内容提要
序 言
单霁翔
留住城市的“根”与“魂”
—首届“中国历史文化名街评选推介活动”有感
在中国人的传统理念中，家又称为“家庭”，人们的生活中需要一个可以与自然沟通对话的庭院空间。因此，对传统民居院落的保护，就成为对植根于炎黄子孙心灵深处的“家庭”的保护。一座座传统民居院落相依，形成一条条历史街巷，一条条历史街巷相连，又构成一片片历史文化街区，从而形成既秩序井然又气象万千的城市文化景观。这些历史文化街区往往是城市记忆保持最完整、最丰富的地区。它们不仅是一个地区、一座城市悠久历史和灿烂文化的最好见证，也是人们的精神家园；它们既体现出历史文化价值，也构成今天现实生活。因此，历史文化街区才被人们倾注着太多复杂的情感，特别是对于世代生活于此地的民众，这里承载着他们的家乡情结，使他们增强了对所在社区的认知感、认同感，进而产生自信心、责任心，转化为建设城市的凝聚力、感召力，最终形成热爱家乡、奉献家乡的热情。
对于历史文化街区，我一直存有挥之不去的情结。上世纪80年代初，国际文化遗产保护和城市规划领域，出现了历史地段、历史街区保护的潮流，在这一背景下，我留学时的研究课题就是“传统的建筑物群保存地区”的保护。上世纪90年代初，我有幸参加了北京市第一批历史文化保护区的研究和划定，提倡在保护好文物建筑的同时，注重保护传统民居及其环境，将具有突出价值的历史文化街区纳入文化遗产保护范畴，实施整体保护。1996年，我又参与了北京市国子监街的保护规划实施，从调查研究入手，确立“力求在原有基础上，以整治和逐步恢复传统风貌为主，保留历代建筑的叠加，使历史街区‘延年益寿’，而不是‘返老还童’”的保护整治方针。实践证明，对于历史文化街区来说，这是一条积极稳妥的保护之路。
今天，当我们的城市正在日益陷入“千城一面”的怪圈之时，历史文化街区更加成为对自身文明和文化价值的唯一证明。令人遗憾的是,至今“拆”与“保”仍然常常成为争议性的话题，一些在历史上发挥过重要作用、在人们生活中影响深远、具有重要文化与情感价值的历史文化街区，以及其中的传统民居，常常以“旧城改造”或“危旧房改造”的名义，被全部推倒拆平，沦为“无知”与“无畏”的牺牲品。这种过度开发、全面更新的方法，对历史文化街区造成了极大的破坏，不仅毁坏了地方特色，更割断了历史文脉。20年来，经过专家学者和社会各界人士的呼吁，2008年7月，《历史文化名城名镇名村保护条例》终于颁布施行，并在其中增加了历史文化街区的内容，明确了历史文化街区的定义，即“保存文物特别丰富、历史建筑集中成片、能够较完整和真实地体现传统格局和历史风貌，并具有一定规模的区域”。
历史文化街区既是历史文化名城的有机组成部分，又是特殊类型的文化遗产，还是广大民众日常生活的场所，因此，历史文化街区的保护必然是一个动态的过程，不可能冻结在某一时段。但是，对于历史文化街区来说，积极稳妥的更新模式应该是适合当地具体社会经济状况的、充分听取公众特别是当地居民意见的、循序渐进的、注重差异化和分散化的更新模式，而不是主观和强制性的、一厢情愿的、过于刚性的、“一刀切”的集中拆迁改造模式。应根据历史文化街区保护规划，探求“有机更新”的新途径，以自助力量进行小规模整治与改造。城市现代化是历史前进的方向，历史文化街区也应当在保护整体风貌、历史载体和文化内涵的基础上走向现代化。历史文化街区保护的成果应惠及全体民众，通过加强传统民居建筑维修，完善生活基础设施，改善社区生态环境等措施，提高居民生活质量，增强历史文化街区的吸引力。
多年来，虽然专家学者和有关部门对历史文化街区的保护倾注了大量心血，做出了卓有成效的工作，但是对于唤起社会各界对历史文化街区的广泛关注还很不够。现在，经文化部、国家文物局批准，由中国文化报社、中华民族文化促进会、中国文物报社主办的首届“中国历史文化名街评选推介活动”，获得了良好的反响，公众投票总数超过140万张，表达了全社会对于历史文化街区保护的呼声和企盼，这是文化遗产事业的幸事！公众参与和媒体监督，代表了文化遗产保护的基础力量。在城市化加速进程的背景下，此次活动的成功举办，具有重要意义。衷心希望通过此次活动，促进各级政府和社会公众，对历史文化街区的科学保护进一步达成共识。衷心祝愿“中国历史文化名街评选推介活动”今后越办越好。有感而发，权且为序。
Foreword
By Shan Jixiang
The Spirit and Root of Chinese Cities
The 1st Renowned Chinese Cultural-historic Street Selection Program
家庭, pronounced as jia-ting, the Chinese word for ¡°family¡±, can be literally interpreted as ¡°family and courtyard¡±, highlighting the need of an outdoor space in our everyday lives to connect people with Mother Nature. Therefore, the
protection of traditional Chinese courtyards also serves to preserve the age-old Chinese notion of 家庭. Hundreds, if not more, of traditional Chinese courtyards cluster together to form extensive networks of historic streets, which, in turn, interlace with each other to make up large stretches of cultural-historic neighborhoods, all contributing to the orderly, yet spectacular, cultural landscape in Chinese cities. These neighborhoods are the place where our richest and most vivid memories of the past of our cities are found. Not only do they bear witness to the glorious pasts of the cities, but they also offer us a space for our spiritual heritage to survive. Embodied by them are profound cultural-historical significance, as well as the lives and aspirations of the Chinese people today. It is for these reasons that historic neighborhoods carry with them our devotion and passion, albeit mostly explanation-defying. Especially for people who have been living here for generations, these neighborhoods are the very symbol of their love for the homeland, their sense of identity associated with the local communities, inspiring them to work hand in hand for the future of their hometowns¡ªa source of motivation supporting them to commit themselves to the development of the cities.
I have always found myself emotionally attached to the conservation of historic neighborhoods. The early 1980s saw an upsurge in the protection of historic sites and neighborhoods in the international cultural heritage conservation community and among urban planning specialists. It was against such a background that I went abroad to study the conservation of ¡°heritage sites of survived traditional building groups¡±. In the early 1990s, I was honored to be involved in the research and planning of first cultural heritage conservation sites in Beijing. During the program, I advocated an integrated approach to the preservation of heritage sites, where the primary focus was placed on the protection of folk residences and their surrounding environment, alongside the conservation of historic buildings, incorporating important cultural-historic neighborhoods into cultural heritage conservation. In 1996, I took part in the planning and execution of the Guozijian Street conservation project (Beijing). Jointly with my colleagues, I started with painstaking research and on-site surveys, and, instead of adopting a reproduction-oriented approach, we opted for a conservation policy which was defined as ¡°extant building renovation and a gradual restoration of their original architectural appearance based on their current conditions, and the protection of the original ¡®buildup¡¯ of historical architectures to enhance the well-being of historic neighborhoods¡±. As it turned out, our policy proved effective and reliable for the conservation of cultural-historic neighborhoods.
Today, a dramatic assimilation of Chinese cities has made cultural-historic neighborhoods the only evidence to prove the ancient Chinese civilization and cultural significance embedded in it. Regrettably indeed, even today, there are still considerable controversies surrounding the issue of demolition versus conservation, and some historic neighborhoods of far-reaching influence¡ªtogether with ancient folk dwellings in them and their cultural and sentimental values¡ªhave been demolished under the name of "old town¡± or ¡°dilapidated building¡± reconstruction. They fell victim to ¡°gallantry based on ignorance¡±. A trend towards overdevelopment and indiscriminate modernization in urban planning had a disruptive effect on the conservation of cultural-historic neighborhoods, to the detriment of both local features and the continuity of traditional Chinese culture. Thanks to appeals made by heritage experts as well as members of the Chinese public during the past 20 years, the Protection Regulations for Historic Cities, Towns and Villages was finally published in July, 2008. Also, a section about cultural-historic neighborhoods was inserted into the Regulations, clarifying the official definition of cultural-historic neighborhoods¡ª¡°sizable areas with rich local cultural heritage resources and a high concentration of historical buildings, which represent, fully and authentically, the original local architectural layouts and historical features¡±.
As an integral part of historic Chinese cities, cultural-historic neighborhoods constitute a unique cultural heritage. In addition, they are the places where people live. Thus, it naturally follows that the preservation of these neighborhoods must be a dynamic process, making it impossible to limit relevant preservation efforts to any given historical point. However, it is worth pointing out that, to ensure the effectiveness and reliability of relevant preservation operations, we must take into full account local social and economic conditions of the areas involved, and listen to the opinions of the general public, local residents in particular. Conservation policies thus made should be of a gradual and decentralized nature and pay due attention to regional differences. In the light of the above analysis, any compulsory, wishful and indiscriminate protection approaches characterized by centralized reconstruction and resettlement projects shall be objected. Based on existing cultural-historic neighborhood protection plans, relevant attention should be diverted to the exploration of new ways for ¡°organic modernization¡±, utilizing various resources, economic or otherwise, within our reach to carry out small-scale renovation and restoration projects. Urban modernization has become a general trend in the world today. Therefore, apart from the preservation of overall local features, historical and cultural resources, the modernization trend should also be reflected in the protection of cultural-historic neighborhoods. We need to make sure that relevant conservation projects should be beneficial to the general public as whole. To this end, effective measures, e.g. traditional residence repair and renovation, improvement in local infrastructure facilities and ecological environment, must be undertaken to further enhance the living standards of the public and increase the attraction of cultural-historic neighborhoods.
In recent years, despite remarkable progress made in the conservation of historic neighborhoods as a result of the dedication of heritage experts and relevant authorities, there is still plenty of room for improvement in terms of the public awareness of related issues. The 1st Renowned Chinese Cultural-historic Street Selection Program, a promotion event approved by the Ministry of Culture and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) and co-hosted by China Culture News, Chinese Culture Promotion Society and China Cultural Heritage News, has proven a massive success. A total of 1.4 million votes were received during the event, a telling manifestation of the enthusiasm and eager anticipation of the Chinese public about the conservation of cultural-historic neighborhoods. This is a blessing for the Chinese cultural heritage community! Public participation and media exposure provide a solid basis to safeguard the development of historical neighborhood conservation. The success of the event is of great significance, especially given the increasingly rapid urbanization process across Chinese cities. I sincerely hope that, through the success of the event, local governments and the general public will come to a common understanding about the scientifically-grounded conservation of cultural-historic neighborhoods, and, building on its initial success, future events will become increasingly popular among the Chinese people.（文章来源《中国历史文化名街》）
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