A tale of two cities : how tourism development is treated in Yangon and Macau's urban heritage planning

The General Conference of UNESCO directly linked the underlying principles of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach to the adoption of the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape in November 2011. It has been hailed as 'a new way to include all these aspects of conservation in an integrated framework' (Bandarin and Van Oers 2012: xvi). As this current volume explores the awareness about the HUL approach and its implementation in Asia, this chapter discusses two case studies" Yangon in Myanmar and Macau in China. These cases show how tourism becomes a key stakeholder and protagonist heavily influencing the implementation of this concept in urban heritage planning of postcolonial cities. The chapter contrasts the recently developed Yangon Heritage Strategy with urban heritage conservation planning initiatives in Macau, SAR China" another postcolonial heritage city in Asia. The chapter also explores how, despite strong links back to Europe and other Western countries (such as Australia), much of the cultural heritage management practice in these two places has developed along different lines, strongly influenced by local socio-political and economic considerations.