The Newsletter 69 Autumn 2014

R798: the re-evaluation of Beijing's industrial heritage in the adoption of creative industries policies

Giulia Di Pietro

As testified by a UNESCO report on the Asia-Pacific region, the preservation of industrial heritage in Asia is still at an early stage of application, and constitutes a controversial topic for many countries belonging to this region. The report makes the comparison with European countries’ conservation practices and their relationship with their industrial past. Indeed, European countries have a common history of industrialisation that proceeded at a relatively homogenous pace. Moreover, industrialisation is now a relatively pleasant memory because the technological advancements it brought about have made many countries – the UK, for example – very proud of their industrial past and willing to considerate it part of their national heritage. For the countries included by UNESCO in the Asia-Pacific region, however, this is not always the case.