Search Results (30)

Peri-urban rural public spaces are increasingly involved in territorial development, rural-regeneration management, and built-environment upgrading, yet existing research often treats rural regeneration as program implementation rather than as a spatial-development and public-space management problem. This study develops a built-environment governance framework from the 2025 Hsinchu City Community Rural Regeneration Facilitation Program in Taiwan. Using a reflective document-based case-study design, the analysis integrates administrative reports, training records, plan-review materials, spatial-planning documents, built-environment case evidence, agricultural net-zero policy materials, and Taiwanese rural-regeneration literature. Four descriptive readiness ratios are used to profile the governance process: SIE (urban–rural interface exposure), PPC (training participation), RAC (review conversion), and ATR (approval-track readiness). These indicators clarify administrative and governance readiness, but they are not treated as direct measurements of spatial quality, carbon reduction, or user wellbeing. The results identify a four-dimensional management framework for peri-urban rural public-space regeneration: wellbeing-oriented public spaces, low-carbon ecological infrastructure, cultural-landscape continuity, and community-based implementation capacity. The study further proposes standardized ordinal scoring rules, a policy-to-space translation model, and a future post-occupancy and spatial-quality validation scheme. The theoretical contribution lies in reframing rural regeneration as a built-environment governance interface for territorial development, while the practical contribution lies in providing a reviewable framework for managing public-space proposals, construction priorities, maintenance readiness, and future validation in peri-urban rural areas. Full article

Publicly funded rural-regeneration programs often deliver facilities, yet post-completion continuity depends on whether the outputs remain usable, active, and maintainable. This study examines Hsinchu City, Taiwan, through a five-year documentary trajectory (2020–2024) comprising five annual reports, one citywide achievement booklet, and four case evidence bundles. It asks how project delivery may support—or fail to support—everyday landscape stewardship. Using an abductive documentary case-study design and maximum-variation comparison of Haishan, Gangbei, Qiedong, and Xiangcun, the analysis develops conditional landscape stewardship around three interdependent conditions: material–spatial usability, functional continuity, and social-organizational maintenance. It identifies four indicative interruption modes: completed but underused space, event-dependent activation, responsibility and resource gaps, and livelihood value disconnected from shared maintenance. The weakest-link heuristic treats a pronounced weakness as a review trigger rather than proof of project failure. The study contributes a document-supported diagnostic framework and a proposed ex ante/ex post governance checklist. It identifies governance conditions and vulnerabilities; it does not directly measure long-term use, environmental performance, or sustainability outcomes. 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

Peri-urban rural regeneration is often assessed through completed projects or administrative indicators, while the governance mechanisms that sustain rural sustainability receive less attention. This article examines how project-based participation can be translated into governance capacity in Hsinchu City, northwestern Taiwan. Adopting an evidence-bound reflective documentary case-study design, it analyzes policy, spatial planning, training, community project, and rural regeneration records from the 2025 Hsinchu City Community Rural Regeneration Guidance Program. The findings show that regeneration operates through municipal coordination, functional clusters, community participation, and site-based interventions. Six intermediate capacities are identified: proposal-making, coordination, maintenance, interpretive, sustainability-translation, and resilience capacities. The study contributes a transferable framework linking rural sustainability, SDG localization, ESG-oriented governance, and peri-urban regeneration through explicit evidence-use boundaries. It does not claim verified long-term impacts on income, carbon reduction, biodiversity, demographic change, or resident satisfaction; rather, it clarifies how governance capacity may be generated and where future independent verification is required. Full article

Policies for cultural heritage protection have increasingly shifted toward the integrated conservation and development of historical cultural landscapes. In vernacular settlements located in the southwestern border regions of China, some cultural landscape remains that were once widespread are gradually disappearing. Nevertheless, these landscapes continue to be recognized, valued, and maintained by local ethnic communities. Understanding how place-based perceptions are formed, how hidden cultural landscapes can be identified, and how their cultural significance can be interpreted is therefore of considerable importance. Drawing on landscape perception theory, this study develops an analytical framework that integrates landscape structure interpretation, oral history analysis, and local ethnic group perception. The archaeological remains of the “Ancient Temple” in Baiya City, located within the Zhaozhou intermontane basin (“Bazi”) in Dali, are selected as a case study. Through field investigations, oral history interviews, and Semantic Differential (SD) scale questionnaires, perception factors are examined across four dimensions—environment, ritual, construction, and psychology—to systematically analyze the elements shaping spatial perception. The results reveal that, although local ethnic groups exhibit relatively low levels of perception regarding the architectural form of the ancient temple, they maintain strong psychological and emotional attachments to ritual pathways, ruin landscapes, and related cultural elements. The remains of the “Ancient Temple” constitute an implicit cultural landscape that plays a significant role in shaping local cultural identity and sense of place. At the same time, it reflects the community’s capacity for self-organization and the latent mechanisms underlying the reconstruction of cultural space. Based on these findings, strategies for cultural landscape regeneration should emphasize the preservation of indigenous spatial order, the revitalization of local ritual practices, and the strengthening of ethnic psychological identity. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the social functions and cultural significance of implicit cultural landscapes in contemporary urban and rural development and provides practical references for their conservation and regeneration. Full article

The sustainable transformation of idle built environments represents a critical pathway for advancing low-carbon development and achieving carbon neutrality targets. This study examines how idle rural building stocks may contribute to sustainable built environment systems through rural building repurposing and regeneration strategies. It introduces the concept of Green Rural Centers (GRCs), multifunctional facilities formed through the adaptive reuse of idle buildings that integrate low-carbon design, community services, and local economic functions. Within the proposed framework, GRCs are conceptually characterized as facilities that may: (1) achieve 50–70% reductions in operational energy demand through passive and renewable measures, (2) incorporate two or more community-oriented functions (e.g., education, governance, cultural services), and (3) demonstrate embodied carbon savings of ≥40% compared to demolition-and-rebuild scenarios. Grounded in fieldwork from Fujian Province, China, and aligned with national policies, the study evaluates spatial transformation, carbon mitigation, and institutional integration. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines scenario-based carbon-reduction estimation and appraisal, spatial analysis, comparative case studies, and policy evaluation, the findings indicate that retrofitting 30% of approximately 68,000 idle rural schools could achieve approximately 734,400 metric tons of cumulative CO₂ reduction by 2060 under the baseline scenario. Under conservative and ambitious implementation conditions, the estimated cumulative reductions are approximately 408,000 and 1,224,000 metric tons of CO₂, respectively. Sensitivity analysis shows that moderate improvements in retrofit quality or implementation rates significantly amplify emissions reduction outcomes. Beyond environmental performance, the proposed framework may also support community resilience, decentralized service provision, and socio-economic revitalization. This research reframes idle building stock as a strategic asset within sustainable built environment systems, policy-relevant exploratory framework potentially adaptable to comparable rural contexts. This study contributes to the sustainable built environment discourse by demonstrating how underutilized rural building stocks can function as broader low-carbon rural regeneration systems. Full article

Medium-sized cities play an important role in regional settlement systems as intermediary centres linking metropolitan areas with smaller towns and rural regions. Due to their relatively compact spatial structure, such cities are often associated with the principles of the 15-min city concept, which promotes accessibility to key services and public spaces within walking distance. Urban regeneration is an important instrument supporting sustainable development and improving quality of life in these cities. This study examines the relationship between legal regulations, spatial delimitation patterns, and the spatial distribution of degraded and revitalised areas in medium-sized cities. The research is based on a comparative analysis of qualitative and quantitative criteria, GIS-based spatial analyses, and accessibility modelling conducted for five cities in the Pomeranian Voivodeship using planning documents and statistical data, verified through field surveys. The results indicate a high degree of spatial continuity of revitalisation areas despite changes in legal frameworks and delimitation methodologies. Revitalisation areas remained concentrated mainly within historic city centres and their multifunctional surroundings, while degraded areas gradually expanded toward residential districts. The findings also demonstrate a strong spatial relationship between revitalisation areas and 15 min walking accessibility zones. The study provides useful comparative insights for countries developing formal urban regeneration systems. Full article

Depopulation and urban–rural population redistribution are challenges that reshape settlement patterns, landscapes, and local economies in many regions, from Europe to China and from Japan to North America. This study examines spatial and demographic transformations in the Baltic States (Europe), using Lithuania as a detailed case study. The analysis is based on high-resolution GIS population data derived from official population registers and linked to georeferenced settlement polygons for the years 2011 and 2021, combined with a linear projection of population change to 2026 (five-year period). The results reveal that population decline, which appears modest at the aggregated statistical level (approximately −1.1% to −1.5% per year), is territorially concentrated and reaches 45–48% in the most affected areas, which can only be identified through fine-scale spatial analysis. The most pronounced decline (−46%) is observed in the population of detached rural dwellings between 2011 and 2021, with trend-based estimation indicating that vacant rural houses may exceed 50% by 2026. At the same time, peri-urban zones surrounding the largest cities show clear population growth, largely driven by internal migration from ageing urban districts, smaller towns, and peripheral rural areas, compensating aggregated values and masking underlying processes. The findings reveal a dual process of rural shrinkage and suburban expansion, increasing pressures on territorial cohesion, service provision, infrastructure planning, and the preservation of cultural landscapes. The application of high-resolution spatial data allows the detection of localized demographic processes that remain insufficiently captured in conventional municipality-level statistics and that have rarely been analyzed at this level of spatial detail. Based on these results, this study emphasizes policy approaches such as adaptive rural regeneration and managed shrinkage. Although the empirical analysis is focused on Lithuania, the identified trends are relevant to many shrinking regions worldwide and may be reproduced using local population register data in other countries to support evidence-based regional planning. Full article

In the renewal of rural self-built houses, dispersed construction patterns, insufficient design guidance, and resource constraints often lead to tensions between individual building needs and the overall settlement landscape. Grounded in the theory of spatial self-organization, this study proposes a roof interface renewal framework of “Clustering–Collaboration–self-organization,” and takes Dianju Village in Anning City, Yunnan Province, as a case study to explore how limited architectural interventions can address the fragmentation of roof landscapes in rural settlements. This research adopts a mixed-method approach combining ethnographic fieldwork, resident design observation, and post-occupancy evaluation (POE). The POE was conducted with 16 participating households, focusing on residents’ perceptions of roof usability, visual order, material acceptance, opportunities for neighborhood interaction, and maintenance issues. The findings indicate that residents generally perceive that continuous roof treatment, the application of bamboo–timber materials, and adjustable structural units have improved the usability of roof spaces, while enhancing their recognition of the overall village image and the expression of local materials. At the same time, residents’ feedback suggests that the long-term performance of bamboo–timber materials still depends on continuous maintenance and appropriate structural protection. The contribution of this study lies in translating spatial self-organization theory into a participatory and locally adaptive process of rural landscape renewal. Rather than providing a directly replicable roof typology, this case offers exploratory insights into key interface identification, resident negotiation, and localized construction strategies for the renewal of rural self-built houses in developing and transitional contexts. Full article

This paper presents the results of an integrated research and design process developed within the Master’s study programme in Architecture at the University of Belgrade—Faculty of Architecture, aimed at exploring architectural agency in conditions of ecological degradation, declining biodiversity, and the urgent need for regenerative transformation of the built environment. Moving beyond technologically driven notions of “green design,” the study investigates architectural approaches that support ecosystem restoration, biodiversity enhancement, and multispecies coexistence while strengthening health and well-being. Grounded in a three-phase methodological framework, the research (1) formulates conceptual models of therapeutic landscapes through typo-morphological, place-based, and adventure-based analytical approaches; (2) evaluates these models using the New European Bauhaus (NEB) Checklist to assess their alignment with the core values of sustainability, beauty, and togetherness; and (3) synthesizes the findings into regenerative design scenarios that integrate ecological processes, multisensory experience, and community participation. The results position therapeutic landscapes as a spatial practice in which architecture functions as ecological infrastructure, a metabolic system where natural cycles, cultural meanings, bodily experiences, and more-than-human agencies interact. In this sense, architectural design becomes the basis for re-naturalization, regeneration, ecological care, multisensory experience, and resilience in urban, peri-urban, and rural communities. Full article

Community-managed forests within agroforestry landscapes are vital for both carbon sequestration and agricultural sustainability. This study assesses the Hariyali Community Forest (HCF) in western Nepal, emphasizing its role in carbon storage within a Sal (Shorea robusta)-dominated lowland forest containing diverse native and medicinal species. Stratified field inventories combined with satellite-derived biomass and land-use/land-cover data were used to quantify carbon stocks and spatial trends. In 2022, the mean aboveground carbon density was 165 tC ha⁻¹, totaling approximately 101,640 tC (~373,017 tCO₂e), which closely matches satellite-based trends and indicates consistent carbon accumulation. Remote sensing from 2015–2022 showed a net tree cover gain of 427 ha compared to a 2000 baseline of 188 ha, evidencing effective community-led regeneration. The 615 ha Sal-dominated landscape also sustains agroforestry, small-scale horticulture, and subsistence crops, integrating livelihoods with conservation. Temporary carbon declines between 2020 and 2022, linked to localized harvesting and management shifts, highlight the need for stronger governance and local capacity. This study, among the first integrated carbon assessments in Nepal’s lowland Sal forests, demonstrates how community forestry advances REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries) objectives while enhancing rural resilience. Linking field inventories with satellite-derived biomass and land-cover data situates community forestry within regional environmental change and SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) targets (13, 15, and 1) through measurable ecosystem restoration and livelihood gains. Full article

Rural depopulation and the abandonment of historic settlements are pressing challenges for contemporary spatial planning, particularly in regions with a rich architectural and cultural heritage. This article examines the ruins of Moya, in Cuenca (Spain), as a case study to develop an integrated rural revitalisation strategy. The research combines historical building analysis, assessment of structural deterioration, and planning for economic reactivation to create a comprehensive framework for transforming abandoned sites into a viable cultural resource. The proposed model favours temporary and flexible occupation over permanent repopulation, promoting forms of use that respect and preserve the site’s historical identity. The approach builds on principles of activating monumental heritage, integrating the vernacular fabric, and organising the site into distinct functional areas. Moya is thus presented not only as an example of abandonment, but also as a replicable prototype for intervention in other declining rural environments, where heritage can serve as a strategic resource for sustainable development and territorial cohesion. The main objectives are to develop and test an integrated strategy for rural regeneration that goes beyond physical restoration, combining adaptive reuse, heritage conservation, and educational and cultural programmes to stimulate the local economy and reinforce territorial identity. The approach is evaluated through the case of Moya and contrasted with other national and international experiences to assess its replicability. Full article

Amid China’s push for new urbanization and refined urban governance, urban villages function as key transitional spaces in the process of rural–urban spatial restructuring. Their internal differentiation and typological governance approaches warrant systematic exploration. This study examines 140 urban villages located in the core and peripheral areas of Kunming as empirical cases. By innovatively integrating polycentric urban theory with spatial accessibility theory, we construct a dual-dimensional classification framework. Employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), we develop a comprehensive evaluation system encompassing ecological, spatial, social, and economic dimensions. Our findings reveal the following: (1) Urban villages with different levels of accessibility within the same region tend to exhibit broadly similar characteristics across most evaluation dimensions. However, outlier cases demonstrate distinct development trajectories that transcend spatial constraints, driven by unique mechanisms underlying their atypical evolution. (2) Cross-regional comparisons highlight systematic disparities across several dimensions, most notably in ecological quality, spatial efficiency, and economic vitality. Based on spatial differentiation, we propose five governance models tailored to varied urban village types. The proposed typological governance framework provides a replicable methodology for addressing urban-rural transition challenges in diverse contexts. By emphasizing the spatial heterogeneity of informal settlements and advocating for place-specific strategies based on geographic endowments, this model enables policymakers to move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches. For Chinese cities, it offers a systematic toolkit to classify urban villages according to their regional roles and developmental potentials, informing tailored regeneration plans. Globally, the framework’s emphasis on context-sensitive typology and multidimensional evaluation can guide the upgrading of informal settlements in rapidly urbanizing regions, particularly where rural-urban interfaces face similar fragmentation pressures. Full article

Corporate environmental claims often neglect the substantial ecological impact of land-use changes. This case study examines the spatial dimension of retail-driven land-use transformation by analyzing supermarket expansion in the Veneto region (northern Italy), with a focus on a large grocery retailer. We evaluated its corporate environmental claims by assessing land consumption patterns from 1983 to 2024 using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The GIS-based methodology involved geocoding 113 Points of Sale (POS—individual retail outlets), performing photo-interpretation of historical aerial imagery, and classifying land-cover types prior to construction. We applied spatial metrics such as total converted surface area, land-cover class frequency across eight categories (e.g., agricultural, herbaceous, arboreal), and the average linear distance between afforestation sites and POS developed on previously rural land. Our findings reveal that 65.97% of the total land converted for Points of Sale development occurred in rural areas, primarily agricultural and herbaceous lands. These landscapes play a critical role in supporting urban biodiversity and providing essential ecosystem services, which are increasingly threatened by unchecked land conversion. While the corporate sustainability reports and marketing strategies emphasize afforestation efforts under their “We Love Nature” initiative, our spatial analysis uncovers no evidence of actual land-use conversion. Additionally, reforestation activities are located an average of 40.75 km from converted sites, undermining their role as effective compensatory measures. These findings raise concerns about selective disclosure and greenwashing, driving the need for more comprehensive and transparent corporate sustainability reporting. The study argues for stronger policy frameworks to incentivize urban regeneration over greenfield development and calls for the integration of land-use data into corporate sustainability disclosures. By combining geospatial methods with content analysis, the research offers new insights into the intersection of land use, business practices, and environmental sustainability in climate-vulnerable regions. Full article

Bagheria, located on the northern coast of Sicily, is home to one of the Mediterranean’s most remarkable ensembles of Baroque villas, constructed between the 17th and 18th centuries by the aristocracy of Palermo. Originally situated within a highly structured rural landscape of citrus groves, gardens, and visual axes, these monumental residences have undergone substantial degradation due to uncontrolled urban expansion throughout the 20th century. This study presents a diachronic spatial analysis of Bagheria’s territorial transformation from 1850 to 2018, integrating historical cartography, aerial photography, satellite imagery, and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. A total of 33 villas were identified, georeferenced, and assessed based on their spatial integrity, architectural condition, and relationship with the evolving urban fabric. The results reveal a progressive marginalization of the villa system, with many heritage assets now embedded within dense residential development, severed from their original landscape context and deprived of their formal gardens and visual prominence. Comparative insights drawn from analogous Mediterranean heritage landscapes, such as Ortigia (Siracusa), the Appian Way (Rome), and Athens, highlight the urgency of adopting integrated conservation frameworks that reconcile urban development with cultural and ecological continuity. As a strategic response, the study proposes the creation of a thematic cultural route, La città delle ville, to enhance the visibility, accessibility, and socio-economic relevance of Bagheria’s heritage system. This initiative, supported by adaptive reuse policies, smart heritage technologies, and participatory planning, offers a replicable model for sustainable territorial regeneration and heritage-led urban resilience. Full article