Heritage Protection Perspective of Sustainable Development of Traditional Villages in Guangxi, China

Yong Lu and Yahaya Ahmad ()
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Yong Lu: Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malay, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Yahaya Ahmad: Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malay, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-23

Abstract: China’s rapid urbanization process has had a significant impact on traditional villages, and a series of problems, such as heritage destruction, space abandonment, and population loss, have emerged. The village protection and development research process is considered to be a critical turning point. This paper aims to build a scientific evaluation system for the sustainable development of traditional villages in Guangxi, seek the contemporary development value in the process of heritage protection, and solve the contradiction between protection and development. In order to achieve this goal, firstly, relevant data from six sample traditional villages were obtained through the use of field surveys, in-depth interviews, and questionnaire surveys. The key indicators were determined by using the Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process for scoring and evaluation, and the factors were given corresponding weights to complete the construction of the evaluation system and the classification of sustainable development levels. Secondly, the elements, functions, and values of traditional village heritage were statistically classified, and the differences between preserving the natural, historical living environment and adapting to modern development needs were analyzed. The results show that the sustainable development level of traditional villages in Guangxi needs to be balanced, and that the development degree in the living spaces and production spaces of villages in different distribution areas of geomorphic types is different. Therefore, additional protection and development modes should be adopted according to the specific environmental conditions of the traditional villages. Finally, this study proposes relevant heritage space protection and development strategies from aspects of heritage value extraction, characteristic industry development, spatial resources, and environment distribution, hoping to narrow the development gap between villages and to promote the sustainable development of village heritage spaces.

Keywords: village heritage; Guangxi traditional villages; space protection; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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