Urban cultural identity

Fighting, and being defeated; fighting again, and being defeated again until the cultural heritage is gone. This is a pattern of the struggle between the effort to preserve historical structures and urban development in the last two decades or more in many areas.

The battle to protect the remaining historical part of the ancient city of Nanjing appears doomed to suffer the same fate. The protest by dozens of conservationists in the past four years has aroused concern from the central authorities, and even Premier Wen Jiabao twice ordered further investigation. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage undertook a joint investigation last month.

As a result, the demolition is now suspended, but half of the old houses have already been razed. It is only a matter of time before all the old structures are pulled down to make room for new buildings.