Xi’an is one of China’s most historically and culturally renowned cities and is well known for its preservation and maintenance of local historical sites. During the 1990s three representative historical streets, Shu Yuan Men, Bei Yuan Men and De Fu Xiang were restored. By focusing on the management of these three streets this paper examined the present state of Xi’an’s conservation strategy.
The author introduced the history and origin of these streets, as well as their conservation plan. Due to oversights in the conservation philosophy and unscientific techniques used in the reconstruction, the residents of these streets now face many problems.
From data collected in June 2005, the author examined in detail the conservation of the three streets, changes in the local population make-up, the operation of local stores, and references interviews with locals and residents of Si He Yuan traditional housing. Through this examination, the author demonstrated that the attempt at conserving these historical streets was unsuccessful given that the small alterations to the landscape only caused more problems for the local residents.
By referring to information gained from Japanese conservation strategies, the author proposed several solutions. For example: private initiative conservation, intensive studies of architectural criteria and character, and other recommended improvements to the restoration process.
