The title of my presentation was to be "Culture, Historic Preservation, and Economic Development in the 21^st Century" and I believe most of you either have a copy of that paper or one will be made available to you. In view of the serious constraints on time, however, I have chosen to abstract from that paper nine principles that I hope will be of use to you, or at least spur some contemplation of these issues.

Principle #1: Like it or not, the 21^st century’s economy will be a global economy. While there are many critics of a global economy – including many in the United States – I would suggest to you that progressive countries, regardless of their political or economic systems, will see the need for their citizens to be participants in that global economy.

Principle #2: While a globalized economy is inevitable and, I would argue, beneficial, its corollary – globalized culture – is neither beneficial nor inevitable. In fact a country allowing itself to be unnecessarily swallowed by a globalized culture will reduce rather than improve its competitive opportunities in the globalized economy.

The point of those first two principles is that a globalized economy and a globalized culture are not inherently linked and with appropriate local strategies the benefits of the former can be reaped without suffering the negative impacts of the latter.

Principle #3: In parallel to the first two principles is a third: the modernization of public services and infrastructure does not and should not require the Westernization of the built environment.

Principle #4: In the next century there will certainly be an increased demand for goods worldwide, but because of technological advances fewer people will be needed to produce those goods.

Principle #5: What will be in increased demand, both in terms of production and also in jobs, will be these: services, ideas, one-of-a-kind products, information, culture, entertainment, travel.

Principle #6: For each of those growth areas in the world economy, three things are true: 1) they are locationally indifferent – can be produced from anywhere; 2) they are strongly influenced by local, not national or international culture; and 3) their competitive edge internationally will be quality, creativity, and authenticity.

Principle #7: The character, quality, and differentiation of the growth areas – ideas, services, one-of-a-kind products, information, culture, entertainment, travel – are strongly influenced by the local environment. This includes the natural environment, the built environment, and the cultural environment. To the extent that those three environments are diminished or homogenized, the inherent result will be the long term decline in the character, quality, and the differentiation and therefore the local economic opportunity represented by those growth areas.

Principle #8: The effective reuse of a city’s historic built environment is a significant component of any strategy that claims to be "sustainable economic develoment."

Principle #9: Because the world is a diverse place, successful competition in the global marketplace will necessitate an understanding of and a sensitivity to diverse cultures. Our understanding of how to deal with diversity is learned locally. The appreciation and celebration of diversity needs to be an economic strategy as well as a cultural and political strategy.

There are dozens in this audience – both Chinese and guests – who can make the case for environmental protection, heritage conservation, and cultural preservation based on sociological, psychological, aesthetic, and educational reasons far better than I can. But I would suggest to you that the safekeeping of a locality’s cultural assets, natural environment, and especially its historic built environment is critical to positioning a community to effectively compete on a sustainable basis in the 21^st Century world economy.

In Italo Calvino's book Invisible Cities Marco Polo is describing to Kublai Khan the various cities of the Khan's vast empire. In depicting the city of Trude, here is what he tells the Khan.

Thank you very much.