Research Status, Characteristics and Prospect of Railway Heritage Studies in China and Abroad

XIA Hai-shan, LI Qi, WANG Jian-kang

Journal of Beijing Jiaotong University(Social Sciences Edition) ›› 2026, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (2) : 124-139.

PDF(2624 KB)
Welcome to visit Journal of Beijing Jiaotong University(Social Sciences Edition)!
PDF(2624 KB)
Journal of Beijing Jiaotong University(Social Sciences Edition) ›› 2026, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (2) : 124-139.
Transportation and Culture Studies

Research Status, Characteristics and Prospect of Railway Heritage Studies in China and Abroad

  • XIA Hai-shan1,2, LI Qi2, WANG Jian-kang1,3
Author information +
History +

Abstract

Railway heritage constitutes an important carrier of industrial civilization and bears witness to transportation progress, social transformation and cultural inheritance. In recent years, domestic demands for the conservation and reuse of railway heritage have been on the rise. Heritage reuse modes have expanded from exhibition-oriented conservation to comprehensive utilization that promotes economic revitalization, ecological restoration and community progress, giving rise to a sharp growth in relevant academic research. This paper collects core papers from CNKI and Web of Science (WOS) published since 2000, and adopts a combined approach of bibliometric analysis and CiteSpace knowledge mapping to synthesize and compare existing research findings. The study shows that existing research has progressed from an early foundational phase centered on historical textual research, typological identification, and value evaluation to multiple directions including urban renewal, corridor-based conservation, and cultural-tourism transformation. Overall, three distinct trends are evident: the shift from single-site protection to coordinated and comprehensive regional utilization, the transition from isolated architectural and planning research to interdisciplinary integration, and the transformation from heritage ontology conservation to sustainable reuse and enhancement of comprehensive regional value. Current research also features the evolution of an integrated “node-corridor-network” spatial pattern, sustainable tourism-driven adaptive reuse, continuous optimization of research technologies and methodologies, and deepened exploration of heritage value systems with Chinese characteristics. Nevertheless, notable gaps remain in holistic value cognition, regional coordination mechanisms, dynamic technical approaches and multi-stakeholder governance systems. Future research should strengthen the interpretation of integral heritage value and shift the research focus from “site conservation” to “development empowerment”; deepen research on regional coordination and establish a multi-level framework for heritage conservation and utilization; advance innovations in digital and intelligent technologies; and improve long-term multi-stakeholder governance mechanisms, so as to better satisfy the demands of railway heritage conservation and integrated cultural-tourism development.

Key words

railway heritage / conservation and reuse / international scholarship / domestic scholarship

Cite this article

Download Citations
XIA Hai-shan, LI Qi, WANG Jian-kang. Research Status, Characteristics and Prospect of Railway Heritage Studies in China and Abroad[J]. Journal of Beijing Jiaotong University(Social Sciences Edition). 2026, 25(2): 124-139

References

1 BURMAN P, STRATTON M. Conserving the railway heritage[M]. London:Taylor & Francis, 1997.
2 刘伯英. 工业建筑遗产保护发展综述[J]. 建筑学报, 2012,(1): 12-17.
3 TAYLOR T, LANDORF C. Subject-object perceptions of heritage: a framework for the study of contrasting railway heritage regeneration strategies[J]. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 2015, 21(10): 1050-1067.
4 工业和信息化部. 工业和信息化部关于印发《国家工业遗产管理办法》的通知[EB/OL].(2023-03-02)[2026-01-10]. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2023-03/15/content_5746847.htm.
5 董一平, 侯斌超. 工业遗产价值认知拓展——铁路遗产保护回顾[J]. 新建筑, 2012,(2): 22-27.
6 崔卫华, 杨成林. 中国近代铁路遗产的时空分布与遗产价值研究[J]. 中国文化遗产, 2018,(1): 100-105.
7 胡映东, 高源. 遗产铁路活态保护的国际经验与中国模式[J]. 世界建筑, 2025,(10): 28-36.
8 亢宾. 凝固的历史永恒的遗存: 解读全国重点文物保护单位中的铁路文化遗产[M]. 北京: 中国铁道出版社, 2014.
9 唐果媛, 张薇. 国内外共词分析法研究的发展与分析[J]. 图书情报工作, 2014, 58(22): 138-145.
10 华建忠, 姜放放. 论铁路旅游业的产业发展方向[J]. 铁道运输与经济, 2002,(4): 22-24.
11 吴新宇, 蒋乐其. 将废弃铁路线辟为城市快速交通通道——以浙赣铁路电气化改造义乌移线为例[J]. 规划师, 2005,(S1):43-46.
12 LOUGHRAN K. Imbricated Spaces: The High Line, Urban Parks, and the Cultural Meaning of City and Nature[J]. Sociological Theory, 2016, 34(4): 311-334.
13 王琰, 张华. 城市废弃工业高架铁路桥的更新改造——以纽约高线公园为例[J]. 西安建筑科技大学学报(自然科学版), 2015, 47(6): 894-898.
14 满霞, 林吉玲. 胶济铁路与近代区域社会观念变迁[J]. 济南大学学报(社会科学版), 2009, 19(3): 22-25.
15 杨玲. 中国铁路文化遗产现状与保护对策研究[J]. 中国文物科学研究, 2011,(3): 54-58.
16 董一平, 侯斌超. 铁路建筑的保护与地区再生——以英国曼彻斯特两座历史火车站为例[J]. 城市建筑, 2011,(8): 25-28.
17 潘向明. 唐胥铁路史实考辨[J]. 江海学刊, 2009,(4): 185-191.
18 李春霞, 彭兆荣. 从滇越铁路看遗产的“遗产化”[J]. 云南民族大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2009, 26(1): 29-34.
19 车辚. 近代云南经济史中的若干计量经济模型——以滇越铁路经济走廊为例[J]. 云南财经大学学报, 2007,(2): 86-91.
20 于春英. 中东铁路与近代牡丹江地区城镇的兴起[J]. 东北亚论坛, 2008,(1): 124-129.
21 李龙, 杨效忠. 旅游廊道:概念体系、发展历程与研究进展[J]. 旅游学刊, 2020, 35(8): 132-143.
22 董菁, 郭若男, 郭飞. 城市废弃铁路再生潜力评估与更新策略——以大连机车厂废弃铁路为例[J]. 自然资源学报, 2023, 38(10): 2672-2686.
23 马源, 江海燕, 边宇. 韩国光州绿道公园废弃铁路的景观化路径[J]. 工业建筑, 2015, 45(10): 65-68.
24 DUARTE E, PINTO D M, PINA H. Railway Tourism and Sustainability in águeda[J]. Proceedings, 2025, 113(1): 20.
25 LEE C F, CHEN K Y. Exploring factors determining the attractiveness of railway tourism[J]. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 2017, 34(4): 461-474.
26 MERTENA I, KAARISTO M. Understanding train tourism mobilities: a practice theories perspective[J]. Mobilities, 2024, 19(4): 704-720.
27 BANERJEE I. Production of Railwayscape in urban environment: Analysing railway heritage tourism potential in Siliguri City, India[J]. Regional Sustainability, 2023, 4(1): 1-12.
28 ROVELLI R, SENES G, FUMAGALLI N, et al. From railways to greenways: a complex index for supporting policymaking and planning. A case study in piedmont (italy)[J]. Land Use Policy, 2020, 99.
29 EIZAGUIRRE-IRIBAR A, GRIJALBA O. A methodological proposal for the analysis of disused railway lines as territorial structuring elements: the case study of the vasco-navarro railway[J]. Land Use Policy, 2020, 91.
30 BIANCHI A, DE MEDICI S. A sustainable adaptive reuse management model for disused railway cultural heritage to boost local and regional competitiveness[J]. Sustainability, 2023, 15(6): 5127.
31 SENES G, FERRARIO P S, RIVA F, et al. Active tourism and intermodality: railway stations as soft mobility hubs—an assessment framework for Italy[J]. Land, 2025, 14(2): 380.
32 DELLA SPINA L. Co-Evaluating Landscape as a Driver for Territorial Regeneration: The Industrial Archaeology of the Noto–Pachino Railway (Italy)[J]. Land, 2025, 14(11): 2116.
33 LI X, XIA H. Spatial Structure and Corridor Construction of Railway Heritage: A Case Study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region[J]. Land, 2025, 14(11): 2139.
34 谭新建, 吕颖, 戴志仁. 废旧铁路价值再生及其改造推进路径[J]. 铁道工程学报, 2024, 41(2): 100-104.
35 田璐瑶, 宁雅萱, 尹豪. 英国铁路遗产景观发展历程与保护利用策略[J]. 工业建筑, 2021, 51(9): 222-229.
36 戴一正, 张晨阳, 樊鹏涛, 等. 线性交通基础设施生态连通性改善的国际经验及对中国铁路建设的启示[J]. 中国园林, 2025, 41(11): 94-100.
37 李飞, 张雅欣, 马继刚. 基于居民和游客双重视角的线性文化遗产感知研究——以滇越铁路为例[J]. 地域研究与开发, 2022, 41(2): 113-120+132.
38 崔卫华, 胡玉坤, 王之禹. 中东铁路遗产的类型学及地理分布特征[J]. 经济地理, 2016, 36(4): 173-180.
39 唐琦. 铁路遗产的内涵与价值评判[J]. 南方建筑, 2016,(2): 39-44.
40 冯铁宏, 陈舒. 铁路遗产保护研究——以中东和滇越铁路为例[J]. 遗产与保护研究, 2016, 1(4): 107-115.
41 刘丽华, 何军. 世界遗产视野下中国近代铁路遗产的突出普遍价值研究——基于文物保护单位视角的分析[J]. 城市建筑, 2019, 16(19): 89-94.
42 吴兴帜, 洪树兰. 物质文化遗产:自我表征的载体与符号——以滇越铁路遗产物为例[J]. 云南民族大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2012, 29(3): 23-27.
43 江沛. 突变与渐变:铁路交通与近代北方经济和社会变动[J]. 江汉论坛, 2025,(1): 122-130.
44 杨星璐, 车震宇, 梁栋, 等. 触媒视角下的铁路遗产站点片区城市更新设计探析——以滇越铁路宜良站为例[J]. 工业建筑, 2025, 55(6): 143-153.
45 吕梦琦, 王岳颐. 适宜性评价模型在闲置铁路空间再生中的应用[J]. 世界建筑, 2025,(10): 56-62.
46 唐琦, 刘佳明. 中国铁路遗产时空分布特征及其影响因素分析[J]. 园林, 2025, 42(8): 15-22.
47 蒙小英, 边紫琳, 陈远方. 京广铁路北京中心城区段廊道绿地生态系统文化服务供应潜力与机会[J]. 风景园林, 2022, 29(10): 38-44.
48 JIANG P, SHAO L, BAAS C. Interpretation of value advantage and sustainable tourism development for railway heritage in China based on the analytic hierarchy process[J]. Sustainability, 2019, 11(22): 6492.
49 OSWALD BEILER M, BURKHART K, NICHOLSON M. Evaluating the impact of rail-trails: a methodology for assessing travel demand and economic impacts[J]. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 2015, 9(7): 509-519.
50 李飞, 马继刚, 刘祥辉. 线性文化遗产居民的感知价值与期望价值——以滇越铁路为例[J]. 热带地理, 2021, 41(1): 93-103.
51 李晗, 常江, 罗萍嘉, 等. “地方性”视角下铁路工业遗产的适应性再利用研究:以四川嘉阳小火车实践为例[J]. 世界建筑, 2025,(10): 63-68.
52 肖晓民, 董孝斌, 王雪超, 等. 废弃铁路生态修复研究现状及趋势[J]. 北京师范大学学报(自然科学版), 2026, 62(1): 65-78.
53 赵玫, 高巍, 王璇. 铁路公园的发展、形态与价值[J]. 国际城市规划, 2025, 40(4): 151-158.
54 周艺南, 李保炜. 人民城市理念下的城市更新实施机制创新——以京张铁路遗址公园为例[J]. 城市发展研究, 2024, 31(7): 16-20.
55 王霖, 张杨, 李彬彬. 潮汕铁路遗址的城市“记忆之场”建构探索[J]. 南方建筑, 2023,(8): 51-60.
56 陈茹, 姬琳, 夏鹏. 基于层次分析与GIS方法的汉冶萍铁路沿线景观评价[J]. 安全与环境工程, 2021, 28(4): 213-222.
57 SANG K, FONTANA G L, PIOVAN S E. Assessing railway landscape by AHP process with GIS: a study of the yunnan-vietnam railway[J]. Remote Sensing, 2022, 14(3).
58 WANG Z, HAN R. The comparative study of the evolutionary characteristics of spatial forms and cultural differences in the russian-japanese railway residential architecture heritage in jilin province[J]. Buildings, 2026, 16(3).
59 沈敏敏, 王岳颐, 唐翰, 等. 铁路闲置站域空间资源评价与更新模式研究——以北京西部山区铁路为例[J]. 南方建筑, 2025(7): 62-70.
60 XU J, GARRAMONE M, WANG Y, et al. Integration of hbim/gis to preserve infrastructure heritage along the chinese eastern railway[C]//Tucci G, Balletti C, Bonora V, et al. 29Cipa Symposium Documentingth, Understanding, HeritagePreservingcultural. Humanities and Digital Technologies for Shaping the Future, Vol. 48-M-2. Florence, Italy: Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh, 2023: 1645-1652.
61 ROLANDO A, SCANDIFFIO A. Multimodal access to minor places in heritage-rich landscapes: GIS mapping to define slow-tourism routes from the stations in the railway networks in-between turin and Milan[J]. Sustainability, 2022, 14(23).
62 TAYLOR P. What factors make rail trails successful as tourism attractions? Developing a conceptual framework from relevant literature[J]. Journal of outdoor recreation and tourism, 2015, 12: 89-98.
63 SCHERRER P, DIMMOCK K, LAMONT M, et al. Rail trails literature: Current status and future research[J]. Journal of Leisure Research, 2021, 52(1): 97-119.
64 QUATTRONE M, TOMASELLI G, D’EMILIO A, et al. Analysis and evaluation of abandoned railways aimed at greenway conversion: A methodological application in the Sicilian landscape using multi-criteria analysis and geographical information system[J]. Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 2018, 49(3): 151-163.
65 王长松, 马千里. 京津冀铁路遗产廊道构建研究[J]. 首都师范大学学报(社会科学版), 2017,(3): 71-78.
66 唐岳兴, 邵龙, 曹弯. 遗产廊道城镇旅游开发潜力评价——以中东铁路滨绥线为例[J]. 规划师, 2016, 32(2): 96-101.
67 李沁, 周鑫. “廊道遗产”概念下的滇越铁路线性文化遗产再认识[J]. 文化学刊, 2021,(10): 16-19.
68 HUBERT M, BLUT M, BROCK C, et al. The influence of acceptance and adoption drivers on smart home usage[J]. European Journal of Marketing, 2019, 53(6): 1073-1098.
69 HALSALL D A. Railway heritage and the tourist gaze: stoomtram hoorn-medemblik[J]. Journal of Transport Geography, 2001, 9(2): 151-160.
70 BHATI A, PRYCE J, CHAIECHI T. Industrial railway heritage trains: the evolution of a heritage tourism genre and its attributes[J]. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 2014, 9(2): 114-133.
71 刘东云, 李保炜, 孙淼, 等. 北京京张铁路遗址公园一期工程北段[J]. 风景园林, 2025, 32(9): 92-97.
72 罗萍嘉, 常江, 田蜜. 规划赋能工业遗产的“活态”保护 记四川嘉阳小火车暨芭蕉沟传统工人村的保护与激活[J]. 城市环境设计, 2025,(9): 148-152.
73 马啸, 翁霆威, 周银圣. 地方发展中的“条赋块能”——基于铁路的案例研究[J]. 经济社会体制比较, 2023,(5): 153-163.
74 TICCIH. The Nizhny Tagil Charter for the Industrial Heritage[S]. Nizhny Tagil: The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage, 2003.
75 WANG Y, WANG S, WANG X, et al. Dynamic Visual Landscape Assessment of Disused Railway in Complex Terrain: A Study of Jingmen Railway[J]. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2024, 17: 10877-10892.
76 HUTNICZAK A, URBISZ A, WATO?A A. The socio-economic importance of abandoned railway areas in the landscape of the Silesian Province (southern Poland)[J]. Environmental & Socio-economic Studies, 2023, 11(1): 1-12.
77 MERCIU F C, P?UNESCU C, DOROBAN?U M, et al. Assessing the value of railway heritage for sustainable development: The case study of the Oravi?a-Anina Railway, Romania[J]. Sustainability, 2022, 14(20): 13262.
78 RISTI? D, VUKOI?I? D, IVANOVI? M, et al. Transformation of abandoned railways into tourist itineraries/routes: Model of revitalization of marginal rural areas[J]. Land, 2024, 13(3): 321.
79 KENDRA M, BLA?EKOVá O, VOJTEKOVá M. Determinants of irregular demand for regional rail passenger services-case study of High Tatras in Slovakia[J]. Transportation, 2025, 52(5): 1957-1973.
80 李辛夷, 夏海山. 铁路遗产廊道再生价值评价研究——以京张铁路(北京段)为例[J]. 南方建筑, 2023,(3): 40-51.
81 陈鹏, 唐思远. 基于价值营造的区域线型文化廊道保护方法研究——欧洲文化线路对我国铁路遗产保护更新的启示[J]. 中国名城, 2025, 39(1): 65-73.
82 解飞, 夏海山. 美国新英格兰地区铁路再生策略及其支撑体系解析[J]. 建筑师, 2024,(2): 89-98.
83 夏海山. 中国铁路遗产文化价值概览[J]. 新建筑, 2024,(5): 8-13.
PDF(2624 KB)

Accesses

Citation

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/

〈 〉