The correlation between cultural heritage conservation and community development has become increasingly evident after China's reform and opening-up policy. Since the announcement of the first batch national historical and cultural cities in 1982, initiates to take on the challenges of conserving cultural heritage and regenerating historic cities

have been launched in both physical and socio-economic dimensions. Considering China’s economic structure, mass population and highly mobile workforce, existing theories on community development and spatial governance appear inapplicable or inadequate to explain the complexities and capture regional nuances of the conservation practice in China, which is dealing with the issues of community involvement and development in a rather different institutional and social context. This conference, therefore, is dedicated to promote a greater integration between community development and heritage conservation.

Up until November 2019, China has announced 8 batches of National Cultural Relics and listed a total 5,058 historic buildings and sites; more than 5,000 traditional villages have been designated on national level; and the number of registered tangible and intangible cultural heritage assets and their categories has increased dramatically. With the continuous evolution on the concept and theory of heritage conservation, and the ongoing innovation of the conservation practice of the historic cities, districts, towns and villages, the two subjects have intertwined, or been interwoven with a belief on their mutual dependences. The success of safeguarding and stewarding cultural heritage property high rely on local communities; on the other hand, cultural heritage has often played a pivotal role in fostering and heightening sense of community and pride. We argue that cultural heritage conservation should be a collaborative process, as a link that shapes the cultural identity of local communities, and the fruitful outcomes of such collaborative endeavors should be shared by all.

The interaction between cultural heritage and community identity, the conservation of cultural heritage and the well-being of community residents are the key driving forces for local sustainable development. Therefore, this conference invites scholars to rethink the followings questions: how can cultural heritage promote community development in contemporary China? How does community involvement enhance the values of cultural heritage? How can cultural heritage empower urban communities, revitalize traditional villages, and redirect tourism growth to diversify community incomes and livelihoods. These major challenges and questions demand theoretical reflections and further explorations by academics, practitioners as well as the government.