Renewal strategies of industrial heritage based on placeness theory: The case of Guangzhou, China

Abstract

Studying the preservation and reuse of industrial heritage can improve people's knowledge and understanding of cultural heritage, thus deepening their sense of identity and belonging to the local culture. This study applies the theory of placeness to protect industrial architectural heritage, promote the organic revitalization of urban space, enhance local identity, and realize the visualization of tacit knowledge. Based on the theory of placeness, this study constructs an indicator system for industrial architectural heritage renewal strategy. The indicator system includes four primary indicators, namely State of Matter, Policy System, Behavior and Spirit, and 23 secondary indicators. Exploratory factor analysis is carried out using the post-evaluation (POE) method. This study concludes that (1) there are seven strategy combinations for industrial heritage renewal, including artistic expression, landscape and space, humanistic connotation, industrial building, history and culture, architectural features, and construction skills. The combination of strategies can enhance the locality and architectural originality. (2) The strategy combinations can be used in the design, construction, and operation stages of the whole life cycle and have been empirically demonstrated in typical projects in Guangzhou. Building Construction Atlas, Climatic Suitability, Building History/People, and Industrial Equipment have a higher contribution to the renewal effect of industrial buildings. (3) The 23 renewal strategy elements based on placeness provide new ideas for coding methods of historic buildings and modeling of historic building information model (HBIM). These strategy elements can be used to construct a knowledge graph of historic buildings and visualize tacit knowledge to promote sustainable construction and twin city construction.