Evaluation of social network conservation in historical areas of mountainous towns in Chongqing, China

Over recent decades,historical areas conservation has become an important strategy to improve urban competitiveness in the global economy.As shown in existing studies that the conservation of historical areas mainly focused on the physical environment,there is still room for the non-physical study,and researches on the social network conservation in mountainous historical areas are particularly insufficient.Therefore,this paper aims to establish an evaluation system which is helpful for the social network conservation of historical areas.The evaluation system is based on social network analysis and the information of social relationships gathered in field surveys using a specifically designed questionnaire method in four mountainous towns in Chongqing,China.And it was analyzed from three perspectives,i.e.,by the basic statistical properties,condensate subgroup,and centrality.Then five analysis indicators were conceived,including density,lambda set,k-core,degree centrality,and betweenness centrality.The analysis results demonstrate that the social networks of the four towns show different indicators,which are respectively relevant to completeness degree,edgerelatedness level,local stability,structural balance,and concentrated trend of social relationships.Results from SNA modeling indicate that neighborhood residents of historical areas who have more stable and healthier social relationships are relatively not easily be destroyed.The results also illustrate that the social networks structure is influenced by the terrain,form,and function of historical areas,and the change of historical areas is caused by"individual-family-society".Finally,the strategies guiding the social network conservation are put forward from two aspects.These findings suggest that the conservation and management of social network and aborigines in historical areas should be emphasized to increase the collective benefits and vitality.

Evaluation and Renovation Strategy of Buildings in Mountainous Towns from the Perspectives of Nature and Culture

In recent years,as a new growth point of China's economic development,small towns are under construction in full swing[1].But with the rapid expansion,many problems that the city scholars and builders think about have emerged.The problems in the construction of small towns are mainly reflected in the over development of capital,insufficient understanding on culture,deviation of construction strategies,etc.In many small towns,there is an imbalance between the volume and color of buildings,the architectural form is single[2],and the expression of local culture is insufficient.From the perspectives of nature and culture,the architecture of Ciping Town,a mountainous town,is evaluated.In view of the problems found,this paper puts forward its thinking on the buildings in this type of small towns,so as to provide some reference for the development of architecture in this type of small towns.

Linguistic landscape and its impacts on place-making in mountain destination:A case of Mogan Mountain Town of Huzhou City,China

The place and placeness are believed to be a crucial perspective for comprehending the transformative dynamics of tourist destinations in the context of globalization and the rapid development of the tourism industry.As the material carrier of language,linguistic landscape is an intermediary for people to endow emotions and personalities into the place,becoming an effective path for exploring the place-making in a certain area.Mogan Mountain is a famous national tourist resort,which is located in Mogan Mountain Town,Deqing County,Huzhou City,China.This is a good case area for studying the relationship between linguistic landscape and placemaking in tourist destinations.There are two theories that form the theoretical foundation of the study,namely the place and the geosemiotics.Firstly,the results showed the overall style of the linguistic landscape.Multilingual labelling(52.7%),official signs(55.3%),and standardized Chinese characters predominantly shaped the linguistic landscape,with English and other languages being complementary.Secondly,from the perspective of three dimensions of the geosemiotics framework,such as inscription,language preference,and placement position,we conduct a comprehensive semiotic analysis of the linguistic landscape,which encompasses diverse facets such as fonts,materials,shifts in state,text vectors,and symmetrical arrangements.Finally,we explore the influence of linguistic landscapes on the place-making of Mogan Mountain through the dimensions of location,locale,and sense of place.The information on linguistic landscapes indicates the geographical location.These linguistic landscapes play an important role in constructing the language order,nostalgic atmosphere,exotic atmosphere,and elegant and tasteful lifestyle of the public space in Mogan Mountain.Readers of linguistic landscapes,including tourists and residents,generate and identify with the unique sense of place in Mogan Mountain.These linguistic landscapes construct the destination placeness of Mogan Mountain that combines both foreign and nostalgic styles,and the integration of Chinese and Western cultures.It will help promote the image positioning of tourism destinations and have practical guiding significance for the tourism planning,landscape-making,language management,and other aspects of tourism destinations.

An Old Town in the Mountains

DEEP IN the mountain areas of southern China there are ancient towns that have preserved their unique architecture,and in souther Zhejiang,Ershibadu(28th Town)boasts houses,temples,towers and pavilions that date from the Ming and Qing dynasties(1368-1911).