Suzhou is one of China’s model cities due to its economic development in recent decades. Although the city deserves recognition for its efforts in urban heritage conservation, the current preservation strategy only targets the ancient city and neglects the separation of the entire urban landscape. This has become a huge hidden problem in the process of Suzhou’s sustainable development. This study, based on this background, explores the development process of Suzhou and the problems in the current urban planning, and then proposes suggestions for optimization. The historic urban landscape approach provides a solution to this problem by analyzing the urban form and urban landscape features of Suzhou in three important historical periods: pre-1949, 1949–1978, and post-1978. This study discusses the development process of Suzhou and the problems in the current urban planning, and makes the following contributions: (1) The dichotomy between modernity and tradition in the urban landscape of Suzhou is shown from a morphological perspective, revealing that this dichotomy is based on rapid urbanization and the one-sided pursuit of economic development, (2) Revisits the role of Suzhou traditional gardens in order to better integrate them as structural elements in urban planning, (3) Proposes the intangible value of urban heritage and combined with the historic urban landscape of looking beyond the notion of the “historic center” or “ensemble” to help all Suzhou residents form a more coherent place attachment and local identity.

Many Chinese people view the heritage of industrial modernization (HOIM) negatively, which leads to a lack of appreciation and conservation efforts. This study aims to verify and discuss the efficacy of the present protection system, examining the link between HOIM facility openness and its affecting aspects. To achieve this goal, this study establishes a database of 132 projects focused on HOIM in Shenyang, a prototypical city of China’s contemporary growth. It analyzes their distribution patterns and preservation condition, and analytical methods such as correspondence analysis and regression analysis are used. The results reveal that factors such as private enterprises as facility users and conversion into cultural and commercial facilities have a positive impact on the openness of HOIM, of which cases increased after the establishment of the local protection system. To use private capital more flexibly and effectively, ways to improve the relationship between the rights and obligations of the government and private subjects in the protection system must be considered in future. This study clarifies the panorama of the conservation situation of HOIM and offers insights that may contribute to improving the protection system in local cities in China, such as Shenyang, in the future.

In this study, the significance of the preservation of traditional fishing is investigated in depth. Further, the practical value of traditional fishing and its intrinsic and irreplaceable nature is examined. This was achieved by utilizing the practices of seine fishing that take place at Ichinomiya-cho, Kujukuri-hama, as a case study and also by clearly showing how the economic value of traditional fishing is derived and its fundamental nature. In addition, traditional fishing has a non-economic value in terms of nature conservation, local social maintenance, human relationship enhancement and local landscape formation. As such, the irreplaceable nature of traditional fishing in terms of work, culture and landscape is clarified in this study.

The purpose of this study is to develop a new remote sensing method to assess the area of cultivated land illegally converted to nurseries and orchards in the Yangtze River Delta region of China over the past 40 years (1980–2020), and then estimate the increase in grain yield based on this area. Our result showed that 2.23 × 104 km2 of cultivated land was reduced by 11.8% over the past 40 years. About 14,521.40 km2 of cultivated land was converted to nursery and orchard from 1980 to 2020. The conversion area was unevenly distributed among different administrative regions. Zhejiang and Anhui Provinces had higher conversion rate and area than Jiangsu Province and Shanghai Municipalities. After the illegal nurseries and orchards return to cultivated land, if rotation farming mode is adopted, in which each grain crop is planted only once a year, the increased production of rice, wheat, corn, beans and tubers will reach (632.57 ± 13.08) × 104, (0~531.05 ± 33.25) × 104, (0~556.19 ± 30.36) × 104, (0~249.85 ± 13.14) × 104 and (0~489.11 ± 28.14) × 104 tons at most in each year, respectively. Our results provide theoretical guidance for implementing food security policies and alleviating contradiction between grain production and rural labor shortages in the Yangtze River Delta region.