A stakeholder perspective on contested urban heritage and heritage tourism
研究中国大连的争议性城市遗产，通过手段-目的链分析揭示利益相关者冲突，并利用旅游化理论评估不同发展方案的旅游潜力，提出功能适应可调和拆除派与保护派的分歧。
While there is consensus among researchers that stakeholder participation is critical for heritage development, conflicts between stakeholders can exist and create an arena of contestation. Limited studies have addressed the issue of contested heritage and conflict mitigation in heritage tourism. Examining contested urban heritage in Dalian, China, this study investigates stakeholder conflict using means-end-chain analysis to reveal conflicting perspectives and visions. Furthermore, it uses tourisation theory to assess the tourism potential of each identified development scenario. Findings reveal how a focus on functional adaptation can help to achieve compromise between “dismantler” and “preservationist” polarities to gain agreement between stakeholders. This study enhances the understanding of stakeholder conflict related to contested heritage and contributes to stakeholder theory by addressing conflict mitigation and consensus building. By highlighting the heterogeneity within traditionally defined stakeholder groups, the study suggests using attitudinal groups as a strategy for stakeholder categorization and identification of common ground. It further demonstrates how a value-based approach can help to understand the shaping of stakeholders’ views and foster consensus, laying the foundation for collaborative planning in urban heritage tourism.