Community Participation of Cultural Heritage Management in a Rapid Growing Economy: A Case Study of Macao, China

Historical heritages in Macao are the unique examples representing the history, lifestyles, architectures when East meeting West. They are of much importance to the local people and even to the world. Due to political environmental change from
Portuguese sovereignty to Chinese, different policies had influenced heritage management. Together with the continuous economic boom after 2004, remarkable changes included the successful inscription of UNESCO World Heritage in 2005.
However, land scarcity and improper urban planning are two major challenges to the improvement of heritage management and had led to many related problems in Macao. The usual practice of decision making by the government had awakened the awareness of the community to be involved. Whereas people in Macao also have the responsibility of preserving the heritages, community participation should be encouraged to be improved. In this dissertation, we will conduct a research by surveys and interviews with people in Macao to investigate the participation situation. These results become inputs for recommendations for action and further study to increase the community participation of people in Macao.