Landscape Planning Control Of The Historic Centre Of Macau

Landscape Planning Control of the Historic Centre of Macau: A Case Study ofthe Area around St. Paul’s RuinsLocating at the fringe of South China, Macau distinguishes herself for thewell-known gambling industry and also a port city where the Chinese and Westerncivilizations confronted and fused. Albeit the historic centre of Macau has beeninscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List since2005, the development pressureof this small city with limited land and huge population is increasing over years.Macau urgently needs to strike a balance between the needs of conservation anddevelopment, and to resolve emerging social conflicts associated. At the nationallevel, in2008, the State Council released “Reform and Development PlanningGuidelines of the Pearl River Delta (2008-2020),” in which Macau’s was designatedas the centre of global tourism and entertainment. Benefiting from the centralizedcoordination of the development of the vibrant PRD, Macau is granted with anunprecedented opportunity for her development. Among various challenges Macau isfacing, the critical one is that her economy heavily relies on gambling industry. Thishinders the nurture of other industries. The quality of public spaces of Macau is to beimproved, especially those at the surrounding of the historic centre. Yet her identity ofbeing a coastal city is to be enhanced.To establish herself as a centre of global tourism and entertainment, Macaushould take advantage of her cultural heritages to develop cultural tourism, apart frompromoting gambling industry. Hence, heritage conservation is critical in Macau’slong-term growth. In order to protect the UNESCO heritages, laws and regulationshave been announced for their preservation and conservation. However, due to theland scarcity and enormous demands for development, many massive skyscraperswere constructed immediately outside the conserved historic centre, which arethreatening the landscape of UNESCO heritages. As the core of the historic centre,the area around St. Paul’s ruins is seriously suffering from these emerging problems.In consideration of Macau’s developing opportunities and challenges, this dissertationintends to propose a control planning to conserve this area from technical, legal andeconomic perspectives. To respect history, to tackle practical problems, and toenvision future are the principles in drafting this workable proposal that aims tobalance the needs of conservation and development of this historic and cultural city.This dissertation will provide some valuable references for Macau’s development.