The Ruan Yisan Heritage Foundation is a non-governmental, non-profit organization created on June 9, 2006, "to support and promote urban heritage conservation in China. It is a private foundation supervised by the Shanghai Administration Bureau of NGOs and Shanghai Municipal Urban Planning Administration Bureau."[1] Founder Ruan Yisan is a former professor of urban planning at Tongji University of Shanghai and director of the National Research Center for Historic Cities in Shanghai.[2] The Foundation is a member of the International National Trusts Organisation.[3]