Measuring Villagers’ Perceptions of Changes in the Landscape Values of Traditional Villages

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the perceptions and driving factors behind villagers’ changing perceptions of landscape values in the context of drastic landscape changes in traditional Chinese villages. Empirical evidence emphasizes the interplay between local residents’ values and the local policy framework. This study establishes a method to capture the landscape values and preferences of rural community residents by combining participatory mapping with questionnaire interviews. We identified the evaluation of changing landscape values by rural residents and extracted four categories of rural development orientations, namely, economic benefits, emotional culture, public participation, and environmental protection. Furthermore, we delved into the significant heterogeneity in landscape value changes among different social groups. This study highlights the role of villagers’ value judgments in guiding the scientific formulation of traditional village conservation and development policies and promoting the socially sustainable development planning of traditional villages. The research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the rural community’s needs and preferences for the local landscape as well as the convergence and divergence between these needs and the government-led rural development trajectory.

Traditional Village Morphological Characteristics and Driving Mechanism from a Rural Sustainability Perspective: Evidence from Jiangsu Province

“…Pu [40] used the concept of fractal dimensions for the calculation and preliminary analysis of public spaces in traditional residential houses. Li [41] established a method to capture rural community residents' landscape values and preferences by combining participatory mapping with questionnaire interviews. Liu [42] took traditional villages in the west of Beijing as study objects and, based on the box-counting dimension method of fractal theory, calculated the different types of spatial values in the external space of the villages.…”

“…In this study, we used the NNI method to determine the spatial agglomeration type of traditional villages in Jiangsu Province. The NNI uses the distribution of random patterns as a standard to measure the spatial distribution of point elements [41]. We calculated the nearest neighbor distance of each point feature in the study area and took the average value, i.e., the nearest neighbor distance of point features, denoted by d. The average value of the nearest neighbor distance in the random pattern of point elements is the theoretical nearest neighbor distance, represented by d min .…”

“…By protecting historic industrial sites and constructing and operating related cultural sites, we can promote the active inheritance of traditional handicrafts, thereby promoting the revival of traditional villages. Fourthly, the establishment of partnerships should be increased (SDG17), public participation in traditional villages should be increased, and we should encourage and support government personnel, university teachers and students, scientific research institutions, villagers, non-governmental organizations, and other individuals from all walks of life to form traditional village protection alliances, holding regular meetings to discuss and make decisions on significant issues related to the development of traditional villages [41].…”

Spatial Distribution and Type Division of Traditional Villages in Zhejiang Province

“…To explore how to promote the protection and development of traditional villages, scholars in various fields have also begun to conduct extensive research. Scholars in the fields of architecture and planning mainly focus on the research of traditional village site selection, village functions, living environment, architectural design, spatial form, landscape characteristics, and element layout [4][5][6][7][8]. Scholars in the fields of archaeology and cultural studies focus on the value recognition of traditional villages, the reconstruction of village style, the inheritance of traditional village culture, and the protection and utilization of village cultural heritage [9][10][11][12].…”