Strategies of Landscape Planning in Peri-Urban Rural Tourism: A Comparison between Two Villages in China

Abstract

Landscapes have multiple functions relating to natural preservation and cultural inheritance, which are fundamental factors for tourist development. Particularly in villages, rural tourism is primarily based on the rural landscape. However, peri-urban villages face complex conflicts of urbanization and ruralism, in which landscapes are dynamic and need synergistic plans and management. Thus, this research contributes to a better understanding of comprehensive landscape planning integrating natural and cultural dimensions in peri-urban villages. Taking as a comparison studies in two peri-urban villages, Heshu village and Pu’an village in the Yangtze River Delta in China, the research mainly adopted qualitative methods of document analysis, in-depth interviews and field observation. We found that local features and interactions with nature are both stressed in the village landscape plans but with different strategies. Firstly, Heshu village’s landscape plan intends to reproduce eight scenes described in famous local poetry, while Pu’an village’s plan intends to develop local traditional customs of bulrush craft. Secondly, the detailed landscape design of green-way and blue-way systems in Heshu village is people-oriented, while landscape design in Pu’an village is experience-oriented in relation to creative tourism. Finally, it is essential to consider both the interests of local villagers and tourists in the process of identifying, preserving and enhancing the locality of rural landscapes.