A Hundred Stories: Industrial Heritage Changes China

A Hundred Stories: Industrial Heritage Changes China, under the chief editorship of Sunny Han Han, an associate professor from the National Institute of Cultural Development at Wuhan University, among others, displays the agenda of industrial heritage protection and renewal in the course of Chinese modernization. Originally published in Chinese [Februray 2023, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Press], the book illustrates the way China, as an industrial latecomer, deals with its industrial heritage and offers a “Chinese solution” to going global.

The heated discussions that the concept of industrial heritage triggers in domestic academia stem from the revival cases of old industrial areas in established European and American industrial powers in the context of “counter-urbanization,” especially the attractive Ruhr region in Germany which “grows a miracle from decline.” It even once served as a window for China to observe the transformation and upgrading of old industrial zones, giving determination and confidence for city planners and cultural tourism promoters to reform old factories, buildings, streets, and wharfs.

China, with a marked “latecomer advantage,” has risen rapidly as a “world factory” amid reform and opening up. However, this extremely compressed temporal-spatial growth also poses tremendous challenges in governing urban modernization. To protect and renew China’s industrial heritage, we cannot mechanically copy the experiences of European and American countries but should align with the reality that the country is still at the stage of rapid urbanization with a huge population.

The book has three main features that distinguish its structural layout of content. First, it constructs a system of four categories (community participation, city renewal, scene reproduction, and cultural innovation) and five evaluation indicators (social, environmental, cultural, economic, and aesthetic benefits). Second, the book attempts a complete coverage of space-time and categories. It tries to panoramically showcase the multiple dimensions of China’s industrial heritage, including smaller, lesser-known cities, spaces, and environments. This opens a new map for readers who focus more on industrial heritage in first-tier cities or with places with “influential traits.” Third, the book places 100 cases under the concept of “red industrial heritage,” endowing them with unique historical value and symbols, demonstrating China’s stories and images in which the CPC leads the construction of national modernization.

In reality, China’s industrial heritage, as a whole, already represents a “Chinese solution.” Many notable cases exist of original, innovative projects with conditions and influence to go global, such as the old Shougang Industrial Park used for the big air events at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and the Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland built within an abandoned quarry.

Zong Zupan is a research fellow from the Institute for Cultural Industries at Shenzhen University.