ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the results of data-analysis undertaken on the Criteria for Selection of all 186 Cultural Heritage Sites in Asia (as of 2022) listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. To be inscribed on the World Heritage List as cultural heritage, sites must have Outstanding Universal Value, meaning that it needs to meet at least one out of six criteria (i-vi) in order to be designated. Two different strategies on data analysis were undertaken on the Criteria for Selection. Firstly, since designated sites are selected based on one or multiple criteria, quantitative analysis was undertaken on which criteria the cultural heritage sites of Asia became designated under. In particular, we identified the overall trend in designating the Criteria for Selection for all of the sites in Asia, we compared the criteria selection patterns of each of Asia’s sub-regions. Secondly, ‘Sematic Network Analysis’ was carried out on the official statements of Outstanding Universal Value of the Cultural Heritage Sites of Asia. The key terms or phrases of the statements were identified and then visualised through the creation of word clouds for the entire region of Asia, as well as for its sub-regions. A word network was also produced. The results of these two types of data-analysis make it possible to gain an overarching understanding of how Asia and its sub-regions perceive the way in which the value of their cultural heritage should be presented to the wider world.
