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Social media provides big data for researchers to perform real-time analytics, as digital ethnographers, on what places and attributes people value in the historic urban landscapes they live or visit, enough to share with their social network. However, the use of these data to further our knowledge on heritage and their values, or to support heritage planning and management is still very limited. This article proposes a methodology for the analysis of viewpoints locationview scenes-tags data for photos posted on Flickr to provide insights into all facets of the perceived landscape character that identifies people-centered heritage at the city level. The analysis visualizes convergence and divergence between locals' and tourists' preferences. It also reveals heritage concerns in the context of daily-life practices and everyday landscape, as well as political and religious concerns in post-conflict areas. Additionally, the analysis questions the limits of heritage areas and categories used for identifying cultural values. Results showed that the different analyses complement one another to eventually provide insights into everyday encounters with the historic urban landscape. They also show the difference between experts' and users' documentation and characterization languages when defining heritage. When the first apply domain-specific classification models, the latter express personal reflections without following a specific hierarchy or a closed categorical system. It is believed that the outcome can help heritage scholars to further our understanding for the diversity of heritage places and attributes, as well as, heritage professionals, to inform decision-making processes in heritage planning and management on both experts' and users' understanding of heritage.

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PurposeThe paper aims to provide an introduction to the new journal, its scope and papers in the inaugural issue.Design/methodology/approachThe paper introduces the new journal by exploring the normative foundations of cultural heritage management and how this can be used to construct a bridge to processes of sustainable development. In doing so, the rationale is explained for a journal with this specialism, like JCHMSD, including potential areas for research. All this then is linked to the theme and respective papers especially selected for the inaugural issue.FindingsIncreasingly the role of cultural heritage in processes of regeneration and sustainable development of cities and regions is being explored, while at the same time the international debate is intensifying as regards a re‐orientation of the concept of sustainability and to re‐emphasize its meaning in clear and unambiguous terms. In the build‐up to the review of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015, the international community by way of UNESCO is promoting the inclusion of culture in the development paradigm.Originality/valueIn providing an overview of the state of debate in the fields of cultural heritage management and sustainable development, the paper is useful to the readers of the journal who are interested but have limited knowledge in these fields. It clarifies the focus to those who wish to submit articles to the journal, as well as highlights some potential areas for research.

Within the urban context, heritage conservation has been acknowledged as fundamental for sustainable development. This paper address the need to develop methodologies that enable understanding of the dynamics between these two fields that for long were regarded as opposing practices. The research crosses disciplinary boundaries through a mixed methodology that identifies 27 urban development common indicators as factors that are affecting the conservation of 69 World Heritage Cities (WHC). Indicators, which were selected from global urban monitoring tools, were analyzed within UNESCO State-of-Conservation reporting system. Results reveal key trends on urban factors assessed as a SWOT analysis in relation to the management of WHC. We argue that urban indicators can facilitate the understanding of development impacts in cultural heritage conservation, across the social, economic, and environmental dimensions. This paper contributes to the debate on the ability of indicators to bridge interdisciplinary and methodological issues that were related to common conceptualizations between urban development and heritage conservation and sustainability. The conceptual approach that is presented has proven to offer an empirical basis for a monitoring practice that fosters the sustainable management of urban heritage, which in the light of the New Development Agenda and the gaps in the state-of-the-art, is very much needed.

Community participation is an essential issue in heritage management. The international heritage organisation ICCROM published a guidance document discussing people-centred approaches to heritage management in 2015. Cultural heritage management is recommended to be carried out through a community participation process. Despite the growing literature on community participation in cultural heritage management, little research has been done on comparing Chinese to international approaches. Although in China several pilot projects have conducted effective community participation and achieved excellent outcomes. This paper aims to fill this gap by providing an overview that compares and discusses the similarities and differences between Chinese and international approaches. A systematic literature review of the state-of-the-art was conducted to explore these differences based on four themes: engaged communities, participatory methods, degrees of participation and steps taken within cultural heritage management. This review concludes both Chinese and international practices seek to collaborate with and empower local communities in their approaches, with Chinese pilot cases, such as Tianzifang in Shanghai. However, in general, Chinese cultural heritage management is government-led, in which community participation is happening to a minimal degree. China is encouraged to learn from international practices when developing contextualised management approaches, to better face the challenges of rapid urbanisation.

PurposeThis article aims to introduce the special issue of the journal Facilities on “World Heritage cities management”, together with the respective articles.Design/methodology/approachThis introduction addresses the topic of world Heritage cities management and its relevance to science and society. In so doing, it indirectly points to the emerging field of cultural heritage management within facilities management.FindingsEven though the management of cultural heritage assets is nothing new for facilities managers, cultural heritage management as a field of research can be considered at a younger stage of development than other related studies, such as the discipline of architectural conservation, which originated in the nineteenth century with the advent of modernity. The application of management practices to immovable cultural heritage assets emerged as recently as the 1990s. At a time in which the role of culture and heritage in processes of sustainable development is gaining more ground, this special issue can be seen as the first of more contributions to come, which aim to enhance the conservation and management of cultural heritage assets for the benefit of present and future generations.Originality/valueThis paper aims to make a contribution to the growing field of cultural heritage management and is of use to facilities managers, scholars and consultants who have responsibilities but limited knowledge in this field.

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