Seeking a Future for the Past: Space, Power, and Heritage in a Chinese City Philipp Demgenski. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2024. 295 pp. $34.95 (pbk). ISBN 9780472056378

In his 1972 essay "The social function of the past: some questions" (Past and Present 55 [1], 3-17), historian Eric Hobsbawm wrote, "For the greater part of history we deal with societies and communities for which the past is essentially the pattern for the present" (p.3).This point is illustrated and elaborated in Philipp Demgenski's anthropological study of a former colonial area in Qingdao, a coastal city in the southeast of Shandong Province.Demgenski artfully narrates a story of urban transformation that is based on his ten years of ethnographic fieldwork in the area, renting a room in a liyuan courtyard scheduled for redevelopment.The book is structured through a series of chronological perspectives, starting from the past, then moving to the redevelopment phase and, finally, to the future.These are combined with ethnographic perspectives, addressing the key social groups, including local residents, migrants and preservationists.Demgenski's research is comprehensive, and there are many key findings and arguments that are well embraced under the book title, Seeking a Future for the Past, as the main theme.The discussion, as the book subtitle indicates, is focused on space, power and heritage in a city.Yet, this is not just a specific case of heritage-led urban regeneration in Qingdao; rather, it reflects a shifting attitude toward urban redevelopment in Chinese cities in general.Full of insightful observations, Demgenski has meticulously documented various individuals' accounts with vivid details.Through qualitative research method, the author adds a layer of Geertzian "thick description" to his narrative.Reading his accounts makes me feel that I have encountered those individuals in person.The urban transformation, as the author reveals, is reflected in the multifaceted realities perceived by different groups and individuals, forming a full picture.Regarding the author's own account that he has lived and breathed this urban environment for over ten years (p.225), I am reminded of the story of my own family's courtyard house and its neighbourhood, adjacent to the famous Tianyi Library in Ningbo.Over a period of 30 years, the area has undergone a similar urban redevelopment process, under the banner of heritage conservation, yet the largely demolished area is still awaiting a final urban conservation plan.This long process, similar to what Demgenski has articulated as "from demolition to preservation to stagnation," perhaps cements his claim that "the multiple failures are reflexive of a deeper, more structural urban reality" (p.217).In this regard, the theoretical outcome of this case study will be widely applicable to many examples of preservation and development of historic quarters in China.The selected case, Dabaodao, was planned, built and operated by Germany as a concession area in the late 19th century.This colonial history gives enormous advantage to the German scholar to conduct his fieldwork.Demgenski has no difficulty in accessing and analysing German literature and historic archives on Dabaodao; he has also been treated as an authoritative German expert by the public and local government, attending a number of important consultation meetings.Emotionally, by calling Qingdao his second hometown, the author expresses a deep attachment