The Commissioner for Heritage's Office (.CHO.) was established as a response to the 2007-2008 Chief Executive Policy Address and was regarded as a milestone in stimulating heritage conservation in Hong Kong. One of the major initiatives implemented by the CHO is the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme (Revitalisation Scheme) for non-profit-making organisations (NPOs) to operate Government-owned historic buildings. There is a need to evaluate the 'social' public-private-partnership (PPP) of Revitalisation Scheme as it matures. As the Development Bureau is releasing more historic buildings under the Scheme and question arises if it is feasible in long-run and whether private enterprises can be eligible to participate to diversify our historic buildings. An analysis of several cases under the Revitalisation Scheme and overseas case studies were used. Interviews were conducted with stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors of the Revitalisation Scheme to understand their relationships. Interviewees included operators of the historic buildings, project architects, advisory board member and academia. Stakeholders from overseas case study were also interviewed. It was discovered that the use of partnership in the Revitalisation Scheme is successful in drawing funding from the public sector and expertise from the private sector. The establishment of CHO and its institutional arrangement had significantly reduced the risk of the private sector and risk of over-commercialisation of historic buildings. But the selection of historic buildings to be included in the Revitalisation Scheme, selection of applicants, financial stability, building requirements, management concerns and lack of private enterprise participation limits the effectiveness of heritage PPP. In order to build upon the Revitalisation Scheme, NPOs and private enterprises should form a consortium for a better distribution of risks and responsibilities in the partnership. The private enterprise will be responsible for the primary business in operating the historic building, while the third sector can commit to community input and the protection of heritage values. A profit-sharing approach between the public, private and third sector will create long-term benefits for the Revitalisation Scheme. The Government as the public sector should apply appropriate zoning regulations and flexibility in the buildings codes to establish a long term strategy of the Revitalisation Scheme. The connection and the theory between PPP and heritage conservation form a basis to evaluate the innovative approach of the Revitalisation Scheme. As we witnessed several award-winning projects under the scheme, this analysis will examine their implications and measures to ensure the feasibility of the Revitalisation Scheme in long run. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Urban conservation (or heritage conservation in the urban setting), by its nature, imposes irreversible and enduring impacts on the built environment and urban fabrics. While conservation of individual monuments of indisputable historic and cultural significance often ignites heated debates, protests and resistance movements, the episodic conservation efforts of everyday architectures and heritage assets woven in the urban setting are often overlooked. Evidently within the rapidly changing context of urban China, which is virtually a contested ground for the struggles of many marginalized social groups and the upholding of local values and lived experiences amid the globalization waves and economic development, the urban conservation practice has not been systematically evaluated, monitored nor reviewed from an integrated perspective. This fittingly calls for the utility of French philosopher Henri Lefebvre’s triadic “conceived – perceived – lived” spatial framework, which has been proven useful in discerning the spatial changes and power interplays embedded in the process and outcome of the production and re-production of space. As suggested in the title, the application of the Lefebvrian spatial framework in this research endeavor is manifold, in both spatial and temporal senses: First, to discern how the concerned space was historically produced; Then, to examine how the space has been re-produced (as in produced for the second time) in the conservation processes and outcomes; At the same time, to paradoxically explore whether and how the space has been reproduced (as in organically and biologically conceived, given birth and nurtured) to perpetuate for a sustainable future; Ultimately, to investigate how urban conservation efforts can possibly facilitate or impact on the preservation, integration and transformation of space from a physical construct to a mental construct in the urban restructuring processes across China today. To this end, two fundamentally different yet very telling case study sites of urban conservation in Shanghai, the forefront city of China, have been identified, namely, Xintiandi and Tianzifang. They represent the market-driven conservation approach and the community-initiated conservation approach respectively, and both have deep-rooted causal relationships with the economic and developmental boom and evolution of urban conservation practice in Shanghai, and China as a whole. Through a comparative analysis of the two case studies, this research endeavor examines, individually and collectively, what the driving forces and the evolving relationships of the key players are behind the conservation efforts, and whose interests have been represented in the conservation processes, whether the lived environments, routines and experiences have been identified, respected and conserved; thereby summarizing the salient issues facing urban conservation efforts in China today, and reflecting upon how urban conservation practice can contribute to the sustainability of urban development and redevelopment in Chinese cities and beyond. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The New Territories of Hong Kong has faced the drastic change since the 20th century. As concluded by the Lockhart Report in 1899, the landscape and village setting in the New Territories were much the same in few hundred years before 1900. However, with the social and economic developments, the natural and cultural landscapes of the New Territories have been shaped and evolved obviously. Being one of the witnesses of these changes is because that my family live at Tai Tseng Wai of Wang Chau in Yuen Long, I have my personal attachment and memory to my home village. The precious tangible and intangible heritage is required to record before it will be gone by the threads of development. There is no comprehensive and systematic research on the heritage resources at Tai Tseng of Wang Chau. As Tai Tseng is far from Yuen Long, there is no published research or study in this area. Most of heritage resources, especially the intangible heritage has been neglected. Most of the reports which are prepared by the Government or consultants are related to the natural environment and historic fabrics for the requirement of planning application and the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) such as the construction of sewerage and sewage disposal facilities in Yuen Long. However, the concept of cultural landscape, cultural mapping and intangible heritage are ignored. This research is expected to serve as the documentation and inventory study of heritage resources of Tai Tseng. The natural and cultural heritage will be evaluated and the driven forces will be studied. It is also expected that this study will help us learning more about the current condition of heritage resources in the traditional villages in Hong Kong. As Tai Tseng is one of Hong Kong surviving living village in the New Territories, it is expected that the research results could be the reference and resources for the challenges and future developments. The research results will also provide the direction and insight for the heritage conservation policy in Hong Kong such as applying the concept of cultural landscape, assessment of intangible heritage and cultural mapping skills to the traditional village in the New Territories. The study area is Tai Tseng of Wang Chau where is located in the north of Yuen Long. Although there are about ten villages in Wang Chau, only three villages which are located in the north of Wang Chau, including Shing Uk Tsuen, Tai Tseng Wai and Ng Uk Tsuen as labeled in Fig. 1.1 will be studied. Tai Tseng is the collective name which includes Three Villages in the north of Wang Chau. Tai Tseng is selected because of my personal attachment and connections. As my family is rooted at Tai Tseng Wai, many interesting stories about their cultural practices and ritual customs can be shared with my professional views and theories which I have learnt from the Architectural Conservation Programme (ACP) in The University of Hong Kong. As I am one of the witnesses, its conditions and changes could be assessed. With my family connections, the oral interviews can be conducted with the indigenous villagers to understand their views to Tai Tseng. Their experienced stories can be shared in the research. Tai Tseng is a good example for the cultural landscape study. Although Tai Tseng is not the oldest village in Wang Chau (the oldest village is Sau Tau Wai), many tangible and intangible heritage resources are still well-preserved. This project also is the example to apply some new conservation concepts and methods such as the concept of cultural landscape and application of cultural mapping. This research is the pilot study to capture the indigenous villagers’ views on the heritage resources through the cultural mapping techniques. Their views to heritage resources will be analyzed and visualized by the form of cultural map. As the landscape and setting of Tai Tseng have been evolved in the 20th century, many precious traditional customs and ritual practices should be recorded before it would be gone. The temporal changes and the driven forces over the last century also provide the insight to us for studying the evolution in the natural and cultural landscapes. This site is a good example to study the development of cultural landscape in the New Territories of Hong Kong. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

This dissertation focuses on the personal layers of meaning attached to a heritage site, using the case study of Hong Kong’s old Central Police Station (CPS). It is a way to enhance the understanding of the site in a way that goes beyond the scope of ‘official’ records and histories, such as those found in conservation reports, government documents, etc. These documents focus heavily on the significant historical stories attached to the site and the site’s formal architectural qualities as a way to understanding the heritage values of the place. However, this ignores the fact that a site such as the CPS was not built as an historical artefact or as a grand architectural monument. Rather, the CPS had a functional purpose: as a site of work. This dissertation therefore uncovers the meanings attached to the CPS as a site of work, through an understanding of the socio-historical experiences of the site. This is based on both theoretical and practical research. The theoretical research outlines an overarching theory of ‘heritage place’ – as a result of human interaction with space – as based on the philosophies of Martin Heidegger and Henri Lefebvre, the geographical writings of Carl O. Sauer and Allan Pred, and the cultural heritage theory of Laurajane Smith. This theory is rooted in the phenomenological method, which is founded upon an understanding and description of human experience. The practical component of this dissertation draws upon 10 interviews I conducted with former staff of the CPS, which led me to understand the memories and experiences attached to the site. I then present a synthesis of the theoretical and the practical arms of the research as a way to understand the heritage meanings of the CPS as a living, functional site (not as historical artefact). Ultimately, the research presented in this dissertation is an attempt to guide conservation thinking in Hong Kong away from static and esoteric understanding of heritage significance as rooted in esoteric and largely impersonal qualities of history and aesthetics, and towards an understanding of heritage significance as rooted in humans’ interactions with their environment. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

It is good news to see that Hong Kong has adopted the adaptive reuse approach in conserving historical buildings through projects under the Revitalisation Scheme. The bad news is that due to the absence of well-founded locally relevant principles and guidelines, almost all of these projects have brought about fierce quarrels among different groups of professionals. In particular the quarrel between conservation professionals, who try to adopt international best practices in conservation, and government officials, who are responsible for regulating and enforcing fire safety codes consistently in all buildings, regardless they are new or historical. In the past, some conservation architects have queried about the possibility of applying for exemption from the fire codes in conserving historical buildings through adaptive reuse. Today, conservation professionals and government officials have accepted that there is little room for compromise regarding the application of the fire codes in the adaptive reuse of historical buildings, as the codes are about ensuring the safety of occupants as well as protecting the heritage property from fire. Conservation professionals are now looking into ways of applying the fire codes in adaptive reuse projects. Now that the Revitalisation Scheme has been in operation for six year with a number of projects successfully completed, it presents the author the opportunity to examine the fire-code application of these completed projects to develop references based on precedent case-studies. Such references would be useful to professionals in adaptive reuse projects (as conservation consultants, project managers, architects and engineers) in facilitating the planning and design of the adaptive reuse in terms of meeting the fire codes. This research is to study the application for relaxation of, and exemption from, the prescribed fire safety codes by adopting fire engineering approach in adaptive re-use of Old Tai O Police Station into Tai O Heritage Hotel. Tai O Heritage Hotel is the first and so far the only hotel premises of the Government. Besides, it’s the first historic buildings in Batch I of the Revitalisation Scheme with capital cost funded by the Government. It is a great challenge to equip a 110 years old historic building with modern fire safety provisions and installations. By demonstrating the ways of appropriate means in application of fire engineering approach in fire safety in historic building, procedure and assistance which can be given by Government Departments in facilitating the revitalisation works, it can provide platform for future discussions, or a model for future adaptive re-use projects under the Revitalisation Scheme. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

No description available.

Battle Hall, located at the heart of the University of Texas at Austin’s campus since 1911, has been serving the University for a century. It was designed for cooling with natural ventilation prior to being fully air conditioned in the mid-1960s. The mechanical system currently installed in Battle Hall is over 40 years old. While it provides reasonable environment for the collections, it struggles to achieve stable conditions for various zones in the building. The purpose of this study is to consider isolating the Reading Room as an individual zone and explore the possibility of restoring natural ventilation as it was originally designed. There are various benefits in restoring natural ventilation to the hundred-year old Reading Room, including psychological benefits, indoor air quality, and energy savings. However, various concerns, such as environmental conditions, air pollutants, acoustic, and potential light damages, also exist. This study focuses on investigating the possibility of restoring natural ventilation by examining existing conditions, collection care requirements for library collections and historic architectural elements. Two data-loggers were placed in the Reading Room to record temperature and relative humidity readings for approximately five months. Through analysis of these readings of existing collection care settings and existing architectural settings, potential solutions and alternatives were considered and examined. These included non-action, hybrid natural ventilation, Johnson Controls Personal Environmental System, and HVAC shut-off. This study is the first of its kind for Battle Hall. As a Historic Structures Report of Battle Hall is commissioned by the University, this study provides a better understanding of potential solutions and alternatives to restore natural ventilation to Battle Hall. This may also serve as a platform to stimulate ideas and research on natural ventilation restoration to other buildings in the University. / text

There are 34 state-supported historic sites that are managed by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). These sites have been acquired over the years with various justifications and acquisition histories and are not a planned system of historic sites. With the rapidly changing demographics in Texas, it is clear that new strategies need to be developed so that these sites better represent the history of all Texans. The thesis investigation begins with a history of diversity initiatives within the preservation movement. Next, I present an innovative method for identifying potential areas of focus for diversity initiatives at state historic sites using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). I developed a spatial analysis methodology to quantify the level of diversity of the web content of each of the 34 state historic sites. Each historic site’s web site was then ranked according to its relevance to four ethnic groups: African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans. Additionally, I generated population maps, descriptive maps, and analytical maps in order to understand how historic sites interact with the surrounding population. Finally, I present a set of strategies for existing state historic sites that will provide greater diversity in interpretative techniques and promotion. The goal of the GIS-based spatial analysis and the subsequent development of strategies aimed at targeted sites is to broaden the appeal of historic sites to a more diverse audience. / text

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design