A Study on the Sustainable Development of Historic District Landscapes Based on Place Attachment among Tourists: A Case Study of Taiping Old Street, Taiwan

Abstract

Historic districts should be sustainably developed by preserving historic architectural landscapes and developing tourism. Researchers have found that attachment to a place positively influences pro-tourism and pro-environment behaviors among tourists, indicating that exploring the landscape planning of historic districts from the perspective of place attachment is a noteworthy topic of sustainability. However, there are few studies on how historic district landscapes ignite tourists’ place attachment. Using a historical district named Taiping Old Street in Taiwan as an example, we investigated the association between tourists’ landscape evaluation and place attachment in historic districts. This study mainly adopted questionnaire surveys and used partial least squares structural (PLS) equation modeling for survey data analysis. (1) The study identified three dimensions of tourists’ landscape evaluation of historic districts: visual preference, cultural heritage value, and authenticity. (2) The stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model was combined with the studies by previous scholars and a conceptual model put forward for the relationship between tourists’ landscape evaluation, destination image, and place attachment. (3) The model was verified, and we found that (i) tourists’ landscape evaluation in terms of cultural heritage values and authenticity had significant positive effects on destination image; (ii) tourists’ visual preference, evaluation of authenticity, and destination image had significant positive effects on place attachment; and (iii) tourists’ destination image influenced the impact of authenticity and cultural heritage values on place attachment. This study provides both theoretical references for the formation process of place attachment from a landscape perspective and suggestions for landscape planning in the sustainable development of historic districts of a similar type.