Cultural heritage laws are often primarily understood as being aimed at protecting relics from the past against threats from the passage of time that are manifest in changing social and economic conditions, which may expose those relics to damage, decay or destruction. Recently, however, the focus has been shifting towards the constructive role that cultural heritage protection (laws) can play in the design of the future. The present article aims to give a brief outline of the legal frameworks governing the protection of cultural heritage in the Hong Kong SAR, the Macao SAR and the Guangdong province of the People’s Republic of China. The aim of this brief presentation is to assess the potential for cultural heritage protection in the design of the future in the context of the objectives for the development of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area.