Analyzing differences and focus in Chinese heritage site conservation plans: A textual analysis approach

With a profound legacy of historical and cultural heritage, China has been consistently committed to preserving its rich heritage. This study scrutinizes China’s approaches and effectiveness in heritage conservation planning by employing advanced text analysis methods on a corpus of 99 conservation plans for historical and cultural cities, towns, and villages. Utilizing Python for data extraction and VOSviewer for keyword analysis, the research categorizes different types of heritage conservation plans, revealing the nuances and focal points of each category. Additionally, this paper compares the focuses of China’s conservation planning with the six steps of Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) and assesses the deficiencies in the planning compilation and differences with the HUL approach. The main conclusions of this study include: (1) Despite detailed surveys in heritage conservation planning, China’s heritage conservation methods exhibit significant gaps, especially in public participation and vulnerability assessment of heritage sites, compared to international heritage conservation concepts. These shortcomings limit the effectiveness of the plans in achieving balanced and sustainable development in heritage conservation. (2) The analysis reveals significant variations in planning strategies across different types and regions, indicating the need for more tailored and region-specific approaches in heritage conservation planning to address the diverse contexts within China. This paper provides an important empirical analysis sample for quantitative research on China’s heritage conservation planning, offering insights for achieving a more balanced and sustainable development between heritage conservation and urban development.