From Heritage to Asset: Pathways for IP Construction of Qilu Transport Cultural Symbols

Abstract

Shandong preserves a rich transport heritage, ranging from German-colonial railway stations on the Qingdao–Jinan line to ancient canal locks, century-old locomotives, and road-building folk customs. Despite its diversity and cultural depth, this heritage has long been managed through conventional conservation approaches—physical restoration and archival documentation—with limited engagement with public audiences or market mechanisms. Within the framework of transport–tourism integration, this study proposes a three-stage research model—symbol mining, design translation, and IP construction—to examine how Qilu transport cultural symbols can be transformed from historical remains into cultural assets. Drawing on fieldwork at the Qingdao–Jinan Railway Museum and the historic Jinan Railway Station, the study identifies a tripartite transformation: from physical objects to visual imagery, and then to spatial experience. Specifically, we construct a three-category symbolic system encompassing material, event-based, and spiritual symbols; translate these symbols through the dimensions of form, colour, pattern, and structure; and develop an extensible cultural-asset system. We argue that transport spaces are evolving from mere transit nodes into cultural-experience settings, and that the IP-based activation of transport symbols offers a viable pathway for the creative transformation of cultural heritage. The findings provide both design strategies and methodological references for transport–tourism integration in Shandong.