International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.1, 2019

Grassroot actions for conservation of cultural assets and revival of neighbourhood: the Old City of Yilan (Abstract)

Yu-chen Chen and Tzu-ying Li

The article analyzes the role of governmental measures in conservation of cultures, especially the cultural soil with common people’s living as its basis.  It explains the gap between the aim of a policy and its results, the essential defects in the role and functions of governments, and the needs and possibility of civil autonomous actions outside regime. At the same time, it analyzes the multiple participations and networking characteristics, as well as gradual enrollment of grassroots actions. It points out the relative autonomy of professionals in the spectrum between government and civil society, and the value of co-working actions and possible strategies.  The authors also try to find the differences in terms of nature, contents and results between governmental and grassroot actions, and describe the multiple subjects and diverse ways of actions arising from daily life. The principal conclusion is: return to the people-oriented daily-life practices, all-sharing cultural life and reconstruction of collective identity, constitute a fundamental road to preserve cultural heritage and activate an old city.