Explorations on the Path of Constructing the Historical and Cultural Conservation and Inheritance System at the Municipal Level of Xi'an: With a Focus on Xi'an City Wall as a Prominent Resource

The working framework of the “Urban and Rural Historical and Cultural Conservation and Inheritance System” is a three-tiered system comprising national, provincial, and municipal levels. Taking Xi’an as an example, this paper focuses on the Xi’an city wall and explores how to implement the system to the most operational level of the city. It first recognizes and judges the outstanding values of the Xi’an City Wall, believing that it has historical witness and social commemorative value, “specimen” preservation and scientific & artistic research value, cultural symbol and emotional maintenance value. Subsequently, it evaluates and reflects on the current protection status, analyzes the various challenges in the interpreting of the heritage authenticity and integrity, as well as the deficiencies in management mechanisms and the deviations in development orientation. Finally, the paper discusses the implementation measures, technical routes and management tools of constructing a unique “Urban and Rural Historical and Cultural Conservation and Inheritance System” at the city level from the aspects of protection, display, utilization, management and inheritance. It suggests conducting refined improvements with the goal of authenticity and integrity, restoring and reshaping the historical urban texture and landmark nodes, improving the management mechanisms, and transforming the protection work orientation.