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This paper analyses urban entrepreneurialism in relation to the commodification of urban heritage in the context of China. The case study is Lijiang Old Town in Yunnan province. It is found that there are three markets through which profit is extracted from urban heritage: the tourist market, the real estate market and the capital market. These markets, ranging from simple to complex, reflect the Lijiang local government’s innovative efforts to deepen the commodification of urban heritage and enhance local competitiveness. By discussing how profit is distributed, I argue that Lijiang’s local government and its ruling elites have benefited more from tourist revenues than any other groups. An analysis of Lijiang’s demographical displacement demonstrates that urban heritage is implicated in the complicated choices made by ordinary individuals in the face of political control and capital accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UNESCO 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) states community participation is a pivotal tool for integrating heritage practices into sustainable urban development. While community participation is significant but limited in China, various participatory methods have been developed, tested and evaluated worldwide. For example, inspired by HUL, the Ballarat Imagine in Australia has successfully used public engagement in the development of a community vision for local conservation and development. This paper aims to contextualise community participation in China, by testing and adapting a community participatory method, the (Ballarat) Imagine. Imagine was tested in the Old Town of Lijiang as an academic scoping exercise, to critically examine its viability and potential for contextualisation to the Chinese context. During the fieldwork, three workshops were organised with residents in Dayan, Shuhe and Baisha, which are the three housing clusters constituting the World Heritage property. In the workshops, residents responded to three sets of questions focussing on their feelings about local historic urban landscape as well as their ideas about future public engagement in local heritage management. This paper discusses the contextualised approach of community participation tailored to the management of the Old Town of Lijiang, and also China as a whole, seeking to find a balance between top-down and bottom-up processes. This academic exercise confirmed that the community participatory method, the Imagine, can be further adapted to the Chinese context. Further research could test it in other cities, to better face the challenges of rapid urbanisation. • Chinese community participation differs from alike international approaches. • In the Chinese context, a balanced methodology of top-down and bottom-up approaches is needed. • Local governments are expected to play a leading role in urban heritage practices. • Residents need to be involved in the whole plan-making process rather than just informed. • Local elites and community-based organisations are key to negotiate with local political leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better face the challenges of rapid urbanisation, it is recommended urban heritage management is carried out through community participation. In the Chinese context of state centralisation, however, inclusive participatory governance for urban heritage has remained limited, and effective ways of engaging residents in decision-making have yet to be explored adequately. This paper aims to explore community participation within Chinese urban heritage management, taking the Old Town of Lijiang as a case study. During fieldwork, in-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with both native and migrant residents as well as administrators. Based on a community participation assessment framework, the interview guide was developed and then built on four aspects: community participation in decision-making; the competence of participants; the right to social justice and confidence of participants; and community empowerment and equity. This paper reveals the current state of participatory practices in the Old Town of Lijiang and, specifically, discusses the roles of residents, elites and community-based organisations in decision-making concerning urban heritage management, in the contexts of state-centralisation. Chinese urban heritage management needs to raise public awareness and willingness as well as give residents more responsibilities and power to face the challenges of rapid urbanisation, but currently, the degree of participation is still minimal, only between informing and consulting. • Community participation is key for sustainable urban heritage management while it has remained limited in China. • In China, local elites and community-based organisations are critical in negotiation between governments and residents. • The importance of community participation has been well recognised by local government institutions in Lijiang. • In Lijiang, the degree of community participation is still minimal, only between informing and consulting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lijiang City has undergone rapid economic development, and it is important to evaluate factors that will contribute to future development and how to make that development more sustainable. In this paper, we used ecological footprint (EF) and ecological carrying capacity (ECC) to assess economic development in Lijiang City from 1995 to 2007. The results show that there was a sharp increase in EF and a minor decrease in ECC. The large increase in EF might be caused by rapid economic development, which consumed energy and other resources but did not cause serious observable damage to ECC. In the final analysis, this is because the tourism industry plays a prominent role in economic growth in Lijiang City, and is far more important than the two sectors that have a more severe environmental impact: agriculture and general industry. The economic development of Lijiang City depends mainly on comprehensive development of tourism; cultural resources and ethnic cultures are the critical drivers of tourism development in the city. Vigorously developing integrated tourism, combined with addressing concerns over sustainability and protective development of ethnic cultures, is the best approach to sustainable development of Lijiang City. To assure the success of this approach, we proposed a number of strategic measures, such as payment for both ecological and cultural services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scientific approach to urban planning is required to ensure environmental protection and ecological sustainability. This paper presents a range of urban land-use scenarios and their implications for urban development and economic demand in the Old Town of Lijiang. Using geographic information system (GIS) and questionnaire analysis, three future urban planning scenarios were created based on data and storylines for the Lijiang region. In all scenarios, urban growth arises from population increase due to tourism and economic change. However, the spatial patterns differ due to varying assumptions about urban development processes or purposes. The modelling results are successfully illustrated in the scope of possible land-use scenarios for the future and provide useful input for starting discussions on future urban development planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrity of the living space of villages with rich historical settings and traditional culture is increasingly challenged by modern economic development. Sustainable development of such villages will be impractical unless their space is protected. In this paper, the living space for Yuhu Village, an important tourist attraction in Lijiang City, is introduced and analysed on the basis of in situ observations, and principles and strategies for living space protection are proposed based on the historical background and current status. Although Yuhu Village is an excellent place for the local people to live and for tourists to visit, traditional land use, rural scenery, native species and Naxi culture need to be protected, and improvements are needed in water systems, roads and agriculture. Such an integrated effort will help to create a balance between heritage protection and economic development and lead to the creation of a harmonious modern society with intact historical remnants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid growth in land use has caused problems such as waste of natural resources, geological disasters and damage to heritage through the social, economic and environmental impacts of urban sprawl. In this paper, a new model and index system of urban ecological risk assessment (ERA) based on geographic information system (GIS) was built. To identify and classify urban ecological risk factors, three crucial parameters are described: land use features, spatial distance between receptors and risk sources and developed area. World Cultural Heritage conservation areas serve as key receptors, while expansion of land use for construction results in massive urbanisation as a risk source. To analyse the relationships between the receptors and risk sources, a spatial interaction model (SIM), spatial analysis with GIS and geostatistical methods were used. The results show that urban sprawl land threatens Lijiang's land-use patterns. The Lashihai wetland and Wenbi reservoir are at highest risk, while Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is only slightly affected. This research provides further and more comprehensive technical support for identifying potential ecological risk and guaranteeing ecological security in zoning and achieving sustainable development of Lijiang City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are facing considerable challenges resulting from imminent climate change impacts. Urban planning to minimise adverse impacts of climate change at the city level can establish a climate-resilient city. Mitigation strategies to reduce CO2 emissions would lead to a climate-friendly city. Integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation into sustainable city planning should not be merely added as a single level of sustainable city planning, but requires a wide range of multi-level cooperation. Lijiang City has experienced climatic change during the last half century, and its CO2 emissions have increased faster than the GDP growth. Nearby glaciers on Yulong Snow Mountain have been retreating and losing mass since the early twentieth century. In this paper, we identify economic sectors that are vulnerable to climate change, including tourism, agriculture and water supply, and propose mitigation and adaptation strategies to cope with climate change in this tourism city. As energy use is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, renewable energy has enormous CO2 reduction potential. Land use practices, a sectoral approach and public participation are all considered adaptive in climate planning. The proposals outlined are valuable as they provide an understanding of how to implement integrated climate planning and integrate climate change mitigation and adaptation into sustainable city planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of Lijiang City, many empty spaces have been exploited and the built-up land is becoming increasingly crowded. This has caused degradation of the urban environment. In this paper, we analyse the fractal dimension of built-up land in Lijiang City in an attempt to improve environmental quality. TM image data acquired in 2000 and 2006 were used to derive land-use data through a back-propagation neural network realized using Matlab software. Urban form was quantified with the box-counting method. The fractal dimension of built-up land increased from 1.73 in 2000 to 1.84 in 2006, meaning that the respective amounts of built-up land and green space have become disproportionate over time. To obtain a better balance between green areas and built-up land, the area–radius relationship method and the Smeed model were used to find the optimum range, within which increasing green areas will bring greater ecological benefits. This range was within a 2000-m radius of the entrance to the Old Town of Lijiang. Increasing green areas in this range is recommended to increase ecological benefits to the whole city, and the emphasis of planning studies in Lijiang City in future should be on the rational layout of built-up land within this range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid economic development has led to urban sprawl and threatens river systems. In this paper, we used geographic information system (GIS) techniques to examine the effects of urbanisation on the water resources of the Yanggong River watershed in Lijiang City, and analysed the temporal changes in river systems and their impacts on watershed ecosystem functions. The total length of the river systems in the Yanggong River watershed decreased from 786.9 km in 1995 to 674.2 km in 2009 and is predicted to continue to decrease by 35.5 km in the next 11 years according to various data sources. The decrease in river system density started in the Old Town of Lijiang and gradually spread to the surrounding areas. Our analysis shows that urbanisation is failing to take into account the impacts on river systems and their functions, which could cause a reduction in the size of the river systems and degradation of watershed ecosystem functions in the Yanggong River watershed of Lijiang City. It is suggested that protecting the natural river network and making full use of the advantages of the distinctive terrain in the Yanggong River watershed could contribute to the sustainability of urban development in Lijiang City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World cultural and natural heritage sites are an important part of the wealth of humankind, but their protection is threatened by rapid urbanisation. In this paper, we assessed urbanisation-related pressures on the Old Town of Lijiang, using an integrated method based on the analytic network process (ANP). In addition to the data from the governmental census, we also employed satellite images, ecosystem services and sewage treatment data. The results of quantitative assessment of 16 indicators demonstrated that the pressure on the Old Town of Lijiang from 1978 to 2009 has increased with urbanisation and economic development, with the highest pressure occurring in 2009 and the lowest in 1978. The pressure more than doubled between 2000 and 2009, and there was an exponential relationship between urbanisation rate and pressure, suggesting that a small increase in urbanisation rate can trigger a large increase in urbanisation-related pressure. It was found that increases in population and tourism are the most crucial of the pressure indicators. The findings have significant implications for promoting the protection of the Old Town of Lijiang and other world heritage sites under similar pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the understanding of temporal and spatial behaviour of tourists is important for enhancing sustainable management of tourism. In recent years, with the emergence of photo-sharing Internet communities, many photographers have posted their photographs on the Internet and made them freely accessible. Generally attached to these shared photos is information about where and when the photos were taken, providing clues to establish the temporal and spatial distribution of the photographers. In this paper, we described a photography-based approach to analyse Chinese tourists' temporal–spatial behaviour identified from 1308 photos taken in the Old Town of Lijiang. We estimated tourists' temporal variation, length of stay, daily average number of tourists, individual movement traces and tourist hotspots. The results suggest that the photo-based methods have obvious advantages. We believe that this wealth of publicly available data sources with spatio-temporal information will provide a new perspective in analysing tourist flow distribution and tourist hotspots and will be helpful to plan tourism resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability assessment is an essential requirement for constructing sustainable cities. In this paper, we develop a comprehensive method to assess the sustainability level of development of cities (SLDC) in China, and use data from the China City Statistical Yearbook to calculate assessment indicators for Lijiang City between 2003 and 2008. Ten indicators covering residents' welfare, urbanisation and environment were selected. The results showed that Lijiang's SLDC experienced a ‘slow decline’ stage followed by a ‘rapid improvement’ stage, and the sustainability of Lijiang's development has been steadily enhanced during the second phase. This assessment indicator system could readily be applied to assess the SLDC of other Chinese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Over recent decades, urban conservation has become an important strategy to improve urban competitiveness in the global economy. Insufficient attention has been paid to how urban conservation is governed and funded. Drawing on Lijiang Ancient Town, a Chinese World Heritage city, this study examines the power structure and funding systems of urban conservation, how social groups negotiate with the state in this process, and how this framework of governance and funding fits the general patterns of neoliberalism with Chinese characteristics. It argues that the framework turns urban heritage into a growth machine and strengthens the state’s politico-economic power. It also reveals that the entrepreneurial governance strategies are implicated in the interaction between state institutions and social groups. This paper will unravel how different forces can influence the conservation of heritage, and will contribute to an understanding of urban governance in Chinese cities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the role of schooling in constructing identity of Naxi secondary students in Lijiang, southwest China. The study shows that the school assigns an identity of the Chinese nation to Naxi students, while it also plays a role in forming their ethnic identity. The school curriculum, teachers' teaching, and interactions among students influence the identity construction of Naxi students. A qualitative method was designed to collect data for this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lunar observation campaign was conducted using a hyper-spectral imaging spectrometer in Lijiang, China from December 2015 to February 2016. The lunar hyper-spectral images in the visible to near-infrared region (VNIR) have been obtained in different lunar phases with absolute scale established by the National Institute of Metrology (NIM), China using the lamp–plate calibration system. At the same time, the aerosol optical depth (AOD) is measured regularly by a lidar and a lunar CE318U for atmospheric characterization to provide nightly atmosphere extinction correction of lunar observations. This paper addressed the complicated data processing procedure in detail from raw images of the spectrometer into the spectral lunar irradiance in different lunar phases. The result of measurement shows that the imaging spectrometer can provide lunar irradiance with uncertainties less than 3.30% except for absorption bands. Except for strong atmosphere absorption region, the mean spectral irradiance difference between the measured irradiance and the ROLO (Robotic Lunar Observatory) model is 8.6 ± 2% over the course of the lunar observation mission. The ROLO model performs more reliable to clarify absolute and relative accuracy of lunar irradiance than that of the MT2009 model in different Sun–Moon–Earth geometry. The spectral ratio analysis of lunar irradiance shows that band-to-band variability in the ROLO model is consistent within 2%, and the consistency of the models in the lunar phase and spectrum is well analyzed and evaluated from phase dependence and phase reddening analysis respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]