Authentic Regeneration of Historic Districts from a Regional Perspective: A Case Study of Dongguan Street in Dalian

Abstract

Historic districts serve as crucial carriers of urban cultural memory. How their regeneration can both continue the cultural fabric and rejuvenate contemporary vitality is a key issue in the context of China's "stock optimization" urban renewal. Taking the Dongguan Street Historic District in Dalian as a case study, this paper adopts a regional perspective to analyze its approach. It systematically examines the district's authentic regeneration strategy through three dimensions: district space, architectural renovation, and cultural implantation. The research finds that Dongguan Street's regeneration practice preserves regional character and enhances the district environment on a physical level by maintaining original street scales and spatial fabric, implementing a "Differentiated Treatment" approach to building renovation, and employing techniques that fuse traditional and modern materials. Simultaneously, through a model combining "top-down" guidance and "bottom-up" participation, it embeds intangible elements such as commercial culture and intangible cultural heritage displays into the district, achieving the living transmission of culture. The results indicate that this comprehensive regeneration pathway effectively balances conservation and development, revitalizing the historic district while preserving its authenticity. It provides referable technical methods and governance experience for the regeneration of similar districts.