Evaluation of public perceptions of authenticity of urban heritage under the conservation paradigm of Historic Urban Landscape—a case study of the Five Avenues Historic District in Tianjin, China

ABSTRACT Cities are the carrier of culture and collective memory of a place. Nowadays, however, there are already globally developed frameworks for the conservation of tangible urban heritage with the loss of historic meaning, which means, the public (including local residents and tourists) can hardly perceive the authenticity of urban heritage in the modern society. As a result, few of them can understand the identity and historical layering process of the city. From the perspective of Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), this paper sets out the experience and approaches of public perceptions of authenticity through literature review and comments data mining, and takes the Five Avenues Historic District in Tianjin as a case study in order to propose strategies for enhancing public perceptions of authenticity of urban heritage. By doing this, the public can have a better understanding of the meaning of urban heritage, which would contribute to its distinctive identity, as well as the management of change.