What Role Does “Great Heritage Site” Conservation Play in Shaping Sustainable Urban Intensity Patterns? An Empirical Study from Luoyang
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsIn the manuscript, the authors presented a valuable exploration of the relationship between heritage site conservation and sustainable urban development intensity. The manuscript was focusing on the Sui-Tang Luoyang Great Heritage Site, and employed robust methodologies to quantify urban development intensity patterns. Their findings, which highlight the role of conservation in regulating building height and managing urban capacity, contribute significantly to the international understanding of China's unique practices in heritage site conservation. Some improvements are recommended to warrant consideration for publication in the journal.
1. The concept of "Great Heritage Sites" is unique to China's heritage conservation and may still be relatively unfamiliar to many readers. To further clarify the subject of the study, please provide a clear explanation of the conceptual framework and characteristics of Great Heritage Sites.
2. The manuscript mentioned that heritage site conservation has the most significant impact on building height. Are there other studies that corroborate this finding? The manuscript would benefit from a comparison with related research in this area. Please consider adding relevant citations and discussions to contextualize these findings within the broader academic discourse.
3. The textual description in the article is relatively clear, but the presentation of the figures needs to be improved. On the one hand, the clarity of the figures should be enhanced. On the other hand, the self-explanatory nature of the figures should be improved. Additionally, the authors can consider adding more figures to better convey the main content of the article to the readers. This is a suggestion for the authors' reference and improvement.
4. The discussion section still requires some optimization and improvement. Some content can be presented in the form of charts to enhance the expression effect, such as some disparities and accuracy levels.
5. Some parts of the text are difficult to understand due to language issues. Please review the manuscript for grammatical errors and consider engaging a native English speaker to polish the language for clarity and readability.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageRead through the entire text to verify the expressions and grammar.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsHow to take into account the relationship between the protection of large historical cultural sites and the sustainable development of the social economic development of its related areas is a very representative challenging topic. Nevertheless, solving this problem has many successful cases worldwide. Luoyang is a famous historical city in China. It has rich historical and cultural heritage and important historical status. This manuscript uses indicators of urban development intensity, and uses space -related analysis, kernel density analysis and other methods to quantify the distribution characteristics of urban plot development intensity, and it provides corresponding suggestions for the city's development. In essence, this article is a research report. It lacks innovation in both methodology and research problems, and its academic value is limited. It is foreseeable that the reference value of the study is very limited. Only by effectively combining the value of large historical cultural site with the socio -economic development can we meet needs in the site protection and the sustainable development of the corresponding area social economy. The main problem in this article is the lack of research related to the presentation of cultural heritage value, and lacks combining it with urban construction. The main theme of the research content involved in this article is far from the theme of the thesis title. All in all, according to my opinion, this article does not meet the standard publishing standards of journal papers.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors- It would be interesting to include the sources of geographical data consulted, in terms of land distribution and land use.
- What are the regulations governing construction?, could a land use compatibility matrix be drawn up?
- How has the impact of heritage use influenced territorial sustainability?
- It would be interesting to analyse how the heritage area affects the population load, for the purpose of tourist visits?
- Including a minimum social and environmental burden analysis would be good, in order to assess the correct land uses, and their impact on tourist overcrowding.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe author makes major revisions to the original manuscript according to the reviewer's suggestions. The revised manuscript innovatively integrates GIS-based perspective analysis into the study of large site protection and urban development intensity, which makes the study go beyond the traditional static index comparison. From the perspective of visual integrity, the constraining effect of cultural heritage value on urban spatial form was quantified. The revised draft constructs a difference model of "current viewshed-theoretical viewpoint", reveals the important role of building height restriction in landscape maintenance, and provides a quantifiable decision-making tool for the "conservation development" of historic cities. In short, the revised draft strengthens the innovation of research methods, increases the research content related to urban construction and cultural heritage value, and makes the research content of this research highlight the theme of the paper. In my opinion, the revised manuscript could be considered for publication.
