Public defence of Mr Jiazhen Zhang’s thesis

Summary :

With the advancement of urbanization in developing countries, the large-scale emergence and destruction of industrial heritage have made industrial heritage protection research a new subject of intense scholarly debate due to an insufficient understanding of architectural culture. The research object for this study is the protection of industrial heritage in Sichuan, which has China’s density national industrial heritage distribution and has the richest industrial heritage resources countrywide—it discussed the development of industrial heritage protection theory and practice methods from disciplines such as cultural heritage, history, architecture, and urban planning, to guide the protection and utilization of Sichuan’s industrial heritage and urbanization.

Since the third-line construction movement, which took place after the PRC’s establishment, many factories and enterprises have been constructed. This industrial construction movement occurred uniquely historically and in a socialist country, accelerating national industrial development and urbanization. However, with the subsequent change in the national policy background, the transformation of the economic and industrial structure forced these factory enterprises to face problems of decline and transformation. Factories were gradually decommissioned, resulting in many industrial heritage sites. The rapid pace of urbanization has significantly impacted the protection of it in Sichuan. This research formulates effective protection methods in Sichuan through a scientific and reasonable value evaluation of industrial heritage.

This study selected typical industrial heritages from typical industrial cities in Sichuan. It made a comprehensive and systematic analysis of them from their history and evolution, geographical environment characteristics, the current status of industrial heritage, reuse and protection situations. In combination with the relevant references, this study sorted out the distribution, characteristics and spatial environment of industrial heritage in Sichuan, and then the existing problems are summarized. A value evaluation system for industrial heritage in Sichuan is built to assess the worth of industrial heritage in this region. The evaluation system categorizes the value of Sichuan’s industrial heritage into three levels: general target, comprehensive evaluation, and factor evaluation. Simultaneously, the weights of these indicators are determined by combining qualitative and quantitative methods. The evaluation system is used to grade the industrial heritage of the actual cases and analyze the distribution of its value scores and characteristics using the selected actual cases.

Based on the previous analysis, this study, focusing on urbanization in Sichuan, proposes a strategy for updating overall planning that considers the protection of industrial heritage. This approach involves adopting government-led implementation strategies, starting with projects for using industrial heritage, prioritizing environmental improvements, promoting multi-functional mixing, and implementing small-scale progressive measures. The reuse of industrial heritage is combined with modern service industries, such as cultural and creative industries and industrial tourism industries, to effectively protect industrial heritage in the urban functional system. The protection and utilization of industrial heritage will promote the city’s sustainable development as a whole, the revival of old industrial zones, enhance the characteristics of industrial cities and promote the transformation of industrial cities into cultural cities.

Keywords: industrial heritage; revitalization; cultural heritage; urban planning; landscape architecture; evaluation system; post-industrial landscape; third-line construction; value evaluation; urbanization; urban renewal

Jury :

• Vincent BECUE, Co-promoteur (Université de Mons)
• Jeremy CENCI, Promoteur (Université de Mons)
• Isabelle DE SMET (Université de Mons)
• Simon EDELBLUTTE (Université de Lorraine)
• Sesil KOUTRA, Secrétaire (Université de Mons)
• Chenyang LIAO (Université Sichuan)
• Cédric RIVIERE, Président (Université de Mons)