Due to modernization and the current trend of creating international architectural style, historic cities in China, like elsewhere in the world, are facing challenges today on how to best preserve, restore, renovate, regenerate, transform, and inherit the national architectural heritage for maintaining the local and regional identity. This special issue discusses ways of addressing this critical situation, it may include but not limited to the following cultural districts:

Type A: Around Water 

1. Beijing Shichahai Lake District 
2. Jinan Daming Lake District 
3. Penglai District
4. Nanjing Qinhuai River District 
5. Yangzhou Slender West Lake District 
6. Hangzhou West Lake District 
7. Suzhou Pingjiang District 
8. Wuxi Nanchan Temple District 
9. Wuhan Jiang’an District
10. Xiamen Gulangyu 

Type B: Over Land/Hill 

11. Tianjin Wu Da Dao 
12. Qingdao Xiaoyu Hill 
13. Xi’an Qujiang District
14. Shanghai Chenghuang (City God) Temple 
15. Chengdu Luodai Ancient Town 
16. Luoyang 
17. Kaifeng 
18. Jingdezhen 
19. Zhenjiang Mao Mountain Scenic Area 
20. Fuzhou Sanfang Qixiang (Three Lanes and Seven Alleys)