Liu 1 Yuyao Liu Kristen Foster CO 150, 400 24 Oct, 2013 Should the city demolish old, historic

buildings? The modern cities develop very quickly those days, they extend to large space, establish lots of skyscrapers, and there are more and more people moving there. In terms of this situation, individuals always think about how could find more space for new buildings and the coming people. We all know that most cities were established many years ago, so there are a variety of old, historic buildings, especially in the downtown. When I walk or hang out in the street, a question always appears in my mind that if it is feasible to destroy some old buildings to provide more space for cities. I think the government, estate developers and many residents also have the same thought as mine. This question is interesting and supposed to be solved because different stockholders have different opinions according to their profits. For this research project, I determined to explore this question, Should the city demolish old, historic buildings? Not only we have to find more space in the city, but also those buildings are unsafe and influence the great image of the modern city in some degree. However, some individuals disagree with it because historic buildings have considerable cultural values, they reflect the history of a place. In addition, they can offer local people and tourists an enjoyable view, and promote business development. So I think this topic is really controversial and worth discussing in todays society. Before I found an answer of whether it is reasonable to demolish old, historic buildings in the city, first of all, I should learn the different voices of people about this topic. There may be

Liu 2 some supporting points. Government, developers and some individuals who really focus on the peoples safety and health will consent this idea. By using Academic Search Premier Database and typing demolish OR destroy and historic sites, I found an article named Wrecking History. It is a scholarly article written by Hammer, Joshua, a journalist who possesses high reputation and has taken up many important positions in press circles (Wikipedia). This article gave me some significant reasons about Chinese governments decision to demolish historic buildings in Kashgar, a Chinese old town. After going through the article, I got the idea that most buildings in Kashgar have a long history, and this place has happened earthquakes for several times, so it is unsafe for residents living in those buildings. Whats more, government encourages local people migrate to internal place because of some political and economic requirements, it also wants to establish some new buildings and even reestablish the old town to promote the development of economy there (1). Now I got an idea from this article that security and economic development are always the main reasons to demolish old, historic buildings in the city. Besides the main reasons in Wrecking History about approving of demolishing old, historic buildings, I tried to find more supporting points. Then I continued by reading a long article, Does demolition or refurbishment of old and inefficient homes help to increase our environmental, social and economic viability? to provide me another important reason. The author points out that there is evidence reflecting old buildings may cause healthy problems because of the long time, poor quality, older properties and serious damage. Some historic buildings may produce the unhealthy chemical materials, and the moist environment of those buildings is also not good to our health. Therefore, it is necessary to demolish the old buildings if it is not suitable for living.

Liu 3 Those two articles above helped me get a better understanding of some important reasons to destroying old buildings in cities. After that, I wanted to search some information about the opposite opinions which disagree with demolishing historic buildings in the city. Maybe there are more people, such as the historic conservators, choosing to protect those buildings. Next turning to metropulse website, I was so lucky to find a really useful blog, Whats Historic-And Who Says? Nine Practical Reasons to Save Old Buildings. Just like the title, the article talks about nine reasons to protect historic buildings. The information in this article is abundant, and some of them are really rational and novel. I totally appreciated that old buildings have intrinsic values and are more versatile than new buildings. The city built historic sites several years ago, so the specific culture, the level of economic development and the architectural style at the time are different from now, thus the old buildings are more various, gorgeous and splendid which attract people a lot. Also, some historic sites are the reminders of a citys substance and complexity, such as the Hutong in Beijing, Chinas capital.Whats more, most developers are not trusted. They pay lots of attention to their own benefits and always ignore overall interests (Needly). The nine practical reasons are really useful to support the idea that protect historic buildings rather than tearing down them. What I am really interested in is the intrinsic value which mentioned above. Thus, I hoped to get more information about the values of historic sites and it can support the idea about protecting old buildings. This time I used Google Scholar to search, and I found book named Conservation of Historic Buildings by Feilden, Bernard, who is a famous conservation architect (Wikipedia). In this book, I am so pleased to find the related content about some values of historic buildings which I want to search. The author points out that old buildings have emotional, cultural and use values and provides details about them. I

Liu 4 totally agree with it. Emotional values, including Wonder, Identity, Continuity, Respect and Veneration, Symbolic and Spiritual values ( Feilden 5). We all known that historic sites always have the ability to encourage people and make them become active and strong, it is the spiritual energy which comes from the emotional values. Cultural values, consist of Documentary, Historic, Archaeological and age, Aesthetic and architectural, Townscape, Landscape and ecological, Technological and scientific values (5). Historic buildings standard the different culture of different eras. In addition, different eras have different architectural styles, buildings knowledge and technology, which are valuable in todays society. Whats more, old buildings also possess use values, such as Functional, Economic, Social, Educational and Political values (5). When it comes to use value, we should recognize that historic buildings have a variety of functions even though they are old. It can provide working and living place for individuals, increase the development of economy and even can be used to educate contemporary people and future generations. I am really happy to find those useful information about the values of old buildings, which strongly suggests that protecting historic buildings in the city is essential. After researching the two different perspectives about whether demolish old, historic buildings in the city or not, I couldnt judge which idea is more reasonable. Because those opposite groups have their own convincing reasons, and we should make different decisions according to different situations. So I thought it is superficial to give a specific answer about this question. Compared with individuals, government probably stands on a neutral and more reasonable positions. and I attempted to find some more rational perspective. Historic buildings always have their own cultural values which individuals cannot recreate today, so I dont support to demolish them. However, some old buildings really make a bad effect on the whole image of the city, and some of them are unsafe and not good to our healthy. In this case, is it rational to

Liu 5 change and improve historic buildings instead of demolishing them? Improving old buildings can makes them look better and be consistent with the citys whole image. Whats more, it will increase the safety of those buildings. So I turned to search some sources which focus on improving historic buildings in the city. I found two sources through the Academic Search Premier, one of which is Different Approaches in Conservation of Historic Cities in China, and another is The application of ARP modelling to adaptive reuse projects in Hong Kong. I really like those two articles because the authors use some real examples to persuade audience to support the idea that repairing old buildings in the city is greater than demolishing them. The first article focuses on the reasons and methods about improving and protecting old buildings in Beijing, Chinese capital. Beijing is a good instance because there are a lot of historic sites, especially in the downtown. People in Beijing have realized the importance of protect old buildings, it can attract tourists from all over the world and thus promote the development of economy, and many historic buildings there are symbols of the city, and even the country, so they have the particular meanings and culture values to Chinese and the whole world. Whats more, this scholarly article also give audience some great method that they have already applied in the project of improving old buildings. According to the authors, some significant approaches are demolition + renovation, relocation + renovation and renovation + participation (Zhu and Goethert 4). The second article also provides us a good example about the reuse project in Hongkong. Hongkong is a dense city, people cherish every inch of land there. Hongkong establishes many buildings and some of them become old. Instead of destroying them, individuals choose to improve and reuse them. The leaders of this project divide historic buildings in different levels according to the different build time. In terms of the damaging extent, then the government can decide then and how to improve and reuse those buildings. I think the

Liu 6 plans mentioned in the two articles can also be used in other old buildings of other cities and they are really helpful. The researching process is amazing. I only had a question at the beginning, when I did the research, I would find some other related perspectives. I considered to find a specific answer to my original question, but with the in-depth research. I found support and objection ideas both have their own significant reasons, I couldnt conclude a totally correct answer. What I can do is to search a more rational opinion about this topic, and at the end of my research, I found it, that is changing or improving old buildings instead of demolishing them. I really enjoy the process of researching. I wanted to do more deep research next time. From my perspective, I am inclined to protect historic buildings in the city, and improve them if it is necessary. So next time I want to continue my research about how to protect old, historic buildings in the city, and what are the governments responsibilities about protecting those buildings.

Liu 7 Work Cited 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. Langston, Craig, Esther Hiu-Kwan Yung, and Edwin Hon-Wan Chan. "The Application Of ARP Modelling To Adaptive Reuse Projects In Hong Kong." Habitat International 40.(2013): 233-243. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Oct. 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. 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): 44874501. 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): 189196. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.