Search Results (209)

Small towns in mountainous regions face significant challenges in formulating effective landscape zoning strategies due to pronounced landscape fragmentation, which is driven by both the dominance of large-scale forest resources and the lack of coordination between administrative planning departments. To tackle this problem, this study focused on Yuqian, a quintessential small mountainous town in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The town’s layout was divided into a grid network measuring 70 m × 70 m. A two-step cluster process was employed using ArcGIS and SPSS software to analyze five landscape variables: altitude, slope, land use, heritage density, and visual visibility. Further, eCognition software’s semi-automated segmentation technique, complemented by manual adjustments, helped delineate landscape character types and areas. The overlay analysis integrated these areas with administrative village units, identifying four landscape character types across 35 character areas, which were recategorized into four planning and management zones: urban comprehensive service areas, agricultural and cultural tourism development areas, industrial development growth areas, and mountain forest ecological conservation areas. This result optimizes the current zoning types. These zones closely match governmental sustainable development zoning requirements. Based on these findings, we propose integrated landscape management and conservation strategies, including the cautious expansion of urban areas, leveraging agricultural and cultural tourism, ensuring industrial activities do not impact the natural and village environment adversely, and prioritizing ecological conservation in sensitive areas. This approach integrates spatial and administrative dimensions to enhance landscape connectivity and resource sustainability, providing key guidance for small town development in mountainous regions with unique environmental and cultural contexts. Full article

Designing optimal heritage tourism routes in secondary cities involves complex trade-offs between cultural richness, travel time, carbon emissions, spatial coherence, and group satisfaction. This study addresses the Personalized Group Trip Design Problem (PGTDP) under real-world constraints by proposing DRL–IMVO–GAN—a hybrid multi-objective optimization framework that integrates Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) for policy-guided initialization, an Improved Multiverse Optimizer (IMVO) for global search, and a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) for local refinement and solution diversity. The model operates within a digital twin of Warin Chamrap’s old town, leveraging 92 POIs, congestion heatmaps, and behaviorally clustered tourist profiles. The proposed method was benchmarked against seven state-of-the-art techniques, including PSO + DRL, Genetic Algorithm with Multi-Neighborhood Search (Genetic + MNS), Dual-ACO, ALNS-ASP, and others. Results demonstrate that DRL–IMVO–GAN consistently dominates across key metrics. Under equal-objective weighting, it attained the highest heritage score (74.2), shortest travel time (21.3 min), and top satisfaction score (17.5 out of 18), along with the highest hypervolume (0.85) and Pareto Coverage Ratio (0.95). Beyond performance, the framework exhibits strong generalization in zero- and few-shot scenarios, adapting to unseen POIs, modified constraints, and new user profiles without retraining. These findings underscore the method’s robustness, behavioral coherence, and interpretability—positioning it as a scalable, intelligent decision-support tool for sustainable and user-centered cultural tourism planning in secondary cities. Full article

As the cradle of Jiangnan culture, Suzhou is home to a dense concentration of historical architectural heritage that is currently facing existential threats from rapid urbanization. This study aims to develop a spatial heritage corridor network for conservation and sustainable utilization. Using kernel density estimation, this study identifies 15 kernel density groups, along with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), to pinpoint clusters of historical architectural heritage and assess the involved resistance factors. Current Effective Conductance (CEC) theory is further applied to model spatial flow relationships among heritage nodes, leading to the delineation of 27 heritage corridors and revealing a spatial structure characterized by one primary core, one secondary core, and multiple peripheral zones. Based on 15 source points, six cultural relics-themed routes are proposed—three land-based and three waterfront routes—connecting historical sites, towns, and ecological areas. The study further recommends a resource management strategy centered on departmental collaboration, digital integration, and community co-governance. By integrating historical architectural types, settlement forms, and ecological patterns, the research builds a multi-scale narrative and experience system that addresses fragmentation while improving coordination and sustainability. This framework delivers practical advice on heritage conservation and cultural tourism development in Suzhou and the broader Jiangnan region. Full article

Historic districts of ancient towns serve as significant carriers of historical and cultural heritage while also being popular tourist destinations. Within the context of urbanization and organic renewal, the protection and development of historic districts have become crucial research topics. This study collects literature from the Web of Science database and applies manual screening to ensure relevance to the research theme. Using CiteSpace as an analytical tool, the study conducts a visual analysis from multiple perspectives, including keywords, writing time, authors, centrality, keyword clustering analysis, and timeline visualization. By constructing a knowledge graph, this research explores the key pathways and knowledge nodes in the organic renewal of spatial environments in historic districts of ancient towns. Based on literature clustering, the study categorizes research into four major aspects: heritage conservation, cultural and tourism development, spatial planning and design, and environmental enhancement. Based on this, universal strategies for the cultural and tourism development of historic districts in ancient towns are proposed. The research focus shifts from emphasizing cultural heritage preservation to the integrated development of culture and tourism. In the spatial development of historic districts, everyday life scenes should be incorporated while new technologies should be utilized to enhance environmental comfort. This paper summarizes the current research frontiers in this field and proposes future research trends, providing valuable references for scholars in related areas. Full article

Food security constitutes a fundamental pillar of future sustainable development. A systematic evaluation of the impact of urban expansion on food security is critical to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly “Zero Hunger” (SDG 2). Drawing on bibliographic data from the Web of Science Core Collection, this study employs the bibliometrix package in R to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the literature on the “urban expansion–food security” nexus spanning from 1982 to 2024. The analysis focuses on knowledge production, collaborative structures, and thematic research trends. The results indicate the following: (1) The publication trajectory in this field exhibits a generally increasing trend with three distinct phases: an incubation period (1982–2000), a development phase (2001–2014), and a phase of rapid growth (2015–2024). Land Use Policy stands out as the most influential journal in the domain, with an average citation rate of 43.5 per article. (2) China and the United States are the leading contributors in terms of publication output, with 3491 and 1359 articles, respectively. However, their international collaboration rates remain relatively modest (0.19 and 0.35) and considerably lower than those observed for the United Kingdom (0.84) and Germany (0.76), suggesting significant potential for enhanced global research cooperation. (3) The major research hotspots cluster around four core areas: urban expansion and land use dynamics, agricultural systems and food security, environmental and climate change, and socio-economic and policy drivers. These focal areas reflect a high degree of interdisciplinary integration, particularly involving land system science, agroecology, and socio-economic studies. Collectively, the field has established a relatively robust academic network and coherent knowledge framework. Nonetheless, it still confronts several limitations, including geographical imbalances, fragmented research scales, and methodological heterogeneity. Future efforts should emphasize cross-regional, interdisciplinary, and multi-scalar integration to strengthen the systematic understanding of urban expansion–food security interactions, thereby informing global strategies for sustainable development. Full article

Although lagoons are sites of water accumulation and runoff where a variety of animal species and plant varieties inhabit, they have also been positioned as spaces where rituals and religious practices take place, from which the transmission of knowledge emanates, and social activities are strengthened. The Laguna de Cajititlán (Cajititlán Lagoon) in the town of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco, México is a lacustrine landscape that faces a state of fragility due to incessant processes of urbanization along with basin desiccation and wastewater pollution. However, the community of Cajititlán has managed to protect its lacustrine landscape through the rescue of the religious tradition of the Procesión Los Santos Reyes (Procession of the Wise Men). Therefore, the objective of this article is to analyze how this tradition, as cultural heritage, has influenced the conservation of the lacustrine landscape. We conclude that cultural heritage and the lacustrine landscape are bidirectionally correlated because fostering Indigenous traditions like the Procesión in Cajititlán, as a manifestation of devotion and faith, enhances identity, promotes tourism, and supports conservation practices and the sustainability of the lacustrine landscape. At the same time, conservation of the lacustrine landscape enables the preservation of cultural heritage, generating an interdependent relationship between these elements. Full article

Gonghe Basin is an important frontier of resource and energy development and environmental protection on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau and upper sections of the Yellow River. As a characteristic ecotone, this area exhibits complex and diverse ecosystem types while demonstrating marked ecological vulnerability. The response of ecosystem services (ESs) to human activities (HAs) is directly related to the sustainable construction of an ecological civilization highland and the decision-making and implementation of high-quality development. However, this response relationship is unclear in the Gonghe Basin. Based on remote sensing data, land use, meteorological, soil, and digital elevation model data, the current research determined the human activity intensity (HAI) in the Gonghe Basin by reclassifying HAs and modifying the intensity coefficient. Employing the InVEST model and bivariate spatial autocorrelation methods, the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of HAI and ESs and responses of ESs to HAs in Gonghe Basin from 2000 to 2020 were quantitatively analyzed. The results demonstrate that: From 2000 to 2020, the HAI in the Gonghe Basin mainly reflected low-intensity HA, although the spatial range of HAI continued to expand. Single plantation and town construction activities exhibited high-intensity areas that spread along the northwest-southeast axis; composite activities such as tourism services and energy development showed medium-intensity areas of local growth, while the environmental supervision activity maintained a low-intensity wide-area distribution pattern. Over the past two decades, the four key ESs of water yield, soil conservation, carbon sequestration, and habitat quality exhibited distinct yet interconnected characteristics. From 2000 to 2020, HAs were significantly negatively correlated with ESs in Gonghe Basin. The spatial aggregation of HAs and ESs was mainly low-high and high-low, while the aggregation of HAs and individual services differed. These findings offer valuable insights for balancing and coordinating socio-economic development with resource exploitation in Gonghe Basin. Full article

In the face of an unprecedented public health crisis (COVID-19), despite tourist perceptions toward cultural heritage tourism having undergone significant transformation, such transitions are increasingly viewed as opportunities to enhance sustainability practices in cultural heritage tourism worldwide. This study traces the evolution of tourist perceptions at Lijiang Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, across three stages from 2017 to 2024—before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and after the pandemic. Data were collected from major tourism platforms, yielding a comprehensive dataset of 50,022 user-generated reviews. We adopt a mixed-method framework integrating TF-IDF, Social Network Analysis (SNA), and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to identify salient terms, semantic structures, and latent themes from large-scale unstructured textual data across time. The findings indicate that cultural heritage tourism demonstrates adaptability and resilience through significant perceptual transitions. After the pandemic, visitors increasingly prioritized cultural depth and high-quality service experiences, whereas before the pandemic, tourists focused more on cultural heritage attractions and commercial experiences. Moreover, during the pandemic period, visitor narratives reflected adaptations toward quieter, safer, and more personalized experiences, highlighting the impact of safety measures on tourism patterns. These findings demonstrate the methodological potential for dynamically monitoring perception shifts and offer empirical grounding for future perception-oriented research and sustainable cultural heritage destination management practices in cultural heritage tourism toward sustainable tourism. Full article

Outdoor experiences significantly enrich intangible cultural heritage tourism, yet limited interaction often restricts deep cultural learning. This research investigates how a mobile application, grounded in experiential learning theory, enhances tourists’ learning about Tang Sancai, a form of Chinese intangible cultural heritage, in the outdoor setting of Sancai Town, Luoyang. Employing a theory learning behavior design scenario framework, the application integrates activity-based exploration, reflective multimedia content, and immersive simulation scenarios to promote active participation, critical reflection, and context-rich outdoor learning experiences. Controlled experiments using pre- and post-tests and questionnaires revealed that participants using the application significantly outperformed those using conventional digital tools in knowledge retention, comprehension, and experiential learning outcomes. Technology acceptance analysis highlighted perceived usefulness as a critical driver of learning success. However, limited effects on behavioral progression suggest that short-term digital interactions may not sustain long-term behavioral change. This research offers a replicable mobile learning framework for outdoor cultural education, extends experiential learning theory to informal tourism contexts, and provides practical insights into using technology to enrich outdoor educational experiences, while supporting heritage preservation. Full article

In response to the global goal of carbon neutrality, the tourism industry faces mounting pressure to reduce emissions. Characteristic towns that rely on traditional, high-emission models urgently require low-carbon tourism transformation strategies to meet environmental targets while preserving cultural heritage and economic vitality. This study investigates the low-carbon transition pathways of tourism in characteristic towns, using the three-dimensional impact mechanism of tourists, residents, and enterprises as a conceptual entry point. Drawing on empirical research conducted in Zhouzhuang and Tongli—two ancient towns in Suzhou—the study identifies key drivers and barriers to the development of low-carbon tourism. Results indicate that the overall low-carbon transformation score for Suzhou’s characteristic towns is 63.3, suggesting a moderate level of progress. Specifically, Zhouzhuang scored 66.9, while Tongli lagged behind at 57.6, highlighting notable disparities in transition efforts. The study applies multi-agent game theory and system dynamics to analyze the interactive mechanisms among tourists, residents, and enterprises in the low-carbon transition. Our findings reveal that tourists’ low-carbon consumption behaviors, residents’ environmental awareness, and enterprises’ green investments significantly influence the transition process. Further analysis using a chain mediation model shows that policy support positively affects low-carbon outcomes by promoting enterprise investment and influencing resident behavior. The study’s innovation lies in its development of an integrated analytical framework that captures the dynamic interplay among multiple stakeholders, offering a comprehensive perspective on low-carbon tourism transformation in characteristic towns. This study contributes to the sustainable tourism literature and provides valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners working toward carbon neutrality in tourism destinations. Full article

Working lands are (agri)cultural landscapes with natural value that provide tangible and intangible benefits to people. The development and loss of working landscapes and other rural lands have been increasing, especially in regions experiencing rapid urban growth. To address these issues and conservation needs, we conducted a multi-scale study that involved (1) an in-depth case study of a working ranch focused on conservation, and (2) a geospatial inventory of ecosystem services and cultural values across a Central Texas county that is still dominated by working landscapes yet is experiencing increasing urbanization. The purpose of these two complementary scales was to add a broader view of working landscape values by mapping the multiple benefits they provide and assessing where provisioning, regulating, and cultural benefits overlap. The ultimate objective of our study was to identify target zones for conservation planning. Based on categorical and spatial variation in the mapped benefits inventory, we identified four conservation target zones: Headwaters, Historic Towns, Geologic Significance, and Tourism Corridor. Finally, we framed these conservation target zones within the context of land use decisions and tradeoff analyses. Full article

From the perspective of social media data, this study investigates the coupling relationship between tourists’ spatial perception and tourism image in traditional old urban areas. Using Nanxun Ancient Town as a case study, this paper reveals the interaction and mutual influence between tourists’ perception of space and tourism image in the development of traditional ancient town tourism. We employed Python 3.13.0 to gather 10,789 valuable comments from tourists from Dianping 11.35.3, Ctrip 8.78.4, and Mafengwo 11.2.6. Mini Tag Cloud software is used to analyze the text data, systematically classify the cognitive image of tourists, and identify negative emotional factors. This paper constructs a four-dimensional landscape spatial perception evaluation system centered on “high-frequency words”, “perceptual dimensions”, “semantic networks”, and “emotional tendencies”. The key findings are as follows: (1) Tourists’ spatial perception exhibits pronounced characteristics of subjective preference and emotional attachment influenced by emotional factors. Overall, tourists exhibited positive emotional perceptions, with 59.51% positive emotions, 21.16% neutral emotions, and 19.33% negative emotions. (2) The perception of Nanxun Ancient Town’s tourism image can be summarized into four dimensions. Here are the dimensions in order of how important they are: historical culture and folk heritage (34.18%), perceptions of natural landscape and architectural style (31.03%), perceptions of tourism services and facilities (18.37%), and psychological identity and emotional interaction (16.42%). (3) Tourism image reciprocally influences tourists’ spatial perception. A positive tourism image is anticipated to encourage tourists to explore the spatial details of the ancient town more deeply, enhancing their positive spatial perception and experience. There exists a coupling relationship between tourists’ spatial perception and tourism image. (4) Key aspects of tourists’ perception of Nanxun Ancient Town include its historical and cultural significance, as well as commercialization. Future studies could focus on tourists’ spatial perception and tourism destination brand image building, and tourism policy makers should pay attention to tourists’ perception of Nanxun Ancient Town’s history, culture and commercialization, and use the coupling of the two to improve development and service policies. Full article

This study aims to explore how historical attractions in old urban areas effectively contribute to tourism development. In particular, the accessibility and convenience of transport are analyzed using Spatial Syntax. Previous collaborative projects with local community colleges were assessed to obtain recognized spatial boundaries of old districts. The historic buildings and their points of interest were determined by the Hsinchu City Council. Modern cities’ grid patterns and straight roads connect various scenic spots. Using the spots, spatial syntactic analyses were conducted in this study. The impact of spatial features on the assessment was found indirect and dependent on the road network of the Old Town. A social responsibility program was also developed to investigate the rise and fall of cities in the development process. Full article

This article explores the challenge of developing a sustainable cultural brand for cities that are primarily perceived as tourist destinations. While major urban hubs like Berlin (DE), Edinburgh (UK), and Lisbon (PT) have successfully transitioned from being known mainly for tourism to becoming recognized cultural destinations, the process behind this transformation remains underexplored, especially when it comes to mid-sized cities. How does a town move beyond its touristic image to build a lasting cultural identity? What strategies enable this shift, and what role do different stakeholders play? Focusing on the Romanian city of Brașov, a scenic destination in Transylvania mostly known for its natural environment and medieval architecture, the paper addresses this gap by investigating how a cultural brand can be developed through strategic marketing efforts. Using an integrated approach that combines two qualitative studies and one quantitative analysis, the research provides new insights into (i) cultural marketing strategies that can enhance Brașov’s city brand; (ii) stakeholder perspectives on developing Brașov’s cultural identity; and (iii) the role of Generation Z, whose influence on urban cultural branding has, so far, been minimally researched, in shaping the cultural future of cities, particularly Brașov. Some of the findings highlight key areas for developing Brașov’s cultural brand, including expanding nightlife activities, introducing more contemporary and year-round themed festivals, and tailoring promotional efforts to the short attention spans of the “TikTok generation”. Participants emphasized the need for a more diverse range of cultural events, including experimental and niche performances, alongside stronger educational initiatives to encourage long-term engagement by involving schools and universities. The results offer actionable insights for policymakers, urban planners, and cultural leaders seeking to develop a city brand centered around culture, focusing on long-term identity and community engagement rather than solely on tourism. Full article

Many ancient canal towns are distributed in southern China, serving as popular tourist destinations. However, these towns experience intense summer heat, with poor thermal comfort in their street spaces. Studying the thermal comfort of historical districts is therefore crucial for promoting tourism development. This research focuses on the Xiaohe Street Historical District, employing ENVI-met software v5.7 for the simulation analysis. Targeting waterfront spaces in ancient town historical districts, nine simulation scenarios were established to systematically compare the thermal environmental impacts of different widths, locations, and configurations of waterfront spaces. The key findings include the following. The waterfront space width shows a positive correlation with thermal environment improvement—wider spaces yield a more significant enhancement. However, when the width exceeds 5 m, a further expansion to 7 m shows a limited impact on the temperature, humidity, and wind speed, with diminishing returns. Distributed versus concentrated layouts of waterfront spaces show negligible differences in temperature and humidity regulation, but concentrated arrangements significantly enhance the street-level wind speed. Thus, under equivalent total width conditions, concentrated large-scale waterfront spaces are recommended. Installing shading facilities in waterfront spaces can effectively reduce the site temperature by over 2 °C. Aligning waterfront spaces with ventilation corridors substantially improves the wind speed, thereby enhancing thermal comfort. Through quantitative analysis, this study provides a scientific basis for optimizing thermal environmental design in canal-side historical districts. The findings offer practical guidance for similar renovation projects in canal historical districts. Full article