Reinterpreting Destruction: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Beijing and São Paulo

City walls and highways are key infrastructures present in historic cities. For different reasons, both have been considered either a limitation or an engine for urban development. This article will shed light on two cases within different cultural contexts, in China and Brazil, investigating the conceptual correlation between destruction, cultural heritage and public participation. Built during the Ming Dynasty, Beijing’s City Walls remained largely intact for centuries as a symbol of centralised power. Between the 1950s and the 1960s, a period of fast urban development under a new governance, the values attributed to such structures were deemed incompatible with the idea of national identity, and then, large sections of the walls were demolished to prioritise the construction of new infrastructure. Previously guided by controversial ideals of modernization, nowadays the government is planning to reconstruct specific sections of the walls as a strategy to recover what in China is known as ‘cultural confidence’. Such decisions express the way heritage values are politically managed for the legitimisation of a cultural heritage narrative. There are circumstances in which official narratives can be redefined by social engagement. The construction of the “Mihocão”, a 3.4 km elevated highway inaugurated in 1971 in the city of São Paulo, constituted a wound in the historic urban fabric, which interrupted preexisting social dynamics and triggered material decay. After decades, the necessity for coexistence of the local community and the imposed infrastructure conditioned the population to attribute new values to the highway, transforming it into a linear park for local cultural expressions. Such a resilient attitude towards the highway as a historicized element led to nondestructive policies for urban regeneration and the creation of new intangible heritage. Through a thoughtful analysis, this article aims to highlight that the notion of identity is in constant change. Despite the strength of official directives, people have the ability to attribute new values over the destruction of old ones, creating new narratives which better represent their civic will. Since transformation is inherent to historic cities, it is fundamental for the civic society to be heard in the decision-making process towards a more resilient and sustainable urban development.