Analytic hierarchy process-based industrial heritage value evaluation method and reuse research in Shaanxi Province—a case study of Shaanxi Steel Factory

Industrial heritage is relevant to social, cultural, scientific, technological, and architectural aspects, revealing the lifestyles of people, recording technological advances, and perpetuating cultures. However, with the renewal of cities, a large amount of industrial heritage has been abandoned. To avoid the waste of industrial heritage resources, a reasonable and accurate value evaluation of it is a prerequisite for its protection and reuse. Therefore, based on the perspective of value evaluation, this paper presents qualitative and quantitative research through a literature review and field research, combined with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This study summarises industrial heritage value evaluation factors in Shaanxi and establishes a method for industrial heritage value evaluation. After considering factors such as industrial type, year, development process, surrounding environment, and remains, this study selected the industrial heritage of Shaanxi Steel Factory built in Xi’an in 1965 as a sample in order to verify the feasibility of the evaluation method, to provide theoretical guidance for subsequent conservation and reuse, and to serve as a reference for realising urban regeneration. The findings evidenced that the presented evaluation methodology is valid in evaluating the value of industrial heritage and that the AHP method is reliable in confirming the weights of the evaluation indicators. This study establishes an evaluation methodology for the value of industrial heritage, and studies on multiple criteria provide a series of auxiliary methods that reduce the uncertainty of evaluation and provide a new methodology for confirming the level of heritage protection.