Asian American Places of Heritage

Asian American Places of Heritage: Honoring Place, Culture, and Identity broadens the understanding of Asian American built heritage and its vital role in shaping the US cultural landscape. This groundbreaking volume explores how places significant to diverse Asian American cultures and communities fit within broader historical narratives of immigration, identity, and cultural expression. By contextualising these sites within interdisciplinary frameworks, the book offers a compelling lens through which to view the rich and multifaceted heritage of Asian American communities.

Drawing on perspectives from architecture, urban planning, historic preservation, religious studies, geography, and history, this book highlights the urgent need to address the lack of recognition for Asian American heritage sites. Historically, preservation efforts have prioritised sites of European influence, leaving the histories and places of non-European immigrant communities underrepresented and vulnerable to demolition and redevelopment. This volume seeks to fill this critical gap in scholarship, practice, and policy, advocating for a more inclusive approach to historic preservation.

This book is an essential resource for scholars, community organisations, and historic preservation practitioners across North America. It will also resonate with Asian and Asian American societies, as well as researchers of Asian and Asian American heritage, particularly given its inclusive definition of what constitutes ‘Asian.’ By addressing a pressing need in the field, this volume offers valuable insights for anyone invested in the preservation and celebration of cultural diversity.