Making post-colonial placeidentity: the regeneration of the StLazarus neighbourhood, MacauXi YeFaculty of Humanities and Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology,Macau, ChinaAbstractPurpose – This study aims to identify how the place identity of the former Portuguese neighbourhood ofSt Lazarus was reshaped for the purposes of place branding, tourism and consumption in post-colonialMacau.Design/methodology/approach – This study sees place identity as a constructed multiplicity whosecomponents are strategically assembled to (re)make the self. It uses the Deleuze–Guattarian theory ofassemblage to analyse identity-making, specifically to examine how urban elements, including materialcontent (material qualities of forms, programmes and life) and narrative expressions (interpretations of place),come together to shape the sense of place.Findings – The heritage conservation policy and creative district planning guidance are overarchingcontrols. Following them, several material and narrative elements are connected. The colonial character of thearchitecture is reinforced and an artistic atmosphere is created, while inhabitants’ everyday life is suppressedand the difficult past is almost erased. The newly processed post-colonial identity seems another kind ofcolonisation. Coloniality as a power relationship continues in a different form. The hidden structure drivingthese processes is global capitalism.Originality/value – Studies on colonial architectural heritage in Macau, particularly outside of theUNESCOWorld Heritage Site, remain relatively scarce. This study aims to fill this gap and to further examinethe Deleuze–Guattarian theory in the context of place study.Keywords Reuse of colonial heritage, Place identity, Assemblage theory, Post-colonial Macau,Urban regeneration, Socially and culturally sustainable architecture and urban designPaper type Research paperIntroductionIncreased social mobility accelerates cultural diasporas, resulting in culture being detachedfrom place and reconstructed within a global context (Appadurai, 1996). Routes of travel andmigration, rather than roots in places, become the sites of human experience where culturalmeaning emerges (Clifford, 1997). These phenomena, which have arisen since the late 20thcentury, pose identity questions on people and places, specifically about how to find andrepresent oneself in this time and society.Place histories have always been manipulated and remade in modern societies (Giddens,1994). The past is considered an exotic place and is enlisted for present purposes(Lowenthal, 1998, p. xv). In heritage sites, symbolic value is often attached to physicalremains through reuse or reinterpretation, out of a desire to mark the cultural significance ofThis research is supported by the Higher Education Fund of the Macao SAR Government (HSS-MUST-2020–9). The funder offers monthly subsidy to the author for fieldwork expenditures, copyediting and publishing fees.OHI46,1114Open House InternationalVol. 46 No. 1, 2021pp. 114-129© EmeraldPublishingLimited0168-2601DOI 10.1108/OHI-06-2020-0068The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:https://www.emerald.com/insight/0168-2601.htm
