Interdependent struggles of cultural heritage generativity

Cultural heritage sites preserve history and community identity, sustaining traditions and intergenerational knowledge while fostering belonging, yet residents could struggle with cultural inheritance and generativity. This paper explores interdependent struggles of residential generativity in the cultural heritage site of Lin’an, China. Drawing on twenty-seven semi-structured interviews, the paper uses qualitative content analysis and identifies three generative levels in cultural transmission. At the familial level, the interdependent struggles revolve around the intricate process of parents’ transmission of values and knowledge to their children, as well as the reciprocal feedback from the younger generation. Shifting to the societal level, the study reveals a significant reliance on government-led preservation, which tends to overshadow the potential of active citizen engagement. The study also reveals struggles at the digital level, involving virtual-physical integration and expectation-practice alignment. Findings provide theoretical insights and practical implications for enhancing the culture-sensitive understanding of heritage generativity.