Beyond preservation: how cities are turning heritage into a tool for urban renewal

Heritage is often seen as a relic of the past that exists only in the name of preservation — in other words, an antithesis to development. 

But a growing number of cities are finding that it may actually hold the key to urban renewal. 

“When we have rapid transformation without cultural preservation, we risk creating sterile cities,” said Singapore Management University (SMU)’s President, Professor Lily Kong, who moderated the “Championing Heritage for Loveable Cities” panel discussion at the World Cities Summit (WCS) 2026 in Singapore. 

Because cities were not just “steel, glass and concrete” but “repositories of human stories, collective memories, and shared identities,” Kong noted. 

That said, rapid transformation was not mutually exclusive with cultural preservation, as might be easily assumed.  

On the contrary, tapping into the heritage of a place for placemaking could enable urban developers to build the “loveability” of a city. 

“A city really becomes lovable when it evokes the intangible that we can't quite measure with any other state — memory, identity, history, culture,” said Singapore’s Senior Minister of State (SMS) for Ministry of Trade & Industry, and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Low Yen Ling, who was on the same panel. 

With them in the session were other city leaders from the Philippines’ Iloilo City, Portugal’s Coimbra, Colombia’s Bogotá, and Hong Kong. 

Notably, the leaders highlighted the potential of intangible cultural fabric to generate urban renewal of a city. 

The sharing signalled a shift from the traditional idea of heritage that was confined to museums and protected sites, to one that was accessible and dynamically built up through citizen engagement and partnership. 

Adaptive reuse for historic buildings to renew their functional purpose 

The panel demonstrated that the fate of heritage buildings is not purely preservation; they can be adapted and given a new lease of life. 

“We believe that preservation is not freezing the building in time, it's about giving it a second life,” said Hong Kong’s Commissioner for Heritage’s Office Sunny Lo. 

He shared about the old Tai O Police Station, which was restored into Tai O Heritage Hotel, while preserving key original features of the police station. 

It was initiated by the Hong Kong Heritage Conservation Foundation, and enabled under Hong Kong’s “Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme” (R-scheme) where non-profit-making organisations, with partial government funding, could adapt historically significant buildings into functional ones. 

This was an example of how preserving heritage and development — in this case, driving tourism — could coexist through urban renewal. 

The Deputy Mayor of Coimbra in Portugal, Miguel Antunes, also shared Coimbra’s experience in turning an old convent building, or even a church, into convention centres. 

“Of course, you need to have a lot of sensitivity in terms of what uses you give to these buildings,” Antunes cautioned. 

“Where cultural heritage crosses with the building’s heritage, you need to be sensitive about how people are going to feel about the new usage.” 

Heritage also about creating an intangible, loveable present 

Some leaders also shared about developing a vibrant culture to in turn create a loveable city. 

For example, Bogotá’s Graffiti District was launched a decade ago to promote the responsible practice of urban art.  

“This strategy focuses on reclaiming public space and generating initiatives that encourage active, responsible, and participatory citizenship in shaping the city,” shared former Bogotá’s Secretary of Culture, Maria Claudia Lopez. 

Apart from the Graffiti District, Bogotá has an inventory of their 19 traditional markets, which is built up through direct, field-based engagement with the market community, to preserve the living heritage of the city. 

Low also shared about Singapore’s initiatives to support heritage businesses through the Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers. 

These CDC vouchers are provided by the government to citizens, aimed to help with daily expenses and support local heartland businesses. 

“We have to ensure that we not only preserve cultural heritage but work together with the heritage business to allow them to stay relevant,” she said. 

Balancing between competing demands 

Individual city leaders shared considerations that their emphasis on creating a loveability had to balance. 

The need to balance citizen engagement with protecting a common space for all was evident in Bogotá, where the Graffiti District encouraged participation yet had to consider that the street art content might not be acceptable to all. 

“Graffiti and public art can sometimes be hugely enlivening of a cityscape, but it can also be controversial; some communities may be offended,” Kong explained, posing the question to Bogotá’s Lopez. 

Lopez replied that the city’s way of dealing with these concerns was to encourage a conversation between the “more recognised artists and the emergent pilots”, ensuring that an appropriate conclusion was reached before the art happened. 

Other things that needed to be balanced included historical usage and modern adaptive reuse, citizen participation and a common space for all, support for heritage businesses and establishing viable heritage businesses.  

“I think the speakers have really demonstrated how difficult it is, but how well they have done in their respective contexts to keep these balances going,” Kong said.