Hangzhou, June 6 -- On June 9, UNESCO and the Hangzhou Municipal People's Government hosted the "Next 50 Years: World Heritage as a Source of Resilience, Humanity and Innovation" themed event in Gongshu, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on June 6.
On the day, heritage and environmental experts, local government representatives, urban planners and youth gathered from home and abroad to discuss the important role of water as heritage in cities, and to identify opportunities to further use these natural and cultural heritage to strengthen urban environmental, social and economic resilience and innovate to address current and future challenges.
For decades, UNESCO has emphasized the importance of cities as treasures of history, heritage and culture. At present, more than 300 cities have been inscribed on the World Heritage List for their outstanding universal value to local people and to all humanity. These historic cities have long been committed to preserving their unique local character in order to pass on the authenticity and integrity of different settlements around the world to future generations. Of course, in addition to World Heritage cities, conservation efforts in other cities and people-centred urban planning are equally important.
Hangzhou is one of the seven ancient capitals of China, known as the "City of Silk", and has been a strategic point of the Silk Road since ancient times. At the same time, Hangzhou has three major World Heritage sites – the West Lake Cultural Landscape (2011), the Grand Canal (2014) and the Liangzhu Ancient City Site (2019), two of which are outstanding representatives of China's water heritage.
Sun Xudong, vice mayor of Hangzhou Municipal People's Government, said that Hangzhou is a famous historical and cultural city and a capital of ecological civilization. In recent years, Hangzhou has adhered to the concept of "protection first, comprehensive rectification, people-oriented, and benefiting people's livelihood", and on the basis of the red line and bottom line of the protection of the three world heritage sites of "legislation, regulation and strict control", Hangzhou has practiced the West Lake model of free and open access to world cultural heritage, created a canal model for the protection and utilization of large-scale linear living heritage, explored the Liangzhu plan for integrating the protection of large heritage sites into economic and social development, actively promoted the protection, inheritance, utilization and research of the three world cultural heritages, and accelerated the creation of world heritage communities.
According to him, in order to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the government and management departments of the site, Hangzhou established the Hangzhou World Heritage Alliance. The three World Heritage sites and the territorial governments and administrations of the sites in which they are located are all units of the Alliance.
At the same time, Hangzhou has also actively promoted friendly exchanges with World Heritage cities, signed the Agreement on Friendly Relations with World Heritage Sites with Verona, Italy, and carried out in-depth and pragmatic cooperation. In addition, Hangzhou also gives full play to the characteristics of a city of innovation and vitality, builds a digital monitoring platform for heritage, and improves the scientific and intelligent level of heritage monitoring.
If the value of water for human well-being goes far beyond its basic role in sustaining life, it is also a prominent part of heritage values. Hangzhou, crisscrossed by rivers and dotted with lakes, can be seen as one of the best examples of protecting water heritage for urban resilience and sustainable development.
Zehan Xia, representative of UNESCO's Multisectoral Regional Office for East Asia, delivers a speech Courtesy of the organizer
In this regard, Shahbaz Khan, representative of UNESCO's Multisectoral Regional Office for East Asia, said that Hangzhou is a very good city and may become a global capital of water heritage conservation.
At the same time, he also expects Hangzhou to further become a global water capital. In the future, let the world know more about how to promote harmonious coexistence and sustainable development between man and nature under the knowledge of water heritage protection.
"Promoting sustainable urban development through the protection of water heritage is a very important issue and a very important issue within the overall framework of UNESCO." Christian Mandl, Minister in charge of the Cultural and Scientific Affairs Section of the Austrian Embassy in Beijing, said.
In his view, the conference provided more opportunities to promote the development of the water economy and related scientific and technological development, including the participation of the whole community to provide a solution to promote sustainable urban development.
Sun Xudong believes that the holding of this conference will profoundly review the role of world heritage in the 21st century, promote cutting-edge fact-based research, and further explore cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary synergies.
As an important carrier of economic and social development, cities are not only the main places to cope with various real crises and challenges, but also the main spaces for implementing global governance programs and achieving sustainable development goals.
Therefore, Sun Xudong said that Hangzhou is willing to face various challenges with all parties, promote exchanges and mutual learning among human civilizations, promote cultural diversity and biodiversity, contribute to sustainable development, and contribute Hangzhou's strength by building a community with a shared future for mankind and a community of human and natural life. (End)