The transformative role of museums in alleviating the cultural desert phenomenon in SARs: a comprehensive case study of Shenzhen

Purpose This article interrogates contemporary paradigms of museums and regional historic environments through a cultural-heritage lens, using the Shenzhen Special Administrative Region (SAR) as its empirical focus. It demonstrates how museums can reconstitute historic landscapes, mediate between rapid urban development and local culture, and thereby advance sustainable regional cultural evolution. Design/methodology/approach Combining semi-structured interviews, in situ observations and case-study analysis, the research critically re-examines the “cultural-desert” narrative often ascribed to Shenzhen. Quantitative and qualitative data on the heritage–culture interface are analysed statistically and hermeneutically to assess how the historic environment, as cultural substratum, undergirds sustainable cultural development in emerging SARs. Findings Museums demonstrably fortify regional historic environments by conserving and activating cultural heritage, tempering the dislocating effects of a high-velocity, export-oriented economic model. As the historic environment prospers, the museological mandate expands from custodianship to proactive cultural stewardship. Research limitations/implications Because historic environments are dynamic assemblages shaped by policy, demographic and socio-cultural contingencies, the findings are most applicable to fast-growing SARs with analogous developmental trajectories. Practical implications A study of the latest concepts in articulating museums and the region’s historic environment from a cultural heritage perspective. The natural public and political independence of museums create an independent basis for their ability to improve the regional historic environment. Based on the construction of a local public identity makes it possible for the public to shape regional cultural commonalities through cultural heritage, pass on the cultural attributes of the same region’s past, and thus contribute to the effective recycling of the SAR’s historic environment out of desertification. The theory provides a practical reference for studying the sustainability of cultural environments in emerging DCs. Social implications By revitalising collective memory and reinforcing place-based identity, museums catalyse a virtuous cycle in which heritage preservation nourishes civic engagement, deepens the historic environment and enhances cultural resilience. Originality/value The study pioneers an integrated analytical framework that positions museums as autonomous yet synergistic agents within regional historic ecosystems. It offers a transferable model for leveraging cultural heritage to remediate “cultural desertification” and to underwrite sustainable cultural regeneration in emergent development corridors.