Speaker
Description
Human-Habitat World Heritage① (Shi et al., 2024) represents a typical example of settlement-type heritage, including villages and towns. It possesses a narrative ability that expresses temporality, as well as dual attributes of "heritage" and "life" and dual characteristics of "wholeness" and "dynamics" (Shao Yong et al., 2016). Its connotations and values are reflected in both material and immaterial aspects, positioning it as "living heritage" (Sun and Nakajima, 2023). Under the influence of socioeconomic transformation and the wave of urban construction (Li et al., 2022), Human-Habitat World Heritage is gradually shifting from a "daily living" type to a "tourism development" type (Weng et al., 2019). This shift presents dual challenges of protection and development. Therefore, exploring protection strategies, interpretation mechanisms, construction paths, and practical presentations for the transition in the development of Human-Habitat World Heritage is significant for promoting sustainable operations and high-quality development in urban construction and heritage protection.
Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space transcends the realm of physical entities, where built space is produced, constructed, and reshaped by forces such as power, capital, and class (Unwin, 2000). This paper adopts Lefebvre’s triadic dialectical framework of "representation of space - spatial practice - spaces of representation" (Lefebvre and H., 2012) to re-interpret the transition of tourism development in Human-Habitat World Heritage based on its realistic foundation. Additionally, the study deepens the construction of an analytical framework from the perspectives of material spatial transformation, multiple representative subjects, and policy operating mechanisms. Material spatial transformation involves the objective spatial description of diachronic and synchronic aspects, including important buildings in the "point" state, important streets in the "line" state, and characteristic areas in the "plane" state. The perspective of multiple representative subjects focuses on the role positioning, interest demands, and interactions of government, enterprises, residents, and tourists during the tourism development process. The policy operating mechanism reveals the driving force behind tourism development, policy orientation, market operations, and community participation.
This study focuses on the typical Human-Habitat World Heritage site, Pingyao Ancient City, in China. Through methods such as policy analysis, participatory observation, field surveys, semi-structured interviews, and analysis of tourism hotspot data, the paper provides an in-depth analysis of its development status and space production path. By examining the inherent connections of space in terms of its materiality, spirituality, and sociality, the study analyzes the space production path of tourism development in Human-Habitat World Heritage. From the perspectives of spatial transformation, multiple subjects, and operational mechanisms, the paper interprets the exploration and innovation of "ancient sites" in the "modern city," offering practical and theoretical reference paradigms for the development of cultural tourism in Human-Habitat World Heritage.
References
Li, X. et al. (2022) ‘Traditional thoughts and modern development of the historical urban landscape in China: Lessons learned from the example of pingyao historical city’, Land, 11(2), p. 247.
Shi, X. et al. (2024) ‘Differences in Perspectives Between Experts and Residents on Living Heritage: A Study of Traditional Chinese Villages in the Luzhong Region’, Buildings, 14(12), p. 4022.
Sun, S. and Nakajima, N. (2023) ‘COMMUNITY CO-CREATION IN LIVING HERITAGE CONSERVATION – FROM OBJECT-CENTERED TO PEOPLE-CENTERED PLANNING FOR THE ANCIENT CITY OF PINGYAO’, ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, X-M-1–2023, pp. 253–262.
Unwin, T. (2000) ‘A waste of space? Towards a critique of the social production of space…’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 25(1), pp. 11–29.
Weng, L. et al. (2019) ‘Sustainability assessment of cultural heritage tourism: Case study of pingyao ancient city in China’, Sustainability, 11(5), p. 1392.
Lefebvre, H. (2012) The Production of Space.
Shao, Y. et al. (2016) 'Exploration of Protection Planning for Human Settlement-based World Heritage: A Case Study of Pingyao Ancient City', Urban Planning Journal, (5), pp. 94–102.（in Chinese）
| Keywords | space production;human-habitat world heritage;Pingyao Ancient City |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
