The international definition of built heritage includes architectural, urban and landscape heritage in urban and rural areas, as a part of the built environment that contains specific historical and cultural meanings and information. Under the huge influence of globalization and informational networks, the demands for social and economic sustainability pose the challenges of how to deal with the production of built heritage in its historical environment, and how to understand the conservation of built heritage in relationship with future urban and rural development.

In order to face these new challenges, and due to growing attention from academia and society, there is a need for new discussion forums around the preservation and regeneration of built heritage. In April 2017, Tongji University and the Architectural Society of China successfully co-hosted the first international academic forum “Built Heritage: A Cultural Motivator for Urban and Rural Development”. With the same organizers and aims, the second forum will be hold in Tongji University in April 2019, under the new denomination of International Conference on Built Heritage Studies (BHS), positioned as a special academic summit bringing together global experts and scholars.