Cultural Landscape

Public perceptions and preferences of urban cultural landscape:
A case study in Suzhou, China

Humanity has influenced and changed the large majority of the earth’s landscapes, especially those in urban areas. There is no doubt that it is crucial to include human dimensions – perceptions, attitudes, preferences etc. – in terms of landscape inheritance, conservation, development and management or what.

Public perception and preference research has a long lasting history in landscape subjects, and has been playing an important role in practical implementation. This study will be conducted in Suzhou, China – a typical Chinese city with numerous ancient cultural heritages and facing endless modernization and urbanization.

Literate review will be thoroughly carried out on respect to the processes, states, significances of human dimensions for landscapes. The interpretation of historical materials about landscape changes during decades of the research site will be completed. The targeted objects will be the residents there and visitors. There are still more than 200.000 permanent residents living in the research core, who represent the main force of conserving the ancient heritages lasted thousands years. Therefore, their attitudes towards the landscape changes, ancient landscape elements or symbols are vital, and should be included in routines for landscape design, management and conservation. Moreover, up to millions of visitors from both inside and outside of China come to Suzhou every year, which makes the study concerning their perceptions and preferences even more critical. The well-structured questionnaires, together with semi-open or open interviews will be applied aimed at different targeted groups, and the results will be interpreted and evaluated based on scientific theories and methodologies in both quantitative and qualitative ways. Eventually, how these findings could be used to inform the landscape policy-makers, designer, planner or managers and how to transfer the results into practical status in other cities of China or even in other developing countries facing the same dilemmas would be generated.

January 2011 - February 2016

China Scholarship Council

Yang Zhang