Thesis: Dairong Qiu

With economic development and social progress, China has entered a new historical period. In such a historical period, China is paying increasing attention to cultural construction while developing the economy. How to protect the China’s cultural heritages and create economic and social benefits at the same time is a serve challenge.

The Grand Canal, which is called the Jing- Hang Grand Canal (京杭大运河) in Chinese, was listed as a World Heritage site in 2014. Since then, the Grand Canal itself has been systematically protected; however, the heritage sites along the Grand Canal have been not only facing development opportunities, but also experiencing commercialization and uncontrolled tourism that threaten their significance and integrity. Taking Suzhou as an example, the thesis research the current status of heritage protection in Suzhou, China, in light of the successful promotion of the Grand Canal's World Heritage designation in 2014. Based on this research, the researcher will develop recommendations that will help other cities and towns along the Grand Canal in China develop better preservation and development plans.