Integrating Community Fabric and Cultural Values into Sustainable Landscape Planning: A Case Study on Heritage Revitalization in Selected Guangzhou Urban Villages

Jianjun Li, Yilei Zhang and He Jin ()
Additional contact information
Jianjun Li: College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Yilei Zhang: College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
He Jin: College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-17

Abstract: China’s rapid urbanization has presented challenges for sustainably revitalizing the historic and cultural heritage within its urban villages. Often, these efforts overlook the crucial roles of community ties and cultural values. This study focuses on 15 representative urban villages in Guangzhou (2019–2024). It tests the core idea that the physical layout of these spaces reflects underlying community structures and cultural values shaped by specific policies. Integrating this understanding into landscape planning can significantly improve revitalization outcomes. We used a mixed-methods approach: (1) Extended fieldwork to understand community networks and cultural practices; (2) Spatial analysis to measure how building density relates to land uses; (3) Sentiment analysis to reveal how people perceive cultural symbols; (4) A coordination model to link population influx with landscape suitability. Key findings reveal different patterns: Villages with strong clan networks maintained high cultural integrity and public acceptance through bodies like ancestral hall councils. Economically driven villages showed a split—open for business but culturally closed, with very low tenant participation. Successful revitalization requires balancing three elements: protecting physical landmarks in their original locations; modernizing cultural events; and reconstructing community narratives. Practically, we propose a planning framework with four approaches tailored to different village types. For instance, decaying villages should prioritize repairing key landmarks that hold community memory. Theoretically, we build a model linking social and spatial change, extending the cultural value concepts of Amos Rapoport to the context of fast-growing cities. This provides a new methodological perspective for managing urban–rural heritage in East Asia.

Keywords: Guangzhou urban villages; cultural-adaptive landscape planning; heritage revitalization; sustainable urban regeneration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/16/7327/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/16/7327/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:16:p:7327-:d:1723852

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().