Architectural heritage, as an important form of the past, has been attracted increasing awareness. Nowadays there is a shared common view in the world that to protect architectural heritage reasonably and based on scientific methods is a necessity of our age. This dissertation intends to analyze and compare the policies for the protection of the architectural heritage in East Asian and European countries. Japan, China, Singapore, Italy, Britain and Germany are selected as representative countries. This dissertation is a non-empirical study, the main method for research is the documentary analysis. The contents of relevant literature and documents were comparatively analyzed by focusing on three issues: legislation, administration, finance. Each issue within six representative countries is described respectively. Based on such descriptions, a comprehensive comparison of each issue is conducted. These descriptions and comparisons can form the results of study and provide a remarkable insight into such issues of architectural heritage conservation in East Asian and European countries. The conservation legislation of the representative countries is examined respectively in the process of reviewing their conservation movement. As a result of the review process, the main laws that apply to their present conservation practices are presented. Important provisions concerning architectural conservation of the main laws are described; some possible similarities and differences of these provisions are analyzed and compared. This can deliver a general understanding about the policy framework or institutions in these countries\' architectural conservation. The administrative structures of the representative countries are analyzed from four levels: national, regional or local, consultation commissions and civic organizations. This dissertation summarizes some main authorities or organizations responsible for architectural conservation and their duties. In reference to previous descriptions, this dissertation analyzes and compares the characteristics of administrative structures of architectural conservation in East Asian and European countries based on the national and regional/local authorities. It can be concluded that most countries have been moving towards decentralization with varying degrees since the last decades of the 20th century. This dissertation also explores some possible motives for decentralized administration, analyzes the status quo of decentralization in the field of architectural conservation in different East Asian and European countries. This dissertation also provides an overview of their different financial policies in the field of architectural conservation from two aspects: direct public finance and indirect finance. In their conservation practices, direct public funds invested in architectural conservation projects mainly come from central and local subsidies. Two proportions of central and local subsidies in conservation projects are summarized. This dissertation concludes that direct public finance is the main source of their conservation funds but the supply of direct public finance is often limited. In this context, this dissertation argues the important role of indirect finance in the field of architectural conservation, gives some possible ways to improve the efficiency of indirect financing.

<p>With the increased role of local authorities in creating cultural policy, gathering information on how successful and sustainable local heritage conservation programs are established will be very valuable in crafting future policies. This dissertation investigated the development of local government heritage conservation policies in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga in the Philippines in order to determine (1) predictors of community support for heritage conservation policy – why communities support heritage conservation policy and what characteristics or elements of communities lead them to support heritage conservation policies, (2) factors that lead to the adoption and implementation of heritage conservation policies or policy drivers of heritage conservation policy, and (3) given the deeper understanding of community support and policy drivers, the relationship between these predictors and drivers with heritage conservation policy management and sustainability. It did this by being cognizant of the lack of homogeneity across communities, with actors, factors, contexts, and nuances specific to each community.</p><p>Implementing two component studies, the dissertation used mixed methods, which interprets and integrates information drawn from the combined strength of both quantitative and qualitative data, following the convergent design (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2018; Harrison et al., 2020) and guided by the Rigorous Mixed Methods framework (Harrison, Reilly and Creswell, 2020). This first study used a self-administered online survey to collect data from stakeholders and ordinary residents of the City of San Fernando, Pampanga which was analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). In the second study, guided by the naturalist paradigm (Guba and Lincoln, 1982; Lincoln and Guba, 1985), transcripts of semi-structured interviews conducted by City Tourism and Investment Promotion Office (CTIPO) were coded and analyzed using the grounded theory approach. It combined several coding approaches, specifically a blended approach (Skjott Linneberg, and Korsgaard, 2006), with the the Gioia Methodology (Gioia et al., 2012) and Ünlü-Qureshi instrument (Qureshi and Ünlü, 2020)</p> <p>The integration of qualitative and quantitative data and results was guided by the dimensions of the mixed methods research integration trilogy (Fetters and Molina-Azorin, 2017). The dissertation identified predictors for community support for heritage conservation policy, policy drivers of the heritage conservation policy process, and the relationship between these predictors and drivers and within the heritage conservation policy process and produced three models: (1) predictors of community support for local heritage conservation policy, (2) heritage conservation policy drivers, and (3) managerial implications for heritage conservation policy sustainability, and a framework for heritage conservation, management, and sustainability. The data suggested that in the case of San Fernando, (1) knowledge and awareness, (2) sense of belonging and attachment, (3) place image and community identity, and (4) evaluation of value are predictors of support for heritage conservation policies, with evaluation of value as a mediator for the first three. It also identified two major policy drivers: (1) good governance, and (2) heritage consciousness, and six specific policy drivers: (1) understanding the dynamics of heritage conservation, (2) addressing program sustainability, (3) stakeholder integration in the policy process, (4) appreciation of process-oriented governance, (5) manifesting pride and attachment, and (6) awareness of long-term outcomes of policies, that serve as factors leading to the adoption and implementation of heritage conservation policies. The predictors and policy drivers were incorporated into a single framework for heritage conservation policy management and sustainability.</p>