectares (including surrounding hills)
*hborhoods in The Town of Lijiang as inscribed on the UNESCO World
^multi-district World Heritage List in 1997 actually comprises of three
National Trust adjacent but not contiguous townships. Dayan Jen, the focus of
the present paper, is the largest and most populated among the
by their design, material, workmanship or setting, .the integrity
of four distinct categories of natural properties is to be
examined by four correspondent sets of criteria, all emphasizing
on completeness, or wholeness. -Essentially, this means the
properties have to be sufficient in coverage and in size to
include key interrelated, interdependent or diverse elements that
form a natural relationship, a biological or geological process,
or an ecosystem.
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