The Confluence and Influence of Colonial Factors in Contemporary Heritage Making of Harbin

Abstract

Over the past few decades, the topic of urban heritage has attracted widespread interest from scholars in both urban studies and heritage studies. On the one hand, the term 'heritage' is frequently used not only in urban plans, policies, and projects to justify or legitimise official decisions on urban maintenance and development, but also by local people and communities to facilitate unofficial initiatives and social movements. On the other hand, scholars with various academic backgrounds are still debating over the very concept of heritage. This seemingly endless heritage debate features a dichotomy between 'heritage as a noun (i.e., an object)' and 'heritage as a verb (i.e., a process)', which makes the question of 'What is heritage?' look like a multiple choice out of two. Yet is it possible to jump out of this existing framework and develop a fresh, simple, clear, and tenable conception of heritage from a different viewpoint? Further, can we understand the role of heritage in cities more deeply in the light of an alternative heritage conception?

This research addresses the above questions through an investigation into the colonial heritage issue. In post-colonial cities which are now demographically and politically dominated by descendants of pre-colonial populations, attitudes and approaches to colonial pasts and remains are observed to be inconsistent and even opposing. The phenomenon that heritages derived from pasts of the same nature (i.e., colonial pasts) can be perceived and used very differently offers a unique entry point to understand the essence of heritage per se. Harbin, a post-colonial city in Northeast China, is an excellent research subject in this sense. Harbin was colonised successively by Russia and Japan in history. In the post-colonial era, the city has been making, remaking, and unmaking heritages that are associated with its Russian and Japanese colonial pasts in various ways. Implementing the research strategy of case study and research methods of archival analysis, observation, semi-structured interviews, and user-generated content (UGC) analysis, this thesis qualitatively examines Harbin's colonial heritage making with three questions: How, and to what extent, does Harbin present and interpret its pasts associated with the Russian and the Japanese colonial periods through heritage making in contemporary urban maintenance and development? Why are certain images, narratives, and interpretations chosen at different times for these two differing colonial pasts? What debates, controversies, challenges, and predicaments are involved in this dynamic process? The process of finding answers to these questions is also a process of reflecting on the nature, essence, and current role of heritage per se.

The research concludes that heritage should be understood as an adjective or an abstract noun, which signifies a status. Therefore, a meaningful investigation into heritage can only be achieved when the concept is linked to concrete situations. This conception of heritage is not only theoretically developed but also repeatedly verified in the field. A city's post-colonial strategy for dealing with its colonial heritage(s) is influenced by the past processes of colonisation and decolonisation but is, to an even larger extent, affected by the present needs and desires. In the complex and dynamic urban context, heritage is only one of the many social factors. It interacts with other social factors and contributes to the ongoing layering of cities. This thesis questions the roles of heritage values and authenticity in heritage making and sustaining, and suggests that compatibility with present needs and demands is the key to acquiring and keeping a heritage status. Heritage is a part, rather than a counterpart, of development. Show more