Liu 1 Yuyao Liu Kristen Foster CO150, 400 17 November, 2013 The Need to Protect and Restore the

Citys Historic Buildings Four years ago, a group of developers wanted to demolish a hexagon tower which has been built for more than five hundred years in my hometown. They thought this tower was too old and unsafe, and they wanted to establish some new buildings there for profits because of the good location and high housing price. However, almost all the citizens held the opposite opinions, they claimed that this hexagon tower was a symbol of our city, it had witnessed the local history. Nobody had the right to demolish it. Faced with two different groups with different claims, the local government and policy makers considered which idea was more reasonable and how to solve this issue. After several months, the government decided to accept the citizens opinion, and restored the tower to make it become more safe and look good instead of tearing it down. From my perspective, it is a happy ending. The controversy of how to deal with the historic buildings in the city has always been a hot topic. This issue is really exigent because our society is developing all the time, and there are more and more people moving to cities, we need weed out the old buildings which are unsuitable to continue in use, and replace them with some new buildings. However, historic buildings have considerable cultural values which cannot be replaced by new buildings. Those buildings can also let individuals know the long developing history of a city. Whats more, because of the specific appearance and meaning of historic buildings, it can attract a

Liu 2 variety of tourists and promote the development of local tourism. As far as I am concerned, we citizens, planners and policy makers should protect and restore our citys historic buildings instead of demolishing them. There is an interesting phenomenon that a historic building always becomes a symbol of a city, and even a country, because these buildings have considerable cultural values. For example, when it comes to the Great Wall, the first thing appears in our mind is Beijing or China. Therefore, when a portion of the Great Wall in the town of Shanhaiguan has been vandalized, the Chinese government makes a tough policy to protect and restore this building. Because the Great Wall is regarded as a national symbol for China, we cannot let it be destroyed (Peterson 25). There is another good example, the University of New Hampshire decided to protect and restore the old clock tower on campus. Because it becomes an icon for the university and the city, it has the considerable cultural values to the students, local people and even other individuals in the country (Clock Tower Restoration). A blog which talks about the necessity to protect historic buildings researches the same issue. The author concludes Old buildings are reminders of a citys substance and complexity, and Old buildings often have more intrinsic value (Neely). This kind of claim is also supported by Bernard Feilden, a conservation architect who focuses on encompassed cathedrals and some famous historic sites around the world, he points out that historic buildings have emotional, cultural and use values, including the symbolic and spiritual values (9). Besides the considerable cultural values, historic buildings also reflect the history of a place, so they can be used to educate contemporary individuals and future generations. When I was a student in junior high school, our school organized an activity to visit the Forbidden

Liu 3 City in Beijing. My history teacher told us this historic site was the living and working place for Chinese ancient government, it reflects the prosperous history of our country, so we should study hard and try our best to make our country become more and more strong. In addition, my art teacher said this building is an amazing construction in the history, it also provides modern architecture some useful perspectives and experience. I think I learned a lot of knowledge about our countrys history from this historic building in Beijing. China is a big country with long history, so there are many other famous examples. Robert Weil focuses on the establishing, developing and destroying process about Yuanmingyuan, a royal palace. Now Yuanmingyuan is a pile of rubble because of external aggression. When Chinese visit this place, they will learn the specific period of history and remember the shame of being invaded (104). Statue of Liberty, a gift from France to America, is a symbol of immigration about the USA. Now this precious statue becomses a historic site in New York, it tells contemporary people and future generations a part of Americas history about the tough process and the winning consequence about the War of Independence (Skerry 46). In recent years, according to the reflection of tourism, historic buildings can attract a large amount of tourists, so they are really helpful to the economic development. A variety of evidence demonstrates that modern people are really interested in heritage tourism and it has great effect on the local and whole countrys economy. For instance, there is a case study about heritage tourism in Norway. Many individuals in this survey considered tourism based on sustainable use of heritage is really significant to our society, in the light of their profession and personal experience, they found this kind of tourism can attract more tourists from all over the world as well as cash flowing in (Kaltenborn 110). This study is also

Liu 4 supported by Derek Prall who is a professional journalist and gained both English literature and communication studies in Furman University, he wrote an article which talks about the benefits from historic preservation in cities, especially the economic benefit. Prall claims that historic preservation provides people many historic scenery, it promotes the development of local tourism and economy (10). In addition, Dr. Ramesh Durbarry, a Professor of Tourism Management and Marketing in Nottingham University, points out that because of academic study and tourism industry, heritage tourism is becoming more and more popular in todays society, which contributes to the business sustainability. When referring to the important value of historic buildings, New businesses need old buildings. This is a novel view that old buildings can be used for bookstores, ethnic restaurants, antique stores, neighborhood pubs, so it will improve the citys environment and attract more peoples attention, and it is also good for the development of citys tourism and economy (Neely). An argument against protecting and restoring historic buildings is that these old buildings take up large space in the city, while individuals need more space to establish new buildings for living and working by demolishing historic buildings. I agree that destroying historic buildings in the city can provide more space for new buildings, but we still have some equal or even more significant methods to solve the problem. An article named Towards Resolving the Conflict between the Old and the New gives us some good solutions. According to this essay, we can establish more high buildings, especially the skyscrapers, which will accommodate more people by occupying less land. In addition, extending the space of the city for new buildings also really makes sense. There is a more meaningful way. Craig Langston, an Australian Professor of Construction and Facilities

Liu 5 Management in Bond University, holds a rational opinion that we dont need to spend a lot of money establishing new buildings for the increasing population in cities, we can restore historic buildings and reuse them. He also gives us some methods to reuse the old buildings and keep sustainability (1712). Some critics argue that historic buildings are unsafe and unhealthy to people because of the age. For example, Chinese government destroyed the historic buildings in Kashgar, a Chinese old town, because of the long history and earthquakes, which made those historic buildings become unsafe and unsuitable for people to live (Hammer 28). In addition, due to their age, poor quality, older properties and serious damage, some historic buildings may produce the unhealthy chemical materials and create the moist environment, which are really not good to our health (Power). However, those problems can be solved by restoring the historic buildings. Zhu L. and R. Goethert who are both excellent architects in China and focus on the low-cost and recycling housing in the third world countries gave individuals some significant methods to improve the historic buildings, such as demolition + renovation, relocation + renovation and renovation + participation. They can make the quality and environment of those unsafe and unhealthy historic buildings become much better and suitable for living (191). Nowadays, the discussion of protecting and restoring or demolishing historic buildings is still intense. Citizens, planners, policy makers and other individuals all hold different opinions according to their own interests. Admittedly, destroying historic buildings in the city can provide more space for new buildings which may be more safe and healthy to our body. However, it is rather superficial to turn this idea into reality. Because historic buildings really

Liu 6 have some significant values as I mentioned above, and once we tear them down, we cannot recover them forever, which is a big loss for the city, and even our world. In fact, every minute, there are many new buildings being established in cites, at the same time, several historic buildings are demolished at the same place. If this phenomenon continues and is not blocked by people, then the historic buildings in the city may disappear in a short time. As a historic conservator, I dont want to see this consequence. Therefore, all of citizens, planners, policy makers and other people should recognize the significant functions of historic buildings, and I strongly recommend everybody join the group to protect and restore historic buildings instead of demolishing them.

Liu 7 Work Cited Chintaram, Gowtam R, Durbarry, Ramesh and Baum, Thomas. Heritage Tourism: Historic Buildings and Monuments of Important Past Events. Environmental, cultural, economic & Social Sustainability.N.p.:Malaysia, 2008, 42-27. Web. 18 Nov. 2013 "Clock Tower Restoration." American School & University 79.6 (2007): 12. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. Feilden, Bernard. Conservation of Historic Buildings. Routledge, 2012. Google Scholar. Web. 26 Oct. 2013 Hammer, Joshua. "Wrecking History." Smithsonian 40.12 (2010): 24-33. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. Kaltenborn, Bjrn P., et al. "World Heritage Status as A Foundation for Building Local Futures? A Case Study from Vega In Central Norway." Journal of Sustainable Tourism 21.1 (2013): 99-116. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. Langston, Craig, et al. "Strategic Assessment of Building Adaptive Reuse Opportunities in Hong Kong." Building and Environment 43.10 (2008): 1709-1718. Lucis Trust. Information from Answers. 135.10 (2013): Lucis Trust, n.d. 2013. Web. 20 Nov 2013. Neely, Jack. Whats historic?--And Who Says? Nine Practical Reasons to Save Old Buildings. Metro PULSE. Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group, 16 Jan. 2013 Web. 20 Oct 2013. Peterson, Kara J. "The Wall Crumbles." World Press Review 45.3 (1998): 25. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Liu 8 Power, Anne. "Does Demolition or Refurbishment of Old and Inefficient Homes Help to Increase Our Environmental, Social and Economic Viability?"Energy Policy 36.12 (2008): 4487-4501. Prall, Derek. "Preserving Places: Cities Benefit from Historic Preservation." American City & County 128.10 (2013): 10-11. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. Skerry, Peter. "Mother of Invention." Wilson Quarterly 30.3 (2006): 44-47. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Weil, Robert. "Yuanmingyuan Revisited: The Confrontation of China and The West." Socialism & Democracy 27.1 (2013): 95-135. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. Zhu, L., and R. Goethert. "Different Approaches in Conservation of Historic Cities in China." Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Municipal Engineer 163.3 (2010): 189-196. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Oct. 2013