Search Results (722)

Against the dual background of ICH (intangible cultural heritage) revitalization and urban stock space renewal, the renovation of traditional craft workshops has shifted from limited workshop repair to comprehensive space creation that balances craft protection, cultural dissemination, and sustainable operation. While existing scholarship has explored the functional composition and qualitative design strategies of ICH workshops, there remains a notable research gap in quantitative spatial performance evaluation frameworks tailored to craft production constraints, and the actual contribution of spatial design to living heritage transmission lacks objective measurement tools. This study takes craftsmanship-oriented ICH workshops as the core research object. Based on field investigations, multi-subject questionnaires, and expert consultations, 14 tertiary indicators are selected from three dimensions: production and safeguarding, experience and dissemination, and operation and development, to construct a spatial performance evaluation system for living heritage transmission. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is adopted to determine the weight of each indicator. Taking the Yuezhou Fan ICH workshop as an empirical case, this study conducts a quantitative comparison of spatial performance before and after renovation. The results show that the comprehensive performance score of the workshop after renovation has increased by approximately 109.7% compared with that before renovation, among which the production and safeguarding dimension have the most significant improvement, verifying the rationality and practicability of the evaluation system. Theoretically, this study extends the application scope of built environment performance evaluation to the field of craft heritage spaces and establishes a closed-loop logic of “quantitative diagnosis—deficiency identification—targeted optimization” for workshop renovation. Based on the evaluation results, this paper proposes a progressive optimization path of “consolidating production baseline—upgrading experience scenarios—empowering diversified operation”, which provides a generalizable quantitative framework and practical reference for the spatial renovation and performance evaluation of similar craftsmanship-oriented ICH workshops. Full article

Traditional villages in ecologically sensitive areas face structural dilemmas between preservation-induced stagnation and excessive commercialization under the combined pressures of rural revitalization and ecological protection. This study investigates the spatial differentiation and revitalization strategies of 250 nationally recognized traditional villages in the Xin’an River Basin from a resilience-inspired spatial planning perspective. GIS-based kernel density estimation and the Nearest Neighbor Index were applied to characterize spatial distribution patterns, while GeoDetector was used to evaluate the explanatory power of key natural and anthropogenic factors. The Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model was used to construct revitalization-suitability zones; resilience capacities were not directly measured; instead, they were used as heuristic planning concepts for interpreting the three consolidated priority regions: Core Conservation (absorptive), Moderate Revitalization (adaptive), and Ecological Conservation (transformative/reserve). The results reveal a pattern of small-scale clustering and large-scale dispersion. A total of 69.2% of the villages were located within 1.5 km of rivers, and 95.2% were situated below 500 m in elevation. Distance to rivers (q = 0.2345) and distance to roads (q = 0.1441) showed the highest explanatory power among the eight candidate factors. The framework provides resilience-inspired spatial guidance for balancing heritage conservation, ecological protection, and rural revitalization. Full article

Living terraced cultural landscapes (LTCLs) bind together agricultural heritage, ecological function, and local culture. International instruments such as the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments, Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit 2.0, and Preparing World Heritage Nominations guide heritage protection, but none integrates all four dimensions, and no LTCL-specific framework exists to diagnose a candidate site before formal nomination. Following PRISMA 2020, this review synthesized 61 peer-reviewed studies from the Web of Science Core Collection (2012–2026; screening Cohen’s κ = 0.82). Keyword co-occurrence mapping in VOSviewer, combined with manual thematic coding, produced six clusters that we consolidated into four analytical dimensions: heritage value, landscape integrity, tourism–heritage balance, and governance and protection. Reading across these dimensions revealed three gaps—no tool integrates all four in an operable form, the balance between tourism and protection lacks an explicit evaluative mechanism, and socioeconomic stressors such as rural labor out-migration fall outside official criteria—together pointing to a fourth, procedural gap: the absence of pre-nomination diagnosis. On this basis we propose IAF-LTCL, a preliminary conceptual framework of four dimensions and 22 elements, designed so that strength in one dimension does not offset weakness in another. The framework is not yet empirically validated; we present it as a structured starting point that heritage managers can use for pre-nomination self-assessment, pending future field validation. Full article

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) products play a vital role in preserving cultural heritage, supporting rural economies, and promoting local breed biodiversity. However, few studies have validated instruments capable of assessing consumer knowledge, perceptions, and trust regarding PDO labels and authenticity cues. This study validated and optimized a survey instrument designed to evaluate consumer attitudes towards PDO cheeses, using Majorero and Palmero cheeses from the Canary Islands as case studies. A total of 539 valid questionnaires were collected before and after structured educational sessions. Cross-validated Canonical Discriminant Analysis techniques were employed to assess the reliability, discriminatory capacity, and predictive accuracy of survey items. Results revealed significant improvements in consumer knowledge and perceptions following the educational intervention. Participants demonstrated greater understanding of PDO regulations, increased confidence in sensory evaluation, and enhanced ability to identify authenticity cues. The discriminant model achieved a classification accuracy of 96.23% (AUC = 0.9925), confirming excellent predictive performance. Consumer attitudes were primarily influenced by territorial attachment, familiarity, and trust in certification rather than technical knowledge. These findings support educational and marketing strategies to strengthen origin labeling, improve consumer literacy, reinforce authenticity perceptions, and promote PDO products’ cultural and economic sustainability while providing a validated framework for future consumer research. Full article

Rapid urbanization in China has intensified ecological degradation, loss of architectural and cultural heritage, and declining well-being in traditional villages. Existing conservation approaches often address ecological, economic, or physical heritage issues in isolation, while insufficiently incorporating residents’ quality of life (QoL) as a central criterion of sustainability. This study develops a human-centred traditional village preservation framework grounded in the ecovillage concept and a QoL-oriented sustainability paradigm, using Langde Miao Village in Guizhou Province as a representative ethnic heritage settlement. A mixed-methods approach combining systematic literature review, Delphi expert consultation, household surveys, and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to examine the interrelationships among ecological, cultural, social, and economic dimensions of sustainable built heritage. Based on valid responses, the empirical results indicate that the ecological dimension exerts the strongest direct effect on residents’ quality of life, followed by the cultural and economic dimensions, while the social dimension shows a comparatively weaker effect. The proposed framework provides a community-centred model for sustainable architectural heritage conservation and rural revitalization in traditional villages. Full article

Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) has struggled with scale mismatches and inadequate treatment of cultural expression when applied to high-density cultural landscapes in Asia. On the Chengdu Plain, Western Sichuan, China, remote sensing shows convergent settlement patterns across case sites, but fieldwork reveals substantial divergences in landscape character. We examined five cases representing different rural development models in the Chengdu metropolitan area. By integrating 10 m Sentinel-2 imagery and with systematic fieldwork (3200 photographs and 42 semi-structured interviews, July–August 2023), we constructed a framework that combines macro-scale spatial analysis with micro-scale field investigation. For macro-level quantification, six landscape pattern indices were adopted: number of patches (NP), patch density (PD), contagion index (CONTAG), aggregation index (AI), Shannon’s diversity index (SHDI), and Shannon’s evenness index (SHEI). The micro-level investigation followed a three-tier scheme (natural environment, settlement space, architectural details) to record vertical ecological communities, spatial expressions of cultural embeddedness, and visual landscape character. Indicator screening employed the KJ method and two rounds of Delphi consultation with ten experts; weights were then determined through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Macro-level results display a clustered, low-fragmentation pattern (woodland AI = 97.48, water body AI = 99.40), anchored by a stable mosaic of Linpan, farmland, water bodies, and homesteads. Micro-level features include multi-strata vertical communities of trees, shrubs, grasses, and water, along with cultural embeddedness expressed through irrigation systems, farming patterns, and courtyard layouts. The VLEAS (Vernacular Landscape Elements Assessment System) framework encompasses three dimensions (natural, cultural, and visual) and comprises 12 indicators. The cultural dimension receives the highest weight (0.42), followed by natural (0.32) and visual (0.26) dimensions. Comparative analysis shows that the framework differentiates cases with similar macro-scale patterns but divergent micro-features, capturing differences that a purely macro-index benchmark misses, and it also reveals trade-offs among ecological integrity, cultural heritage, and visual quality. Sensitivity analysis displays that case rankings remain stable across four extreme weighting scenarios (cultural, ecological, visual, equal), with only one swap (Xingfu Pastoral Park and Nongke Village) under ecological priority and no rank change greater than one position, confirming that the results are not driven by any specific weight assignment. This approach extends the utility of LCA in high-density rural cultural landscapes and offers a practical tool for differentiated conservation and management, especially in tourism-influenced rural settings on the Chengdu Plain. Transferability to other regions would require recalibration of locally relevant indicators. Full article

Urban–rural governance and planning systems, as viewed through the lens of online public attention, are reshaping approaches to achieving coordinated development of cultural heritage conservation and urban space. Taking Nanchang as a case study, this paper investigates the application mechanism of online public attention in the evaluation of heritage corridor nodes and the formulation of optimization strategies. Employing multi-source data collection, we extracted textual content from online travelogues. We quantified the online attention level of each cultural heritage unit and analyzed its spatial distribution using kernel density estimation and standard deviational ellipse methods. We then applied a minimum resistance model, incorporating geographic data on land use and transportation networks, to identify potential heritage corridor routes. Based on attention classification, we propose a three-tier optimization strategy: core-leading, marginal-activating, and gradient-linking. Specifically, high-attention heritage units are positioned as central nodes that reinforce corridor connectivity; low-attention nodes are targeted for activation through corridor links to overcome spatial isolation; and attention gradients serve as the basis for hierarchical integration across the network. Our results reveal a pronounced spatial pattern of “core agglomeration and peripheral dispersion” in Nanchang’s heritage corridors. High-attention resources are heavily concentrated in the historic urban core, anchoring the main corridor axes, whereas low-attention resources are scattered across peripheral counties, exhibiting a clear urban–rural attention gradient. Importantly, attention levels show a positive correlation with corridor hierarchy. These findings provide a novel perspective for heritage corridor spatial planning and offer practical insights for sustainable cultural heritage governance and culture–tourism integration in an era of pervasive internet and urban expansion. Full article

This paper introduces the concept of rural mining, defined as the systematic recovery and reuse of construction materials from abandoned rural building stock within a circular economy framework. Although rural depopulation and its consequences have been extensively studied, the material dimension of abandonment, the substantial quantities of construction materials embedded in deserted rural settlements, has received comparatively little systematic analytical attention. Three interconnected contributions respond to this gap. First, the paper operationalizes the concept of rural mining, consolidating a term that remains terminologically rare and theoretically underdeveloped. Second, it develops the Rural Mining Potential Assessment Framework (RMPAF), an original ten-criterion analytical tool spanning the material, infrastructural, legal, economic, institutional, cultural, and technological dimensions of rural mining potential. Third, it articulates an ethical foundation establishing the non-negotiable boundaries of rural mining practice. The RMPAF is applied through a comparative assessment of three European national contexts, Serbia, Slovenia, and Greece, revealing that rural mining potential is neither uniform nor straightforwardly derivable from the scale of depopulation alone. Across all three contexts, ownership fragmentation, the absence of legal recognition, and the lack of dedicated policy instruments emerge as shared structural barriers. Development of operational protocols for culturally mediated rural mining and legal recognition of the concept are identified as priority directions for future action. Full article

Rural land is the spatial embodiment and physical manifestation of nostalgia. When people settle in cities, they become rural sojourners, returning to rural landscapes through travel. The rural history embedded in traditional landscapes is a treasure trove, and these landscapes provide ideal sites for nostalgic research. Tourism has proven to be a major driver for the development of traditional landscapes. This paper focuses on traditional villages with rich rural heritage and high cultural representativeness in the Huizhou region. This paper examined the nostalgic factors among 518 rural visitors to traditional villages. The results indicate that natural landscape (β = 0.30) and traditional agriculture (β = 0.20) directly influence visitors’ nostalgic experiences, while rural architecture and vernacular culture contribute to it indirectly through mediated pathways. The results also show that spiritual and historical nostalgia are the dominant aspects, while homeland nostalgia is relatively less significant in the Huizhou context. The study contributes to a better understanding of nostalgic experience in traditional villages and provides practical insights for balancing heritage protection and tourism development. Full article

Great Wall villages are living cultural landscapes within a linear heritage corridor, yet they face growing pressures from population decline, rural hollowing, uneven development, and tourism-related transformation. This study evaluates the cultural landscape resilience of 20 Great Wall villages in Chicheng County, China. A Cultural Landscape Resilience Index (CLRI) was constructed from three dimensions: resistance, recovery, and learning capacity. The AHP-CRITIC method was used to determine indicator weights, while spatial autocorrelation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) were applied to identify the spatial pattern of CLRI and the multiscale effects of its influencing factors. The results show that CLRI was generally low and spatially uneven. Villages with relatively high resilience were mainly concentrated near the county seat and major transportation corridors, whereas many villages along the Great Wall corridor showed lower resilience levels. MGWR results revealed clear spatial heterogeneity in the influencing factors. Heritage revitalization and social development features, heritage preservation and protection, tourism development and utilization, and village patterns and collaborative heritage protection were positively associated with CLRI. In contrast, the diversity of rural village landscapes and the strength of the human-land relationship showed negative associations with CLRI. Heritage revitalization and social development features and rural village landscape diversity operated at relatively broad spatial scales, whereas heritage preservation and protection and tourism development and utilization exhibited stronger local variation. The findings demonstrate that improving the resilience of Great Wall village cultural landscapes requires spatially differentiated conservation and development strategies, including strengthened heritage protection, coordinated conservation of village patterns and heritage elements, context-sensitive tourism development, and improved public services and development opportunities in less resilient villages. Full article

Wine tourism is increasingly recognized as a key driver of sustainable rural development and the integrated enhancement of cultural heritage. However, in many production areas, including Southern Italy, the sector remains fragmented, with limited integration between wine production, cultural heritage, and territorial identity, restricting its potential for experiential and sustainable tourism. This study addresses this gap by proposing a relational, heritage-based approach that connects wine landscapes with archaeological and cultural resources. The aim of the research is to examine how wine tourism can contribute to sustainable territorial development in Basilicata (Southern Italy) through an integrated interpretative framework. This study also develops a georeferenced wine tourism map and evaluates the readiness of wineries to adopt integrated wine tourism models. Methodologically, the research is structured into three phases: (i) literature review and data collection on wine-related cultural heritage; (ii) development of a georeferenced map identifying 21 points of interest within the main regional DOC areas; and (iii) stakeholder engagement through participation in sector events and a strategic questionnaire administered to 30 wineries (response rate: 50%). Data were analysed using spatial interpretation and descriptive and thematic analysis. Results show that wine tourism in Basilicata is consolidating but remains characterized by territorial imbalance and weak integration between wine production and cultural heritage. Wineries demonstrate strong territorial identity and growing interest in experiential tourism, while communication and interpretation tools remain underdeveloped. The wine tourism map effectively integrates spatial and cultural data and supports cooperation among stakeholders. In conclusion, integrated mapping-based wine tourism can foster sustainable rural development in inner areas and provide a replicable framework linking heritage, identity, and tourism. Full article

Traditional villages commonly face functional decline and vitality loss amid modernization, which severely threatens the long-term cultural and ecological sustainability of rural heritage spaces. Commercial settlements, evolved along ancient trade routes, follow distinct spatial logics, yet existing studies rely heavily on qualitative descriptions, lacking quantitative frameworks that integrate spatial structure and functional vitality to support targeted sustainable heritage renewal. Taking the main street of Lanche Village, a typical commercial settlement along the Taihang ancient trail in southeastern Shanxi, as a case study, this paper establishes an analytical framework combining Space Syntax, Platform-derived geospatial POI data, and agent-based simulation. Core syntactic indicators (integration, choice, intelligibility) are calculated, and POI kernel density analysis and pedestrian flow simulation are conducted. The results confirm the traditional commercial logic of “post road as the axis, shop-front and residence-back” with high integration and accessibility of the main street. However, three key problems are identified: low spatial intelligibility (R² = 0.43), a significant vitality gap between southern and central sections, and a mismatch between high spatial potential and low functional vitality. Agent-based simulation further reveals pedestrian hotspots and “invisible boundaries” caused by closed street interfaces. This study identifies a context-dependent partial decoupling between spatial potential and functional vitality in declining commercial settlements, expanding the applicable boundary of classical Space Syntax vitality theory in recession-stage settlements. While overall spatial accessibility and functional density show a significant positive correlation consistent with classical expectations, local mismatch zones emerge under the mediation of closed street interfaces and functional inertia. Based on quantitative diagnosis, four micro-regeneration strategies are proposed: structural infill, functional insertion, morphological restoration, and placemaking, forming a complete workflow from diagnosis to intervention. This study constructs a multi-scale spatial vitality mismatch diagnostic framework, and proposes targeted renewal strategies corresponding to the diagnostic conclusions. Centered on revealing the decoupling mechanism between spatial potential and functional vitality, this study builds a matched multi-scale diagnostic workflow as supporting methodology, and puts forward targeted renewal suggestions corresponding to the identified vitality barriers. It also provides an actionable approach for the sustainable renewal of traditional commercial settlements. Full article

Tourism is an activity that contributes positively to economic growth. Although tourism should be supported because of its benefits for a region’s development, it can place a strain on the environment. Integrating the principles of sustainable development into tourism is essential to ensuring its long-term viability while protecting natural and cultural resources. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent of tourism pressure, its trends, and its impact on sustainable development in three major rural tourist regions of Romania, namely Humor, Câmpulung Moldovenesc, and Dorna, located in the historical province of Bucovina, Suceava County. An analysis of the trends in the three evaluation indicators (density, duration, and pressure level) at the rural region level (Humor Region, Câmpulung Moldovenesc Region, and Dorna Region) is warranted, as these regions are the main centers of attraction and development for rural tourism in Suceava County. Between 2001 and 2023, the density indicator (arrivals/km²) showed significant increases in all three rural regions analyzed—over 6000% in Humor, 2200% in Dorna, and 2000% in Câmpulung Moldovenesc, significantly amplifying the pressure on these three areas; the duration indicator (overnight stays/km²) recorded considerable increases of over 7400% in Humor, 2400% in Dorna, and 2250% in Câmpulung Moldovenesc, proving to be a much more severe pressure indicator than the density indicator; and the pressure level indicator (arrivals/resident population) increased substantially, by over 8000% in Humor, 2100% in Dorna, and 2000% in Câmpulung Moldovenesc, indicating profound sociocultural pressure on the rural communities analyzed. The importance of this research and the originality of this study are closely linked to an understanding of the evolution and intensity of tourism pressure in the three regions analyzed, with a view to informing future strategies for sustainable rural development. An analysis of the environmental pressure caused by tourism in the three regions of Bucovina for the period 2001–2023 reflects a shift from a localized and negligible impact to an increasingly significant pressure. Currently, the regions face the challenge of balancing rapid economic development with the critical need to preserve their unique heritage. Identifying increases in tourist pressure can facilitate the implementation of effective mitigation measures, which are essential for ensuring the sustainability of tourism-related activities in the most popular tourist regions of Bucovina. Full article

Insects are fundamental to ecosystem functioning and human welfare, yet their multifaceted contributions to ecological services, food security, rural livelihoods, and cultural heritage remain insufficiently represented in mainstream scientific research and policy. Despite growing global recognition of insect decline and the potential of entomophagy to address food system challenges, integrated evidence linking global ecological knowledge with community-level indigenous practices is lacking, particularly in sub-Saharan African contexts. A narrative bibliometric review was conducted through systematic searches of Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases, supplemented by FAO, IPBES, and MDPI Insects repositories. Searches were conducted between January 2024 and May 2026 using keyword combinations spanning entomophagy, ecosystem services, insect decline, indigenous knowledge and edible insects in Africa. Four thematic dimensions are synthesised: (1) ecological services, (2) nutritional value and food security, (3) economic contribution and livelihoods, and (4) socio-cultural and ethnomedicinal significance. The Venda region of Limpopo Province emerges as a compelling case study of how insect–human relationships intersect with biodiversity conservation, food security, and rural development. Actions include integrating indigenous knowledge with scientific research, strengthening sustainable community-based insect harvesting practices, and incorporating edible insects into South Africa’s food, nutrition, and biodiversity policies in alignment with global sustainability and biodiversity goals. Full article

This research investigates the development of integrated knowledge systems for built heritage located in Italian Inner Areas, marginal territories characterised by socio-economic fragility and the progressive weakening of traditional settlement systems. Within these contexts, built heritage is deeply interconnected with the landscape as a result of long-standing interaction processes between man and territory. Yet it is often affected by limited, fragmented information and inadequate digital management frameworks. This study addresses these issues by developing a methodological approach grounded in multidisciplinary, multiscalar, transcalar, and diachronic principles to reconnect territorial and architectural dimensions within a unified interpretative framework. The Alpine municipality of Dosso del Liro (Northern Italy) was selected as a representative case study for testing the applicability of an integrated H-GIS-BIM workflow under conditions typical of marginal contexts. The research combines desk-based and field-based investigations. Information was organised with regard to the historical and diachronic features of assets and then integrated into a digital environment developed using GIS, HBIM, and conversion workflows. The results demonstrate the accessibility of H-GIS-BIM strategies through a methodological approach and their support for enriching analyses of diffuse heritage, while also highlighting current limitations regarding workflow, interoperability, semantic preservation, and dynamic data updating. Full article