Track 4.1: Cultures of Belonging: Identity and Urban Inclusion

Background: Harbin, a city shaped by over a century of global exchanges, presents a unique architectural landscape that blends Russian, Jewish, Chinese, and Western European styles. Known as the “Oriental Moscow” and “Eastern Paris,” its urban form reflects a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural historical trajectory. As Harbin experiences rapid urban expansion and modernization, the challenge lies in preserving and activating this rich architectural heritage while ensuring inclusivity and continuity. The city’s built environment plays a pivotal role in forming identity and fostering intercultural coexistence, making it a vital case for inclusive urban transformation. Research Objective: This study examines how Harbin’s diverse architectural heritage can be reinterpreted and integrated into contemporary urban development to promote cultural inclusivity and place-based identity. It addresses the central problem of homogenization in new urban districts and the neglect of cultural narratives in spatial planning. The goal is to formulate a spatial and design framework that embraces Harbin’s stylistic hybridity—especially its “dual-zone” model of classical revival and regional renewal—as a catalyst for inclusive urban regeneration and meaningful place-making. Main Findings and Significance: The study reveals that Harbin’s architectural identity is not a static heritage but an evolving narrative that has the potential to underpin inclusive and resilient urban transformation. The core finding is that the city's “tripartite architectural coding”—a synthesis of classical European styles, localized Chinese adaptations (e.g., Zhonghua Baroque), and Soviet-era modernism—offers a rare opportunity to integrate multiple cultural expressions into contemporary place-making. In older districts like Daowai, the adaptive reuse of Zhonghua Baroque buildings supports cultural tourism and informal social spaces, reinforcing local identity. Central Avenue’s stylistic continuity and pedestrian focus highlight how preserved aesthetics foster inclusive urban rituals. Meanwhile, newer areas often lack this cohesion, leading to identity fragmentation. To address this, the research proposes an “Inclusive Style Zoning Strategy” based on Harbin’s historical three-fold planning logic: • Organic renewal zones (Classical Revival): Encourage preservation and reinterpretation of Gothic, Baroque, and Neoclassical structures using flexible reuse policies and façade restoration standards. • New development zones (Regional New Style): Promote contemporary architecture that references local traditions and materials while integrating community spaces that reflect collective memory. • Cultural landscape corridors: Strengthen visual and spatial links between landmark buildings and natural features (e.g., Songhua River, green boulevards) to reinforce a legible cultural narrative. Furthermore, design handbooks and pattern language guides for architects and planners are suggested to ensure stylistic sensitivity in new construction, avoiding cultural erasure. The study also advocates for participatory design processes to include residents’ voices in shaping urban identity. Overall, the findings contribute to theory by demonstrating how architectural style can be a vehicle for cultural inclusion and social sustainability. For practice, it provides a replicable framework for cities facing similar tensions between modernization and identity preservation.

Cultural identity, anchored in historical memory and cultural practices, is essential for group cohesion and belonging. And heritage is the material manifestation and witness of urban culture, plays a pivotal role in shaping group identity and fostering sustainable urban development. Inwa is located in the Mandalay region of Myanmar. As the key capital of the Ava Dynasty (1364–1555) and other Burmese regimes, it represents Myanmar's civilization through its monumental architecture and urban fabric. However, the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck the Mandalay region on March 28, 2025, inflicted severe damage on Inwa's cultural heritage, disrupting the historical continuity and collective identity of the region. This study examines the impact of the Inwa earthquake on cultural identity through a multi-data analysis. In the physical dimension, high-resolution remote sensing imagery and deep learning algorithms are utilized to quantify the extent of heritage damage. Concurrently, in the psychological dimension, multi-temporal semantic analysis of social media big data elucidates public sentiment and narrative discourse. This integrative approach was systematically implemented at three levels: the Mandalay region level, the Myanmar level, and the international level. Finally, the study concludes with targeted strategies for cultural identity reconstruction. The research process was divided into three parts to explain the transmutation of the cultural identity in Inwa. The first part was the generalization of the historical cultural identity, which examined the role of Inwa in constructing the cultural identity on three scales: the Mandalay level, the Myanmar level, and the international level by interpreting Myanmar historical materials such as Glass Palace Chronicle (Hmannan Yazawin) , the Royal Orders of Burma and the modern literature on Myanmar studies. The second part was the change assessment part, which was divided into physical and psychological dimensions: physically, the architectural segmentation of 0.75m HD remote sensing images before and after the earthquake was performed by using the ResNet34 network, and then the deformation assessment model was trained by using the dual-branch Res34-Unet-Double as the backbone network. Psychologically, 23,106 comments about Inwa on instagram, Tiktok, Telegram, and other social media commonly used in Myanmar was crawled, respectively from three time periods, including before the earthquake, just after the earthquake, and two months after the earthquake. And then a semantic analysis was implemented to summarize the sentiment from above three scales( the Mandalay ,the Myanmar, the international society) . While the results of the semantic analysis of the different monuments were combined with that of the physical deformation. The figures were located in the visual maps with geographic information. Finally, the evolution in cultural identity after the earthquake are elucidated at the Mandalay level, Myanmar level and international level respectively by combining historical research, physical damage assessment and psychological change assessment. The study found that the post-earthquake damage in Inwa led to identity ambiguity and fracture at the Mandalay, Myanmar, and international levels. However, the disaster initially promoted cultural cohesion and international attention, positively influencing identity, especially at the international level. This effect was short-lived, as the prolonged negative impacts of physical destruction and inadequate government response eventually dominated, particularly on tourism and identity foundations. Spatially, the core palatial area, heritage buildings along the urban axis, and the southern Buddhist cultural area suffered the most severe damage, reinforcing trauma narratives and undermining historical identities. Based on these findings, this paper proposes a strategy of carrier restoration and spiritual reconstruction for cultural identity, prioritizing core symbolic heritage reinforcement, collective memory awakening, and multi-subject participation to enhance regional cultural resilience.

As a Soviet "model city" in Central Asia, Tashkent embodies layered tensions between Soviet modernity and Islamic-traditional spatial identities (mahallas). Post-independence, these contradictions risked fracturing urban society: unchecked spatial confrontation threatened ethnic divisions, erasure of Soviet infrastructure endangered functional stability, and aggressive de-Russification risked cultural disconnection. Without inclusive heritage governance, politicized memory could escalate into tangible conflict. Framed by critical heritage theory, this study decodes Tashkent’s tripartite "de-conflictualization" strategy for transforming Soviet legacies into vehicles for inclusive nation-building: First, through technological continuity, Soviet infrastructure’s technical rationality is retained as depoliticized, socially embedded utilities, neutralizing ideological associations while maintaining functional benefits. Second, via functional reset, ideologically charged sites are repurposed – such as converting the Communist Party headquarters into a national art museum – dissolving oppressive memories through Pierre Nora’s concept of lieux de mémoire by severing spatial ties to their original ideological functions. Third, symbolic substitution replaces Soviet emblems (e.g., Lenin statues) with Uzbek cultural icons (e.g., sovereignty monuments), deploying Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic violence and Laurajane Smith’s critical heritage lens to forge shared identity and recontextualize heritage narratives. Collectively, these strategies enable conflicting pasts to be reimagined as foundations for inclusive urban futures. Collectively termed "Reconciliation Heritage", this model enables inclusive urban transformation by acknowledging complex historical layers without erasure; converting conflict spaces into neutral, multi-ethnic landmarks ; and leveraging spatial narrative to depoliticize memory while fostering cultural cohesion. Through this tripartite approach, contested pasts are transformed into shared civic assets—mediating ideological divides through material stewardship and symbolicTashkent’s approach offers a paradigm for multi-ethnic cities grappling with contested pasts: by reimagining heritage as a “reconciliation medium”—not a conflict battleground—physical spaces can transcend ideological divides, advancing culturally sustainable urban futures. reappropriation. This practice not only offers new pathways for the transformation of post-Soviet cities but also provides insights into heritage governance in regions with diverse cultural conflicts worldwide: when heritage is reimagined as a medium of reconciliation rather than a battlefield of conflict, physical spaces can serve as bridges that transcend ideological divides.

Under the dual impacts of globalization and urbanization, the conservation of cultural heritage in historical towns is facing challenges such as fragmented value perception and limited community participation. The Old Town of Lijiang, a typical historical town inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1997, has preserved rich ethnic cultural characteristics and historical elements. However, its cultural identity is under increasing pressure from tourism-driven economic development, commercial capital penetration, and the loss of indigenous residents. Based on this, this study proposes a value-oriented "historical stratification-collective memory-contemporary narrative" three-dimensional cultural reconstruction framework, aiming to establish a pathway transitioning from physical conservation to cultural identity construction. Firstly, the research systematically integrates the historical and cultural resources of the Old Town of Lijiang. Through field investigations, historical document analysis, and community oral history collection, a comprehensive database of historical and cultural resources was constructed, encompassing 9 categories and 416 entries, such as representative residential buildings, historical streets, and ancient bridges. The study employs a combined weighting model integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and entropy weight method to scientifically screen and allocate weights to key evaluation factors. A value evaluation system was established, comprising five primary indicators—historical value (authenticity of material carriers, 0.32), cultural value (depth of collective memory, 0.24), social value (breadth of community participation, 0.19), spiritual value (depth of place identity, 0.16), and innovative value (potential for contemporary transformation, 0.09)—along with 23 quantitative sub-factors. Geographic Information System (GIS) technology was utilized to visualize the evaluation results through heatmaps, precisely identifying high-value clusters and priority conservation targets within the heritage system, such as the Mufu Mansion and the Sifang Street historical axis. Building on these findings, the research further proposes culturally responsive planning strategies. These include the digital translation of memory carriers to develop community-based "memory maps" and oral history databases, as well as the establishment of a digital collaborative governance platform to support community-led expressions of local culture and enhance community voice and participation in heritage management decisions. Additionally, a tourism revenue feedback fund is recommended to be established, directing funds into cultural conservation and fostering a virtuous cycle between heritage conservation and community economic development. This framework systematically organizes heritage elements, activates cultural memory, and transforms it into contemporary narratives with social resonance, thereby achieving cultural reconstruction and sustainable development in historical towns. The research findings provide intuitive scientific evidence for the future culture responsiveness and sustainable development of the Old Town of Lijiang, holding significant implications for the holistic conservation of heritage sites. Furthermore, this framework offers a "conservation-utilization-governance" ternary paradigm for other heritage sites seeking to balance conservation and development.

Historic urban neighborhoods worldwide face mounting pressure to balance cultural heritage preservation with contemporary development needs. In rapidly transforming cities, understanding how residents perceive their built environment becomes crucial for inclusive placemaking strategies. Traditional perception assessment methods struggle with scalability and cultural specificity, often overlooking local nuances that shape community identity. The emergence of street-view imagery coupled with artificial intelligence presents unprecedented opportunities to capture culturally-embedded spatial experiences. However, existing research predominantly employs generic perception models, failing to account for place-specific cultural contexts that fundamentally influence how communities experience and value their neighborhoods during transformation processes. This research investigates how built environment elements influence culturally-informed visual perceptions in historic neighborhoods undergoing transformation. The central question addresses: How can data-driven approaches capture and quantify the relationship between street-level visual elements and residents' place-based perceptions while incorporating local cultural identity? The study aims to develop a culturally-responsive analytical framework that bridges quantitative spatial analysis with community-centered perception assessment. This approach seeks to inform inclusive urban regeneration strategies that honor local heritage while supporting neighborhood vitality and social cohesion in historic urban contexts. The study employs Nanjing's Old City as a representative case, combining computer vision techniques with culturally-adapted perception modeling. Street-view images undergo semantic segmentation using DeepLab v3+ to extract spatial proportions of 19 visual elements including traditional architecture, vegetation, and urban infrastructure. A locally-calibrated perception model emerges through fine-tuning the Qwen-2.5-VL multimodal language model using LangChain framework and LoRA techniques. This process incorporates resident feedback to assess six perceptual dimensions: beauty, vitality, safety, prosperity, liveliness, and cultural richness. SHAP interpretability analysis reveals the differential impacts of built environment features on culturally-informed neighborhood perceptions. Results demonstrate significant correlations between built environment characteristics and culturally-informed perceptions, with historic center areas receiving consistently higher positive evaluations than peripheral zones. Vegetation coverage emerges as a primary driver of "beauty" and "liveliness" perceptions, with effects amplified by green space connectivity patterns. Traditional architecture exhibits a nuanced inverted U-shaped relationship with "prosperity" perceptions, suggesting optimal heritage preservation thresholds that maximize place value without overwhelming contemporary functionality. The research reveals distinct perception patterns that challenge conventional planning assumptions. While modern infrastructure correlates with safety perceptions, traditional architectural elements enhance cultural richness without necessarily improving economic perceptions beyond moderate preservation levels. These findings indicate that successful historic neighborhood transformation requires calibrated approaches that strategically balance heritage preservation with contemporary amenities. For planning theory, this work advances understanding of how cultural identity mediates the relationship between built environment and place attachment. The methodology demonstrates how artificial intelligence can be culturally-grounded rather than universally applied, supporting more nuanced urban analysis. Practically, the framework provides planners with evidence-based tools for designing inclusive regeneration strategies that respect community values while enhancing neighborhood vitality. The significance extends beyond Nanjing, offering a replicable approach for historic neighborhoods globally. By quantifying culturally-embedded perceptions, planners can better anticipate community responses to proposed changes, facilitating more democratic and inclusive transformation processes. This research contributes to emerging paradigms of culturally-responsive urban planning that prioritize community identity alongside physical improvement, supporting sustainable and socially-just neighborhood development in historic urban contexts facing contemporary pressures.

Culture in cities originates from specific environments where strong ties to place form the basis of identity. As cities develop, digitalization can disrupt this local cultural identity, replacing it with emerging digital culture and altering social norms. By adopting a city design strategy driven by topophilia, urban planning can reinvigorate spatial identity and create environments where traditional cultural forms are not only preserved but also adapt and evolve alongside urban and technological progress. This approach emphasizes the importance of integrating cultural roots with innovation, ensuring that local heritage remains a vital part of the city's evolving identity. This study introduces the Topophilia approach in formulating design strategies that highlight local heritage and community memory, strengthening place-based identity in cities undergoing transformation. The Topophilia approach is chosen as an extension of the Biophilia approach, emphasizing topography as a fundamental expression of culture and architecture. The topophilia approach also aligns with themes of culture, identity, and inclusive environmental transformation in shaping urban layers and structures. This strategy supports the development of culturally sensitive urban infrastructure that can adapt to the growth and development of the city. The formulated strategy emphasizes continuity, where cultural landmarks are designed to remain closely connected to their historical and social context, while existing landmarks can continue to exist to support the needs of cultural identity and cultural diversity in that environment. The embodiment of a “sense of place” within the topophilia approach provides a framework for accommodating the social interaction needs of the community. The strategy also introduces a new form of cultural tourism through the strong connection between cultural “locations” and community rhythms. The concept of topophilia, which shapes the human tendency to become attached to a place, is a co-evolved trait—the result of genetic adaptation and cultural learning through the “developmental behavioral system” hypothesis to explore and become attached to the local environment and experiences. This underpins a design strategy where urban design codes require new developments to align with existing structures—respecting scale, materials, and traditional patterns—thus maintaining continuity and authenticity. Furthermore, the emphasis on topophilia must accommodate and preserve not only monumental sites but also everyday places and practices that represent community identity, with a focus on adaptive reuse and cultural programs, as well as adaptive and flexible design planning that prioritizes connectivity within communities and cultural identity. The concept of topophilia gives equal weight to culture and ecology. This concept aligns with the theory of biocultural diversity, which views human culture and ecology as two things that develop together. Topophilia can be described as a deep connection between a place and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. If people have an innate/cultural drive to love their local environment, leveraging that can be a powerful way to engage them in sustainability efforts. This can be an opportunity in the implementation of local climate design and bioregionalism, where the development of place-based design appreciation and climate action plans is based on local identity and community participation. Additionally, the concept of bioregionalism aligns with topophilia, where sustainability is closely tied to unique local needs and ecology—from climate and topography to culture—as a guide for sustainable development. The strategies formulated are expected to provide new perspectives on applying topophilia to urban design through the realization and strengthening of cultural identity, as well as the creation of harmony and balance between communities, the surrounding environment, and tourism, cultural, and social activities.

While Japan is typically known for its three major Chinatowns (in Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki), the Kume area in Naha, Okinawa—its oldest Chinese settlement—has long been overlooked in research. Severely affected by the geopolitical upheavals of modern East Asia and the destruction of the Battle of Okinawa, the Kume area nearly lost its cultural and community identity. Since the 1970s, however, it has undergone a steady cultural revival centered on its Chinese heritage. This revival has shaped a distinctive model of community development, markedly different from other Chinatowns in Japan and other parts of the world. Despite this, little scholarly attention has been paid to the area’s postwar spatial and social reconstruction in a systematic manner. Place attachment and social identity have become increasingly important in discussions of sustainable urban futures, yet many planning models still lack effective frameworks to address them. The Kume area, originally settled by Chinese immigrants during the Ming dynasty, is a culturally layered community shaped by Chinese geomantic principles (fengshui) and local Ryukyuan traditions. Its evolving Chinatown identity has become central to local Machizukuri initiatives and the broader cultural narrative of Naha. In recent years, Kume has re-emerged as a key site in the city’s historic core, connecting nearby heritage landmarks and enriching tourism experiences. The revival has also fostered cultural exchange between Okinawa and Chinese-speaking regions—including collaborations on Confucian rituals with mainland China and Taiwan—enhancing both international ties and local cohesion. This study investigates how cultural identity has been reconstructed through ongoing collaboration between residents, community organizations, and local government. The case aligns closely with the congress’s themes of inclusive, context-sensitive planning rooted in cultural diversity. This study investigates the reconstruction of cultural identity in the Kume area over the past several decades through a multi-method approach, including focus group discussions (FGD) with residents, in-depth interviews with community organizations and urban planners, and a questionnaire survey informed by qualitative findings. It examines the structure of stakeholder networks, modes of collaboration, and local perceptions of identity, place attachment. Preliminary findings reveal a novel form of Chinatown regeneration—one rooted not in commercial diaspora enclaves but in Okinawa-specific identity politics. Confucian associations formed by Chinese-descended families operate alongside local Machizukuri groups and receive institutional support from the Naha municipal government. Confucian rituals, traditional events such as the Naha Great Tug of War, ancestral lineage, and civic memory serve as anchors for a reimagined place identity, enabling the Kume area to foster an inclusive and culturally grounded model of community. This model demonstrates how cultural hybridity, when embedded in local practices and supported by policy, can contribute to both community resilience and sustainable urban tourism. Moreover, international exchanges have amplified Kume’s cultural capital and economic potential. The study offers practical insights for other historically multicultural cities on how to strategically mobilize inherited cultural assets—particularly from minority or outgroup communities—to enhance social cohesion, strengthen local identity, and support long-term urban sustainability. For planners and policymakers, the Kume case underscores the importance of engaging cultural heritage not as a static legacy, but as a dynamic resource for inclusive and context-sensitive urban planning.

Amid China’s broader deindustrialization and fiscal urbanism, many traditional factory sites have been rebranded into creative parks or heritage attractions. The National Creative Park (NCP) in Nanjing, once a major Qing-era textile and state-owned enterprise, closed in 2011 and was later redeveloped as a creative office district. While the transformation aimed to revitalize the area economically and culturally, it has generated identity displacement for former workers and residents. This study investigates how official branding narratives contrast with community memories and affect inclusion in the regenerated space. The NCP case exemplifies how urban transformation intersects with cultural identity and placemaking. The official discourse surrounding the park’s redevelopment emphasizes innovation, aesthetics, and investment—but largely excludes the voices of those with historical ties to the site. The resulting space, while physically preserved, becomes detached from its working-class legacy and lived memory. This tension reflects a central theme of the congress: how urban culture and identity are represented, contested, and commodified during spatial transformation. Through interviews with former workers, displaced households, and new users, the study uncovers how community narratives resist or adapt to official frames. It emphasizes the need for inclusive placemaking that sustains not just architecture, but also intangible cultural heritage—memories, values, and affective attachments to space. This case challenges planners to reflect on who participates in cultural regeneration and whose identities are honored or erased in heritage-led urban renewal. This study contributes to more inclusive planning practices by proposing a framework that integrates community narratives into heritage redevelopment. The findings show that many former workers experience pride in the site’s industrial legacy but also feel displaced—symbolically and physically—by the new development. Their spatial identity is underrepresented in official narratives, which instead emphasize a sanitized, marketable version of the past. In response, the study recommends policy tools to embed memory justice and narrative plurality in industrial heritage transformation. These include participatory storytelling platforms, intergenerational oral history archives, and policy requirements for social impact assessments that include cultural memory indicators. Urban regeneration policies should also mandate inclusive stakeholder engagement beyond the usual expert-led processes, allowing communities to co-create both the narrative and function of heritage spaces. By foregrounding the voices of affected communities, the study reframes heritage not as a static past to be preserved, but as a dynamic space of negotiation. For planners, this approach broadens the scope of heritage policy from physical conservation to cultural inclusion. It provides a practical roadmap for cities navigating the delicate balance between economic redevelopment and community-based cultural continuity.