Solidarity and subsidiarity : a humanistic approach to street shop conservation

Abstract

This thesis develops a humanistic approach to the conservation of street shops, focusing on the principles founded on the dignity of the Human Person: Solidarity and Subsidiarity, who is defended in the encyclical Caritas in Veritate as part of the social teaching of the Catholic Church. It is an original application of these social principles on Heritage and Urban Redevelopment issues, plugging a missing gap in the research literature as to the ultimate social goal of urban redevelopment and renewal, where one which talks about the ‘social” without respect to the person as a unit of social activities. Informed by Yu et al’s model of sustainable development and Aguirre’s Integral Approach to Economic Development, this approach may provide a win-win solution to street shop redevelopment through Habermas’ communicative action. It provides a more internally consistent way to heritage conservation in redevelopment (i.e., a win-win scenario informed by the model of Yu et al (2000) that does not insist on all or nothing, with due consideration of the Human Person, as an economic agent, in his entirety). The methodology used, in line with most heritage accounts, was one by case study. Three significant Chinese settlement areas with traditional street shops were selected. The thesis can be summed up as follows: 1. The survival of family-owned street shops is threatened by urban redevelopment and arouses a yearning for a humanistic approach based on principles that will (a) help the community affected in existence for at least three decades and can be considered as heritage, albeit, by appropriation; (b) address the Government’s dilemma of housing scarcity, and (c) maximize the economic potential of the place without undermining the community affected. Using Yu et al’s model of sustainability argues for a win-win situation that is not “all or nothing” and Aguirre’s view on Man as the economic agent, one step further is taken in addressing this dilemma. 2. This approach is founded on the dignity of the Human Person, i.e., the basis for two complementary principles Solidarity and Subsidiarity, as explained in Caritas in Veritate. Various scholarly articles seem incapable of proposing a real win-win solution. These two maxims are conjectured to be the underlying principles to achieve sustainable urban redevelopment. 3. With the help of three case studies, a standard method of heritage conservation study, on Chinese street shops from a sample of Asian cities, it is inferred that the degree of sustainability of a place is directly proportional to the degree of solidarity and subsidiarity observed. When these two principles are not observed, it may end up in a win-lose scenario (redevelopment displacing heritage and community, or vice versa), or a lose-lose outcome (a non-sustainable city in times of economic crisis). 4. Discussion and assessment of case studies follow, seen in the light of the principles proposed, and the recent stances of the United Nations on Sustainable Development Goals, notably SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities. It concludes with the key arguments and findings for a more humanistic approach on heritage cum redevelopment, together with its contribution and implications on policies. Limitations of the research and further studies are explored.