Methodologies on the study of ancient cities in world heritage
世界遗产中古城研究方法与内容初探

World Heritage belongs to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are living. The World Heritage List draws attention to the wealth and diversity of the Earth's cultural and natural heritage. Historic Cities in World Heritage List agglomerate the elite of the noblest stage in human civilization history, whose outstanding history, artistic and scientific values make them the living fossils of urban historic study. To the end of January 2000, the total number of ancient cities in World Heritage List is 94. They are 1/7 of the total world heritage sites. These ancient cities are distributed in 56 countries of the four continents. Of which 42 cities of 24 countries are in Europe, 22 cities of 11 countries are in Africa and Arabian region, 16 cities of 11 countries are in Asia and Pacific region,and 14 cities of 10 countries are in America. The paper firstly analyses the study significance of these ancient cities, then exploringly sets up a suit of research system including research methods and main contents. The research methods are demonstration method, holistic and systematic method, dynamic and evaluative method, as well as comparative method. These methods are the main ways in studying the ancient cities in World Heritage List. At the same time, the main research contents of these cities include the value study of many sides, the protection study and the development study. Finally the paper takes the world cultural heritage-the Chinese ancient city of Lijiang as an example to reveal its special research value and significance covered mainly in the three aspects.