This thesis explores what existing issue of the complex relationship between heritage conservation and popular tourism, and the related problems influenced by the development of tourism and economic. Currently, many problematic heritage conservation practices have occurred in China, such as heritage reconstruction, imitation of heritage, commercial packaging of heritage and losing the setting of heritage, etc. So, I supposed that there are deep socio-economic problems under those phenomena, and the value system of heritage conservation was occupied by the ideology of economic growth. Some local governments did some “big” so-called conservation projects for achieving revenue growth, and some government leaders even for their political achievements. Lack of the knowledge of heritage and conservation and dearth of talent in this area could still be obstacles to solve those problems. In Chapter 2, the authenticity of two different examples of heritage reconstructions are compared – Mo Chi Garden and Jianfu Gong Garden – through information sources based on charters and guidelines. In Chapter 3, I am focusing on the issue of commercial packaging, and using various cases to understand the motive and goal of doing problematic conservation from different angles such like local government, private sector, estate developer, tourists and residents. And another main issue of losing the setting of heritage and focusing on fragments is discussed in my fourth chapter. In my last chapter, I use an analysis of Yellow Crane Tower to state a effective of dual identity which cause a misunderstanding to heritage conservation in China as a conclusion. For those reconstruction buildings, we should be treating this as a reconstruction which happened time and again in the course of the history of man. And problems for those commercialized and setting-lost heritage structures and sites are not with whether they are cultural heritage or whether they compliant with the standards of being a cultural heritage, but the problem is on whether they keep the essence of history and preserve our culture. What makes something heritage, though, is that it records a long history and rich culture, which need inherit from us to the next generations. Today’s new building is tomorrow’s cultural heritage if we could give it meanings. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

The nature of values is explored in the aspects of law, property rights, town planning, environmental management, sustainable development, and conservation economics. The findings are roughly grouped as non-calculus and calculus approach for easy discussion. Each interpretation has its own complex but different theoretical basis on values. But a more convincing approach is enlightened by Cheung’s idea on transaction costs, in which many options for conservation are possible but the option with the least transaction costs is the most preferred. Lai’s idea on relationship between conservation and sustainability has provided a theoretical framework on the recent R-scheme, which opens a new way of conservation echoed with Cheung’s idea. The idea of conserving for public interest is explored, and found that the idea is not well tested because of the vague definition. In deciding actions on conservation, a clearer understanding on the relative gain and loss on each option can help to make a more sensible choice. The situation of both international and local HIA implementation was reviewed, and found that despite HK is becoming an important laboratory for HIA, the theoretical basis for HIA is inadequate. A critical review or audit on HIA implementation is conducted. It was found that the HK HIA mechanism is in lack of legitimate support, and may become another piece of bureaucratic procedure. Continuous evaluation on HIA implement throughout the whole processes is important. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

 Daoist architecture, as the cultural carrier of Daoism, has close relationship with cultural landscape which is a key element in the conservation of Daoism sites. However, very little scholarly attention has been paid to it, and obviously this is a threat to the integrity of Daoist architecture and also the intangible part behind it – the continuity of Daoism culture. To date, 86 properties with 5 trans-boundary properties and 1 delisted property on the World Heritage List have been included as cultural landscapes: of these only 3 were in the China, whilst none of them is related to Daoism. The relatively small number of Chinese nomination is due partly to less concern to the cultural landscape during inscription in china, despite its great importance. Moreover, though some Daoism sites and architecture have been proved to have universal value and inscribed as world heritage, such as Mount Qingcheng and Dujiang yan Irrigation System, Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mount and Mount Sanqing shan National Park, some official presences have ignored the fact that they would fulfil the category of continuing landscape of outstanding universal value with cross reference to the associative cultural landscape category. And the objective of this dissertation is to provide an understanding of the close relationship between Daoist architecture and cultural landscape which seems to have never been integrated with each other, and also the important role that cultural landscape plays in the survival and conservation of Daoist architecture, through a case study of a Daoism temple in Chongqing. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

Historic Bridge is one of the major heritage structures in the world. USA has Golden Gate Bridge (1937) at San Francisco, England has Tower Bridge (1894) at London, Italy has The Rialto Bridge (1591) at Venice, France has Pont du Gard (20BC) at Remoulins and China has An-Chi Bridge (安濟橋) at Zaoxian (趙縣), Hebei (河北) (605 A.D. Sui Dynasty (隋朝)). How about Hong Kong? Hong Kong also has a lot of historic bridges and they are distributed in Hong Kong Island, Tsuen Wan and New Territories such as Min Mo Bridge (便母橋) (1710), The 21-Arch Section of the Bowen Aqueduct (1887) and Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir Masonry Bridge (1970). But what is the condition of them? Whether they are graded or declared as monument will have different level of conservation. They are facing what kinds of impact? All these questions are interesting to investigate and the answer may be useful for those who interested in heritage bridge study in Hong Kong or who want to know another type of heritage structures other than the historical buildings. In this survey, it will cover the 17 numbers of historic bridges with different status from Grade 3 to Declared Monument in Hong Kong. In order to carry out the detailed survey for each bridge, I have spent over 3 months to research the history of the bridges and 5 months site survey to collect the data and inspect the current condition of all bridges by taking site photos, tape measurement, drawing site sketch and carrying out visual appraisal. Finally, I carried out the data analysis and based on the finding to draw out the conclusion of this survey. I hope you can find out the answers from it and obtain understand the current condition and impact to the historic bridge in Hong Kong. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

This dissertation studies the negotiated space of urban regeneration in Hong Kong through an investigation into the dynamics among the government, citizen, and the contingent local context. Hong Kong is a city where changes and transformations happen frequently and mingle with various sectors, and these changes have been influential to the practice and objectives of urban regeneration. Urban regeneration in Hong Kong has long been criticized as economy-led and physically-focused; there was also projects which received vigorous disagreement from the people; the government initiated to carry out public consultation practices, but the effects were regarded as bureaucratic and tokenistic. Not until recent years, the strength of the civil voices and actions has successfully led to a change in the authority’s attitude in spatial treatment. Given this background, this dissertation asks how the process of urban regeneration has changed, why it changed, and ultimately, what we can learn from the changes. To better answer these questions, the dramatic development process of Central Police Station Compound (CPSC) is taken as a case study. The original commercial plan to redevelop the declared monuments of CPSC was replaced by a better welcomed and acknowledged revitalization plan after a series of civic activities. The transition is a visualization of the gap between the conception of the producer of space, and the lived experience of the user of space. Analyzed with a theoretical framework built upon Henri Lefebvre’s spatial theories and the concepts of urban regeneration, it is found that the missing comprehension between the government and the people rooted the struggles and conflicts during the course of development. At the end, it is argued that a truly sustainable urban regeneration is made possible only by the healthy dynamics among the government and citizen, both of whom should continuously make separate but complementary efforts. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

The demolition of Star Ferry Pier and Queen’s Ferry Pier, the controversial conservation approaches for Wan Chai Market and Central Market, and the recent crisis owing to proposed demolition of West Wing of Central Government Offices raise my deep concern on conservation of architecture of recent past. During public consultation for conservation approach for these modern buildings, the term of “collective memory” is widely adopted as the only core value of and justification to preservation. The architectural value of buildings of this period (i.e. 1950s - 80s) in Hong Kong, however, are always looked down or undervalued by conservation experts and general public owing to sheer quantities of such building type in our community. This dissertation is to look into characters of modern architecture, values of such building type to our community and identify their exemplary works in Hong Kong. Through study of world-wide development of conserving modern architecture as built heritage in this dissertation, it tells us Hong Kong is far behind on this issue. We could not wait, but take our first step to safeguard the modern architectural heritage of our city. In the last chapter, therefore, we suggest major steps for conserving modern built heritage in Hong Kong – identification, registration, documentation, and study whether our modern built heritage could meet the six selection criteria of the World Heritage List. Recently, I am pleased to learn that Hong Kong is applying for membership of Working Party on the Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement (i.e. DOCOMOMO – Hong Kong). I wish the research result in this dissertation could contribute to such application. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

“The great buildings of the past do to not belong to us only; they have belonged to our forefathers and will belong to our descendents unless we play them false.” William Morris (1834-1896) Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings 1875 Sustainable development has become a goal of the society in recent years. By creating a healthy and sustainable built environment, the distinctiveness and the character of the society can be maintained and strengthened. Conservation of the historic building has obvious relevance to this objective because, by definition, it conserves existing assets and can facilitate its adaptation to new uses. Adaptive reuse is a process to bring the historic building again into activity so as to achieve sustainability. During an adaptive reuse process, building professionals like Quantity Surveyors will usually get involved and contribute their professional knowledge into the adaptive reuse project so as to smooth away the obstacles encountered during the conservation process as early as possible. One of the ways to streamline the adaptive reuse project is to reduce claims from Contractor at construction stage by a well-prepared and well-written set of specification preliminaries. A standard set for specification preliminaries for adaptive reuse project not only helps in reducing claims but also is a useful tool for Quantity Surveyors to strengthen their professionalism and knowledge in the field of conservation. The research for my dissertation focuses on the specification preliminaries of the tender documents of the adaptive reuse projects in Hong Kong. The projects studied will be Old Tai O Police Station (historic building) and Hon Wah College in Kennedy Town (non-historic building). By comparing the similarities and differences of the specification preliminaries between these two projects, the difficulties and problems encountered in a heritage project can be identified (if any) and whether the standardization of specification preliminaries clauses for heritage projects is possible can be determined. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

During the author’s childhood days, she passed by a colonial red brick house every time she hiked up Mount Parker in Hong Kong. She wondered why such a beautiful yet dilapidated house stood so alone. It seemed to have no connection with its surrounding area, a very local district of Quarry Bay. Later in life, when the author began to take on more interest in Hong Kong’s architectural heritage, she then realized that the red brick house, “Woodside” (「林邊屋」或「紅磚屋」), used to be the staff quarters of Butterfield & Swire, a company that contributed a great deal to the development of Quarry Bay. Coincidentally, this company became the employer of the author, and this motivated the author to seek answers to her queries about the building, and reveal the stories behind this lonely building. Studying in the Architectural Conservation Programmes has provided the opportunity to put these answers on record, so that the public may access them in the future. The research of this dissertation focuses on the history and stories of Woodside from its construction in 1922 until its handover to the government in the 1970s. Through researching and documenting facts related to Woodside, its values (aesthetic, historical, social, rarity and architectural) and significances will be identified. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

The history of the 1911 Revolution has been widely celebrated across the straits in Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong. Numerous memorials and other points of interests have been established in the name of Dr. Sun Yat-sen (Hsü 2000, 454-455), or the Revolutionary societies (Vickers 2007). In Hong Kong, a Dr. Sun Yat-sen Heritage Trail was established in the 1990s under the collaboration of Government Departments (Heather 2003). However, quite a number of the built structures relating to the history of the revolution along the trail were demolished a long time ago, which, as a result, may limit the impact of the interpretation of the Heritage Trail. Recently, the “Conserving Central” Conservation initiative (Development-Bureau 2010) and Redevelopment Projects of the Urban Renewal Authority (Urban-Renewal-Authority 2012) created a window of opportunity to strengthen the interpretation of the Heritage Trail. In implementing the H18 Graham Street/Peel Street Redevelopment Project, the Urban Renewal Authority also built the Pak Tsz Lane Park to celebrate the history of the Fu-ren Literary Society (The Chinese Patriotic Mutual Improvement Association), one of the pioneers in advancing the Western learning and calling for the Modernization of China (Urban-Renewal-Authority 2012). These interpretation efforts also invite study of the effectiveness of interpretation. The Police Married Quarters conservation project will unveil the history of the Central College attended by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, with the assistance of the discovered foundation of the Central College (PMQ 2013). The Headquarters of the Fu-ren Literary Society was situated in Pak Tsz Lane. The built structure which housed the headquarters is non-existent. Prior to the construction of the Pak Tsz Lane Park, the site was under the management of three Government departments (Central-and-Western-District-Council 2009, 2). The site consisted of playground facilities, a plant nursery and a public passageway. Opened in 2011, the Pak Tsz Lane Park consists of a Historic Pavilion, a Historic corridor and educational playground facilities, which serve to inform the visitors of the history of the activities of the Fu-ren Literary Society (Urban-Renewal-Authority 2012). / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture