Implications for Cultural Landscape in a Chinese Context: Geo-analysis of Spatial Distribution of Historic Sites

The protection of historic sites, especially their relationship with urban development, has become a worldwide issue, both in developed and developing countries. In the context of rapid urbanization in China, the realistic compatibility between urban construction and the protection of historic sites is always a key research topic. In this study, first, to comprehend their spatial distribution patterns, 828 historic sites throughout the country are selected based on certain criteria. Then, we conduct quantitative research using GIS software, adopting indicators that include Nearest Neighbor Index, Gini Coefficient, and Geographic Concentration Index to analyze the spatial characteristics of historic sites on the three levels of city, province and nation. The results indicate that the spatial distribution of the different types of historic sites is an agglomeration on the nationwide scale, most of which is located in the regions of the Pearl(Zhujiang) River Delta, Yangtze(Changjiang) River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin Region. Because the majority of historic sites are located within approximately 10 km of the downtown area, a certain pattern has emerged, showing that the larger cities own more historic areas, which are in a more incomplete state of preservation, indicating the fragmentation of heritage spaces. The formation mechanism of the historic sites' distribution pattern is based on the conditions of the cities/towns as well as the bid-rent theory.

Belt or network?The spatial structure and shaping mechanism of the Great Wall cultural belt in Beijing

The relationship between cross-regional cultural landscapes does not currently receive enough attention in cultural landscape conservation. Cultural landscapes in China are faced with the crisis of fragmentation and islanding, which makes it necessary to strengthen the idea of integrated conservation. The Great Wall cultural belt in Beijing is a cross-regional linear cultural landscape in the northwest mountainous area of Beijing. With the Great Wall as a link connecting the surrounding natural, social, and cultural resources to form a banded structure, it has the typical and practical significance of integrated conservation. Based on the theory of the cultural landscape security pattern and its ‘node – setting – connection' model, this research studies the spatial structure and shaping mechanism of the Great Wall cultural belt in Beijing from the perspective of tourist flow, using Flickr geo-tagged photos and Wikiloc tracks. The results identify the core nodes and intermediate nodes of the Great Wall cultural belt in Beijing and show that it has a multicore, multi-group hierarchical nesting structure differing from the geographic space, which has groups following the evolution orbit of ‘linear string – circumnuclear star – complete network.' To explain the differences between the cultural association network(CAN) and the geospatial network(GSN), we find that the cultural associations between nodes rely on geophysical channels, including heritage corridors and traffic passages, as physical carriers, but the nodes' attraction and their setting elements, containing natural geography environments, settlements, administrative divisions, etc., change the channel resistance, so CAN and GSN present different characteristics. From the perspective of systematic and spatial network thoughts, this study has made an attempt to adopt new analysis and research methods to achieve the integrated conservation and inheritance of linear cultural landscapes in mountainous areas.

Regional difference and dynamic mechanism of locality of the Chinese farming-pastoral ecotone based on geotagged photos from Panoramio

Cross-regional locality research reflects the influences of natural environment and the human activities due to the abundant land types and the multiple landscape combinations in related regions. The Chinese farming-pastoral ecotone is a typical large-scale region but few studies were conducted. This research contributed to the understanding of cross-regional locality of the Chinese farming-pastoral ecotone from different scales, including national, sectional, and provincial administrative units by utilizing geotagged photos（GTPs） obtained from the Panoramio website. The major results were as follows：（1） the locality elements of the Chinese farming-pastoral ecotone included 52 free nodes classified into 8 types of scene attributes;（2） there were huge differences between locality elements of different regions, and there was a negative correlation between the similarity degree of elements of different provinces and their spatial distances;（3） the Chinese farming-pastoral ecotone could be divided into the northern, central and southern sections, whose localities had differences in element constitution, association structure and the strength of elements, system stability and the anti-interference capability; and（4） the evolution of the localities of the northern and central sections was mainly influenced by human activities, while the locality of southern section retained more natural features. On a theoretical level, this research aimed to establish the research methodology of locality from the perspective of open data on the web with strong operability and replicability. On a practical level, this research could enrich the structuring recognition of the locality of the Chinese farming-pastoral ecotone and the comprehension of its dynamic mechanism. The results provide a reference for locality differentiation protection and the development of a cross-regional scale.

A study on the impact of heritage protection on urban carbon emissions

A major goal of current international urban development and construction is to lower carbon emissions.Synergies exist between the preservation of historic cities and the development of low-carbon cities;however,the relationship between preservation of historic cities and carbon emissions remains unclear.This study focuses on the cities in the“Yellow-Canal-Yangtze”watershed community,which includes the Yellow River Basin,Yangtze River Basin,and the Grand Canal region,and aims to verify the differences in CO_(2) emissions(CE)between historic and non-historic cities through multiple comparisons after ANOVA.Additionally,Ridge Regression was used to determine the impact and dimensions of the relevant variables associated with the preservation of historic cities on CE.Combined with national development goals,this study predicts changes in the CE of historic city preservation under different scenarios.This study found significant differences between historic and non-historic cities,as the total CE of historic cities is 2.42 times higher than that of non-historic cities.The dimension with the largest difference was the CE related to transportation,with aviation emissions of historic cities reaching 15.22 times higher than that of non-historic cities.Although the preservation of historic cities has led to an overall increase in the CE,there is significant potential for CE reduction in land use,transportation infrastructure,and tourism development related to historic city preservation.In the future,historic cities can contribute to China's carbon neutrality and the United Nation's development goals through the creation of larger historical preservation areas,more convenient public transportation,and more vibrant tourism.

Is colonial heritage negative or not so much?Debating heritage discourses and selective interpretation of Kulangsu,China

Heritage is in essence dissonant,especially colonial heritage in postcolonial nations.Via questionnaire surveys and inter‑views,this study investigates Kulangsu in Xiamen,China,a colonial heritage site mainly developed in the 19th and 20th centuries,to unveil the local government’s authorised heritage discourse(AHD)of the site and how tourists perceive the colonial past of Kulangsu and construct their own heritage discourse(s).Results show that,when considering the colonial history of the site,neither the AHD promoted by the authorities nor the tourists’lay discourses are necessarily negative.However,tension implicitly arises between the tourists’demand for comprehensive heritage information and the authorities’selective interpretation of the site.Although the AHD afects lay discourses to some extent,most tourists expect the authorities to present more complete and neutral information about heritage so they can refect and forge their own conception of colonial legacies.From a critical heritage studies perspective,this tension refects the power imbalance between the authorities and the tourists and reminds the authorities and heritage experts to rethink heritage tourism and conservation in terms of heritage interpretation.This paper,therefore,calls for additional refection on the legitimacy of selective interpretation,which implicates a complex process of intricate reasoning that is underpinned by the power imbalance between the authorities and the tourists,ultimately resulting in an AHD.

Evolution of the commercial blocks in ancient Beijing city from the street network perspective

The synergistic relationship between urban functions and street networks has al-ways been a focus in the field of urban research and practice.From the perspective of street networks,by adopting space syntax,this study analyzed the deep structural characteristics and potential evolution rules of commercial blocks attached to street networks in different periods,as well as the corresponding economic,political,and cultural characteristics of an-cient Beijing city over the past 800 years.By combining these with changes in the street network,we further explained the function mechanism of layout and level adjustment in commercial blocks,and the influence of the street network on commercial blocks in the process of historical change.The main conclusions included the following:(1)The urban centripetal-centrifugal siphon effect:the layout form,topological structure,and traffic mode changes in the street network had corresponding guidance for the layout and hierarchical system of commercial blocks,while the centripetal development of the street network could guide the agglomeration effect of commercial blocks,although centrifugal development caused commercial blocks to display outward evacuation.(2)Stage transformation from mu-tation node to smooth development:the layout of commercial blocks came to depend on the ability to cross the commuting flow center,which originally relied on the accessibility of transportation nodes as local centers.Changes in traffic modes mainly affected the adjust-ment of the first-level commercial blocks,which easily led to overall layout mutation.Traffic levels have an obvious positive hierarchical relation with the second-and third-level com-mercial blocks.(3)The adaptation of traditional commercial blocks to the needs of a modern city:affected by the different emerging times and unevenness of the original commercial foundation,commercial blocks have formed various developmental models that meet the needs of modernization,and reach a balance between cultural continuity and functional ad-aptation.

老城区是否满足当代女性的需求?北京老城建成环境的女性友好性研究

Women-friendliness is an important content of inclusive city,while it has received rare attention during the regeneration of old cities.This study constructed women-friendliness indicators in three dimensions,i.e.,security,equity,and specialization,and combined the quantitative calculations of coupling coordination with the qualitative analysis of in-depth interview.25 subdistricts in old Beijing city were selected as case studies to analyze the spatial variation pattern of women-friendliness at the subdistrict level,and the characteristics of supply and demand relationships in three scenarios,namely“living,”“working,”and“traveling,”were summarized.It was found that the spatial variation in terms of women’s security and equity indicators among each subdistrict of the old Beijing city was large,while specialized facilities,which are still at an early development stage,were more evenly distributed but fewer in number.And the facilities in old Beijing city were more inclusive for both female residents and female tourists,while less inclusive for female employees.Finally,specific suggestions for the women-friendly development of old Beijing city were proposed in perspectives of mixed use of function,facility optimization,supply and demand adjustment,etc.,hoping to provide references for other cities to increase inclusiveness in the process of urban regeneration.