World Heritage Site Designation Impacts on a Historic Village: A Case Study on Residents’ Perceptions of Hahoe Village (Korea)

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between World Heritage Site (WHS) designation and the community sustainability of a historic village, focusing on Hahoe Village, Korea, which was inscribed in 2010. It examines residents' perceptions of increasing tourism at Hahoe Village by adopting a questionnaire and using an interview as research methods. This study examined both the positive and negative impacts that Hahoe Village's WHS designation has had on its sustainability. Of all of the impacts examined in this research, the three most noteworthy issues are identified: (1) the acceleration of the change of the village's industrial base and the influx of strangers; (2) the degradation of quality of life (in the physical aspects) caused by increasing tourism; and (3) the collision predicated by the tension between conserving the village's historic environments and developing tourism. In conclusion, the WHS designation impacts on Hahoe Village, which local residents perceived, have both positive and negative aspects. WHS designation needs to be accompanied by a management plan that is more concerned about the impact from tourism after the designation. In this context, Hahoe Village must not only have a comprehensive preservation plan that balances with the demand for tourism development, but also secure the village's community sustainability as a living place other than a tourist destination.

Conservation Policy-Community Conflicts: A Case Study from Bogda Nature Reserve, China

“…Furthermore, the declaration text of Xinjiang Tianshan submitted to the World Heritage Centre also offered a scientific and effective planned monitoring system for the protection of Bogda [33]. The enhanced international fame caused an increasing trend in tourism [12], and Tianchi Lake received large numbers of tourists as well as benefits.…”

“…Though conservation laws have saved some endangered wildlife and natural resources, the use of resources for subsistence-level, basic livelihoods is restricted, a situation that seems to be inconsistent with the interests of local communities [7]. Previous related studies have provided more details on a number of issues, such as policy interventions that induced changes in livelihood [14,15], changes in residents' attitudes towards WHS [1], World Heritage Site designation impacts [12,14], tourism development and its impacts [16][17][18][19], and policy conflict issues [13]. Though cases vary in different sites, residents' perceptions are widely used to monitor issues in these studies.…”

“…The value of WHSs is widely acknowledged as the outstanding universal value, while differences lie in the diverse impacts on residents in specific sites [12]. Some case studies in WHS found that changes in residents' livelihoods are significant, particularly when residents' primary livelihood used to be farming [20], crop/fruit tree/livestock raising [13], forestry [21], agriculture [14], and other traditional activities.…”

“…Bogda Nature Reserve was successfully designated as a WHS in 2013, and its enhanced international fame has increased the tourism trend there [12], as well as some debates about the heritage reputation. The community in Bogda is mainly composed of Kakazhs, who have been in the area for centuries as herdsmen and cooperate in the protection of natural resources.…”

Residents’ Attitudes towards Sustainable Tourism Development in a Historical-Cultural Village: Influence of Perceived Impacts, Sense of Place and Tourism Development Potential

“…However, the majority of tourism scholars measured sense of place as place attachment in two aspects: an emotional connection called place identification and a functional association called place dependence [51][52][53][54][55].…”