Abstract

The environment in villages in Southwest China has been experiencing constant changes, indicating related change-inducing factors as well as their constitution and hierarchy. Starting from the classification of built environment according to Rapoports view, the “environment” consists of fixed, semi-fixed and unfixed elements (A. Fixed-feature elements: infrastructure, buildings, walls, floors, etc. B. Semi-fixed-feature elements: “furnishings” of the environment, interior or exterior, trees and gardens, fences, signs, billboards, lights, etc. C.Unfixed-feature elements: typically people and their activities, behaviors, etc.). Five representative historic villages in Southwest China (Zhenshan Village in Guizhou, Zhanglang Village in Yunnan, Moluo Village in Sichuan, Huaili Village in Guangxi, and Gongzhong Village in Tibet) were investigated to demonstrate the changes in terms of landscape in the last decade. This article provides an analysis of the dialectical relationship between reservation practices and evolving landscapes from a diachronic perspective. This analysis reveals defects of heritage conservation projects for historic villages in Southwest China. The results indicate the following: (1) there exists an important relationship between unfixed-feature elements of landscape and cultural heritages in historic villages, (2) semi-fixed-feature elements, although being neglected in most preservation practices, show strong sensitivity to mass tourism, (3) fixed-feature elements are highly vulnerable to civil engineering techniques, and (4) the most active change-inducing factors for evolving landscapes in historic villages include value orientations of villagers, relative locations of villages, ethnic groups, customs, and economic development. In conclusion, approaches to promoting sustainable development of historic village in Southwest China are explored.