Landscape transition of historic villages in Southwest China

The environment in villages in Southwest China has been experiencing constant changes, indicating related change-inducing factors as well as their constitution and hierarchy. Starting from the classification of built environment according to Rapoport＇s view, the ＂environment＂ consists of fixed, semi-fixed and unfixed elements （A. Fixed-feature elements： infrastructure, buildings, walls, floors, etc. B. Semi-fixed-feature elements： ＂furnishings＂ of the environ- ment, interior or exterior, trees and gardens, fences, signs, billboards, lights, etc. C. Unfixed- feature elements： typically people and their activities, behaviors, etc.）. Five representative historic villages in Southwest China （Zhenshan Village in Guizhou, Zhangtang Village in Yunnan, Motuo Village in Sichuan, Huaili Village in Guangxi, and Gongzhong Village in Tibet） were investigated to demonstrate the changes in terms of landscape in the last decade. This article provides an analysis of the dialectical relationship between reservation practices and evolving landscapes from a diachronic perspective. This analysis reveals defects of heritage conservation projects for historic villages in Southwest China. The results indicate the following： （1） there exists an important relationship between unfixed-feature elements of Landscape and cultural heritages in historic villages; （2） semi-fixed-feature elements, although being neglected in most preservation practices, show strong sensitivity to mass tourism; （3） fixed-feature elements are highly vulnerable to civil engineering techniques; and （4） the most active change-inducing factors for evolving landscapes in historic villages include value orientations of villagers, relative locations of villages, ethnic groups, customs, and economic development.In conclusion, approaches to promoting sustainable development of historic village in Southwest China are explored.

Research on Protection Methods of Historic and Cultural Villages in Zhejiang Province

By the investigation of a few historical and cultural villages in Zhejiang Province,some problems during the process of protecting these villages were found,like similar construction pattern,coarse quality of construction,etc. which caused that villages were losing their characters. For this situation,the protection method of historical cultural villages was put forward,which was that to connect excavating character of different village with maintaining spatial fabrics of historical villages,and that different classes of building should have corresponding protection approach. Some advices were proposed for repairing and promoting historic and cultural elements,natural environment,and constructing infrastructure in the village,which will provide a reference for the construction of other historical and cultural villages.

Value Analysis and Protective Planning of Famous Historical and Cultural Villages: A Case Study of Ancient Sangyuan Village in Jishui County, Jiangxi Province

Through analyzing historical value of patriarchal society, village layout, and characteristic folk dwel ings in Ancient Sangyuan Village, Jishui County, Jiangxi Province, this paper proposed the protective planning based on the gist of protecting villagers' benefits, applied classified protection of buildings, enhanced water protection and landscape design, and tried to carry out its intangible cultures via folk custom activities, in order to further develop the value of its historical and cultural resources.

When Heritage Is Rural: Environmental Conservation, Cultural Interpretation and Rural Renaissance in Chinese Listed Villages

This article argues that China’s growing attention towards villages in recent years has contributed to transforming the concept of built heritage and helped in disseminating a holistic idea of territory that has prepared the ground for the environmental turn the country is now experiencing.This conceptual transformation was carried on by a number of converging-although independent-initiatives from different governmental institutions and has been driven by different factors,most importantly,the need to mend the development gap between urban and rural areas,and the wish to rediscover the cultural heritage of the country.The Chinese experience in village preservation was conceived as an important component of a much wider corpus of measures,driven by the rural revitalisation discourse,and should therefore be situated within this broader conceptual framework.This perspec­tive leads to a distinctive approach to the concept of heritage and outlines a type of protection‘with Chinese char­acteristics’that will increasingly influence the international context.Drawn on three years of field observations and desk analysis,the article highlights some of the characters that define the Chinese experience in village preserva­tion,analysing the most important national lists of villages and examining various cases.

Safeguarding Traditional Villages in China: The Role and Challenges of Rural Heritage Preservation

Since the reform and opening-up policy of 1978,China has established the double-track inventory sys­tem of rural heritage preservation to cope with the impact of rapid urbanisation on rural areas.This paper analyses the evolution in the concept of policy making from the Historical and Cultural Villages system to the Traditional Vil­lages system.It argues that the mass recognition of Traditional Villages in China since 2012 indicates that the under­standings of rural heritage have evolved from the distinguished to the diverse,the tangible only to the intangible included,and the material-based to the human-based.Under the rural revitalisation policy,the role of Traditional Villages in social development will be further explored and promoted as‘means of improvement’,looking for the bal­ance between protection and development of rural heritage in the urban-rural dual structure.