Historic buildings should be a "sacred and inviolable" part of the urban landscape, a leading Chinese urban planning expert said at a forum of the Shanghai Expo.

"Important cultural heritage of a city should be the city's Himalayas -- sacred and inviolable. You should not dig a hole through it or pass over it," said Professor Ruan Yisan, an expert on ancient buildings at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning in Shanghai's Tongji University.

Speaking at the forum that ended Sunday in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, he said, "Many ancient Chinese cities have unique characteristics and profound cultural properties, but some have been damaged for years because of a lack of proper cultural protection awareness."

Ruan has consulted in the preservation of historic cities and towns, such as Pingyao in Shanxi Province and Zhouzhuang in Jiangsu Province.

"The most imperative thing is to transform some officials' concepts of conserving cultural heritage. Some are not fully aware of the importance of cultural heritage in city planning," Ruan said.

He said Suzhou set a good example in conservation with its maximum building height of 24 meters.

"Height control is critical in conserving historic and cultural cities. Suzhou succeeded, but many cities fail to follow protection rules," Ruan said.

"Many would question why we should preserve old urban areas rather than building new ones. The ancient architecture of unique Chinese styles can provide nutrition or inspiration for new buildings of Chinese styles. No one wants cities with the same face," Ruan said.

He cited the the glass Pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris as a successful blend of old and new architectural styles.

Architect Ieoh Ming Pei, from the outset, stressed the Pyramid must be transparent so that visitors could see the museum through it, Yuan said.

Since China's State Council began naming state-level historic and cultural cities in 1982, the list has grown to 110 cities.

People held deep affection for their local cultural heritage, said Shan Jixiang, head of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

He told how many young men had dived into a river to salvage parts of a traditional wooden bridge of the Dong ethnic minority when it collapsed in Liping County, Guizhou Province.

Public participation was important in preservation and public protection could give cultural heritage "dignity," said Shan.

At the forum, 17 historic cities across the world issued a declaration to establish an alliance for the protection of cultural heritage.

"Urban cultural heritage has truly recorded the process of urban development and evolution, and reflected the cultural traditions and values of their own," says the Declaration for the Establishment of the Historical Cities Alliance -- Suzhou Outlook.

The two-day forum has attracted about 800 participants to discuss the value of cultural heritage and urban regeneration.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2010)