Landscape Performance for Coordinated Development of Rural Communities & Small-Towns Based on “Ecological Priority and All-Area Integrated Development”: Six Case Studies in East China’s Zhejiang Province

Tiezheng Zhao, Yang Zhao and Ming-Han Li
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Tiezheng Zhao: School of Ecological Technology and Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 200234, China
Yang Zhao: School of Ecological Technology and Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 200234, China
Ming-Han Li: School of Planning, Design and Construction, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, MI 48824, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 15, 1-23

Abstract: Over the last decade, the Chinese government has focused on addressing development challenges in rural areas. The “Ecological Priority and All-Area Integrated Development” concept was thus developed, and it was found to be crucial for rural areas in Eastern Zhejiang Province. A new comprehensive evaluation system was composed by comparing and synthesizing existing Chinese assessment criteria, and landscape performance metrics developed by the Landscape Architecture Foundation. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method (FCE) were used to conduct post-development evaluation on six cases using the new evaluation system. The results of four cases show that ecology should be considered a high priority when dealing with rural community and small town developments. The other two cases emphasizing infrastructure development verified that “coordinating the development of rural communities and small town area” is crucial for building sustainable and livable rural communities, and avoiding redundancy and inefficiency. The newly developed comprehensive evaluation system integrates existing systems with a broader vision and is more holistic in its objectives for the region. The development-led intervention (based on landscape performance evaluation) is conducive to the implementation of a more scientific and comprehensive development model, with predictable performance.

Keywords: ecological priority, All-Area Integrated Development; coordinated development of rural communities & small towns; landscape performance evaluation; rural landscape architecture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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