IN-PERSON: Livable Cities – New York

Abstract

Historic buildings are immovable treasures of a city, which strongly link cultural, social, and economic resources. Considering comprehensive developments to promote urban liveability, the novel historic building conservation scene should be an indispensable part. Smart city discourse has risen for about thirty years. But urban old components may drag the feet of becoming smart for a city, especially, a metropolis. With the use of smart city solutions, there are innovative ways to manage urban heritage. The aim of this article is to newly provide an application scenario of historic building management in the context of liveable urban development in a big city—Shanghai, China. A case study in Shanghai is analysed based on one network unified management (ONUM) in Shanghai. ONUM refers to a mode of urban management and operation, which initially formed an urban work system that runs through the city, district, and neighbourhood levels, covering various urban governance and social governance. Historic building monitoring and management are parts of the system. This study contributes to a way of historic building management based on urban smart operation. In detail, when the issue of liveability and smart cities intersect, the new conservation mode not only digitalises the archive of heritage buildings but also enables various stakeholders to better access them. In a liveable city, decision-makers can better conduct urban planning. Residents and tourists can more conveniently visit and study culture and history. The benefits of novel urban historic building conservation are worthy of deeper research.