The central theme of this issue is the research and practice of the conservation of urban heritage, which is a vital component of built heritage. 

In the ‘Special Focus’ column, this issue presents Zhang Song’s recent work ‘On the Invention of Urban Built Heritage Concept in Europe and Its Reference Significance for China’. This article comprehensively introduces and deeply interprets the theory and practice of urban heritage conservation and the sustainable development of the historic environment since the Haussmann Plan of Paris in the mid-19th century, especially focusing on the period from the invention of the term ‘urban heritage’ by Gustavo Giovannoni to the proposal of ‘built vernacular heritage’ in the 12th ICOMOS Conference. This process has been generated, led and advanced primarily by the invention of the core concept of the conservation object. From the perspective of urban revitalisation, the article also sets up the discussion on the relationship between built heritage conservation and organic urban renewal. 

This column also presents the French scholar Bruno Mengoli’s article ‘Greater Paris: A Territory Between Recycling and Heritage’. Through the case study of two residential quarters built in the 20th century in terms of their construction and alteration, the article discusses the cultural, technological and economic adaptive problems encountered in the conservation practice of modern urban built heritage, revealing the contradictions between urban renewal and the conservation of modern built heritage, and suggesting the possible solutions as well. The author points out that the conservation of modern heritage should put more emphasis on usage, arguing that ‘Conservation as museum, empty of inhabitants, are hardly bearable: a so recent patrimony hasn't won its rights to retreat and needs a use to survive!’

In the ‘Theory and History’ column, He Yi’s article ‘Towards the “Post-Historical and Cultural City Era”: Exploring the Systematic Construction of Historic Urban Areas’ puts forward that the urbanisation in China in the last 30 years have made the state policy of “National Famous Historical and Cultural City” conservation launched in the early1980s completely invalid. Many historic cities have only been left with fragments and the original historic city conservation has to be reduced to ‘historical and cultural area’ conservation, marking the entering of the ‘Post-Historical and Cultural City Era’. By taking the integrated conservation of the Ningbo Historic Urban Area as a case study, the article proposes four planning strategies for a ‘systematic construction’ of the historical information scattered in the old town, including ‘linkage’, ‘fabrication’, ‘assemblage’, and ‘bridging’ , to make the city live on as a part of the historical context. Following this article, Yao Yifeng and Na Ziye’s article ‘A Historical Observation and Discussion on the Bologna’s Practice of Integrated Conservation’ introduces and evaluates the experience of Bologna, Italy, where the concept of ‘historic centre conservation’ was extended to the entire historic town. This column also presents Wu Qingzhou’s article ‘Transition of the “Capital City of Water”: The History of Wuzhou and Its Flood Adaptive Measures’, which from the viewpoint of the technological history of city construction, briefly introduces the history of Wuzhou city as a typical example of passive flood control in ancient China and the flood adaptive measures of its Qiloucheng developed in the early modern time.

The subject of this issue’s Warfield Column is ‘A Case Study in Vernacular Icon’, in which the European traditional windmills and waterwheels are recorded coupled with the lives of the local farmers as their users. The author believes that ‘They represent the harvest of their labour, the food of life. They are community symbols of productivity and livelihood.’

The ‘Project Analysis’ column presents three articles on the practice of urban built heritage conservation. Zhang Jie, Yan Zhao and Huo Xiaowei’s article ‘Re-considering the Cultural Heritage of Jinan as the City of Springs from the Perspective of Cultural Landscape’ introduces the reasons for changing the category of the Spring City of Jinan from ‘natural and cultural mixed heritage’ to ‘cultural landscape’ in the application of World Heritage Sites and the process of re-considering its heritage values, concluding that Jinan’s spring cultural landscape is primarily composed of the ‘old city’s cold spring utilisation system’. Shao Yong’s article ‘Qufu Ming City: The Attributes of the Values and Its Mode of Conservation and Development’ illustrates the evolving historical process, cultural characteristics and value assessment of Qufu Ming City, and proposes a harmonious development mode for this famous old town. Yang Kai’s article ‘City Pattern Analysis and Integrated Conservation of the Historic Urban Area: A Case Study of Qiqihar’ tends to take the practice of Qiqihar as a case study for the conservation of the National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities. It brings forwards the research method for the analysis of the Historic Urban Areas’ city pattern evolution, suggesting an identification system for the integrated conservation of city pattern as well as its construction method.

Closing this issue, there is the elaborate translation and annotation of ‘The Valletta Principles for the Safeguarding and Management of Historic Cities, Towns and Urban Areas’ contributed by Lu Di. This document was first published in the 17th ICOMOS General Assembly in 2011 and could be regarded as the substitution of the Washington Charter. The new Chinese version correlates and clarifies the problems and errors in the former translation of this important international document. (translated by Li Yingchun)