China's urban heritage is facing unprecedented threats from rapid development, a senior official warned yesterday.

"How to improve the conservation of cultural heritage in the accelerated process of urbanization has become our major concern," said Shan Jixiang, director general of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Shan was speaking at the Second International Conference on Heritage Conservation and Sustainable Development, which opened yesterday in Shaoxing, a historic city in East China's Zhejiang Province.

"While reasonable actions are being taken to preserve cultural heritage in some instances, more often historic buildings are given up in favor of urban development, and sometimes even blindly demolished," Shan admitted.

Massive construction in some cities has created an imbalance between cultural heritage conservation and city development, Shan said.

The urbanization in China has been rapid in recent years. In 2005 the urbanization rate, the percentage of people living in cities, exceeded 40 per cent, and the number is predicted to reach 45 per cent by 2010 and 60 per cent in 2020.

"Migration of a great number of farmers to cities will inevitably lead to rapid expansion, causing severe conflicts between urban construction and cultural heritage conservation," Shan said.

Shan suggested that the strategy of protecting the old parts of a city and developing new areas could contribute a great deal to striking a balance between conservation and development.

Cultural heritage conservation should be incorporated into city planning, as cultural heritage is not a burden but a valuable asset and a driving force for city development, Shan noted.

His views were shared by S.K.Misra, chairman of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.

"Heritage conservation along with cultural tourism can be valuable tools for economic development" he said.

The development of sustainable tourism contributes to preservation and revitalization of heritage as well as socio-economic development, he added.

(China Daily June 1, 2006)