Linking the Public with Landscape Preservation: Public Perception of a Traditional Urban Landscape – a Case Study from Suzhou, China
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Linking the public with landscape preservation: public perception of a traditional urban landscape – A case study from Suzhou, China Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree Doctor rer. nat. of the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany by Yang Zhang Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany 2017 Dean Prof. Dr. Tim Freytag Supervisor Prof. Dr. Werner Konold 2nd Reviewer Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schraml Date of thesis' defence: 19.06.2017 Foreword Acknowledgement It was an incredible journey for me to reach this far, at this point. This thesis is not only the consequence of my work, but the whole bunch of efforts from many supporters and different countries. First of all, I would like to give my greatest gratitude to Prof.Dr.Werner Konold, who accepted me as part of Landespflege team and offered me the opportunity to conduct my doctoral thesis. He is not just being professional for work, but also considerate and helpful for daily life. I would not make it so far without his generous helps. Whenever I’ve got problems and questions, he is always the one that I can approach and ask for. Thank you so much Prof.Konold! My gratitude goes also to my second supervisor Prof.Dr. Zhiyi Bao from China. Thanks for accepting my request as being the external supervisor and offering me valuable information as an expert in urban landscape management. In particular, I would like to thank Prof.Dr. Ulrich Schraml for generously accepting being the second reviewer of my thesis. Many thanks go also to Dr.Harald Scheich, who made efforts to contact me and discussed the research agenda at the beginning. Furthermore, to my colleagues from my former institute Landespflege, I appreciate your kindness and openness and the time we spent together. Because of this lovely working atmosphere, I was not feeling lonely even though I am so far from home. My friend Fabian Faßnacht and family, thank you for being so warm-hearted and kind to me, I am so grateful to know you guys. Liwen, as my friend, you taught me so much during this journey. I can’t forget the time I spent with you here, and the advices you gave me on work and on life. Roxana, my most caring friend, thank you for the great time at work and during the private time! Also to my dear Chinese friends Yapeng Hu, Qiongjuan Xie, Xiaofei Song: thanks so much for being helpful whenever I went home, either for field work or for private visiting. I know I can always account on you! I would also love to thank my parents and my little brother, even though they do not understand at all what my thesis is about. My parents in-law, Angelika and Manfred Rupp, you are so generous and big hearted to me. Last but not least, to my husband Mattias, together we have been experienced an incredible journey, but I am so grateful that you are always there ready to help. You are helping me going through the hardness of life of work, and I am really thankful for your support. To my beloved child Svenja Leia, you are most precious that could happen in my life. You teach me how to be myself, how to be strong and how to be better. This is for you my dear Svenja. THANK YOU ALL! I Summary China is a historically rich country, which results in numerous historical heritage sites scattered all over the country. At the same time, as the biggest developing country in the world, China is undergoing dramatic economic developments, resulting in a decline of its cultural heritage. Those heritage sites in urban areas are especially under threat of disappearing, particularly due to urbanization processes. How to preserve this heritage efficiently still remains a pending issue. Unlike the conventional top-down decision-making processes, this study is trying to find an answer by applying the public participation theory to preservation issues. One main research question addresses how the Chinese public perceives the landscape and why it is important to them. Several sub-questions are arisen to help answer this main question. This thesis is the divided into seven chapters, the first and second of which provide brief introductions about the research background, a problem statement, research questions and the structure as well as the scientific terms and concepts applied during research. An advanced city, Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, has been chosen for a case study. A description of Suzhou is given in chapter 3. This city has over 2,000 years of history and is culturally rich; as a consequence, an historical and traditional old town area in its centre still remains. It is famous for its traditional landscape with its Jiangnan style and encompasses the Chinese Classical Gardens, a water town structure and essential elements of Wu culture. In this case, the public includes insiders (residents) and outsiders (tourists) of the landscape, for they both have direct contacts with each other and interact with the traditional landscape. The methods of the study are analysed in chapter 4. The semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with residents and tourists, in conjunction with a thorough literature study and on-field observation. The results are subdivided into three parts which are presented in chapter 5. The first part takes on the residents’ perspectives in terms of how they perceive the traditional landscape based on their daily contacts. It is concluded that the residents consider it to be significant and traditional based on their life experiences, memories, neighbourhood intercourse and other daily observations. Every change of the traditional landscape would affect not only their physical lives but also their spiritual and emotional attachments. The second part is based on the tourists’ perspectives. Tourism affects the traditional landscape in different ways, such as through their behaviours and demands. Their considerations towards the traditional landscape are more leisure- and recreation-oriented. Besides the appreciation of sightseeing, other sensations such as hearing and smelling obtained in the traditional landscape are also uttered by tourists. The third part describes the cultural ecosystem service concept which is to be linked with the traditional landscape and could eventually provide a new angle of view to acknowledge the values of the traditional landscape as well as its interaction with the public. In total, 26 different cultural services received by residents and tourists have been identified. The results of the study offer valuable information to better understand the traditional landscape, which is discussed in chapter 6. The current management strategy is excluding both residents and tourists and is generated according to experts and political decision-makers. The residents voice the close connections between themselves and their surroundings, even though not all landscape elements are functioning smoothly in this context. Merging tradition and modern demands can end in a struggle, like altering the looks of a preserved historic site, but it also offers modern accommodation standards. Some elements, such as the water body, are occupying intrinsic positions for their emotional and spiritual connections; thus, they are required to be preserved in the future so as to ensure cultural continuity. The challenge is thereby to preserve the objects’ values in a surrounding in which their former practical functions are lost and transformed into modern emotional functions as part of the cultural memory. From the tourists’ side, the authentic traditional elements similarly turn out to be most attractive. Based on the fact that tourism directly or indirectly impacts Suzhou in various forms, the tourists’ perception should also be taken into account for future management. The cultural ecosystem service concept provides an unfamiliar perspective to view and study the traditional landscape of Suzhou. The interviewees, including residents and tourists, disclose positive feelings or experiences obtained from the traditional landscape, which could be turned into cultural services, if the decision makers use the concept. Consequently, an extensive and clear comprehension could be drawn of the important role the traditional landscape plays for human life. The study reveals the preferences and opinions the public holds towards the traditional landscape and the irreplaceable benefits it gains from it. These interactions are mutual and significant for the apprehension of future landscape preservation. In accordance with this process and the results of this study, several future recommendations are provided in chapter 7. III Zusammenfassung China blickt auf eine reiche Geschichte zurück, wie sich an der Vielzahl historischer Stätten ablesen lässt, die über das ganze Land verteilt zu finden sind. Daneben erlebt China, als das größte Entwicklungsland der Welt, in neuerer Zeit dramatische ökonomische Veränderungen, wofür vieles des Kulturerbes geopfert wird. Besonders die historischen Stätten in urbanen Gegenden sind der Gefahr des Verschwindens ausgesetzt, ausgelöst vor allem durch den Prozess der Verstädterung. Die Frage, wie man das Kulturerbe effektiv erhalten kann, ist bisher noch nicht beantwortet. Im Gegensatz zum sonst gebräuchlichen „Top-Down-Entscheidungsprozess“ versucht diese Studie Antworten mittels eines Vorgehens zu finden, mit dem die Einbeziehung der betroffenen Bevölkerung für den Erhalt der Schutzgüter berücksichtigt und untersucht wird. Eine der wichtigsten Forschungsfragen dieser Dissertation lautet daher: „Wie nimmt die Öffentlichkeit Landschaft wahr und warum ist Landschaft für sie wichtig?“ Um diese Leitfrage umfassend beantworten zu können, wurden zudem verschiedene, unterstützende Unterfragen beantwortet. Die Dissertation ist in 7 Kapitel gegliedert, wobei das erste und zweite Kapitel eine Einführung in das Thema geben. Neben dem wissenschaftlichen Hintergrund, der Problemformulierung und den Forschungsfragen werden das Forschungskonzept, dessen Struktur und wissenschaftliche Begriffe erläutert. Als Untersuchungsobjekt wurde eine fortschrittliche, wirtschaftlich entwickelte Stadt gewählt, Suzhou in der Provinz Jiangsu. Diese Stadt wird in Kapitel 3 ausführlich beschrieben.