Research on Implementation and Management Evaluation System for Protection and Utilization of Traditional Villages:A Case Study of Traditional Chinese Villages in Lingnan Waterfront

The protection and utilization of traditional villages have seen an increase around China since the country issued the catalogue of tra-ditional village protection. However, the effect of the protection and utilization of traditional villages has not been remarkable, as physical decline and constructive failure of traditional villages occur frequently. Consequently, traditional villages are faced with challenges through a lack of evalua-tion and poor construction management. As an important feedback tool, conducting an evaluation can shed light on achievements in implementation of protection and utilization of traditional villages and effectively reveal problems impeding such implementation. Establishing a scientific evalua-tion system for traditional village protection and utilization is of great significance to the sustainable protection and utilization of traditional villages. Currently, China has not introduced an evaluation system for the implementation of traditional village protection and utilization, and only limited re-search has been conducted in this area. Existing studies have emphasized the evaluation of the implementation of protection and utilization but pay only limited attention to the implementation process. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of implementation planning and man-agement, and of relevant studies on this topic, the current study examined the methods used to evaluate the effect of protection and utilization, the protection measures and supervision structures from the perspective of achievements and processes around implementation. Moreover, a case study based on the traditional villages in Lingnan Waterfront was used in the current study, with a focus on the local characteristics of the implementation and management of traditional village protection and utilization. On this basis, an evaluation index system is established, which comprises settlement protection and planning implementation, an active utilization degree, new-old settlement collaboration, protection measures, implementation supervi-sion and management. In Lingnan Waterfront, 44 national-level traditional villages are chosen as samples to examine the implementation and man-agement of traditional village protection and utilization. The results shows that the implementation of traditional village protection and utilization in Lingnan Waterfront poses obvious non-equilibrium challenges. Concerning the implementation of traditional village protection and utilization, there are three levels: Good, moderate and poor. Government policy support, urbanization and industrialization represent important factors that influence the implementation and management of traditional village protection and utilization. For traditional villages that are protected, utilized and managed well, the implementation and management of their protection and utilization are aligned with the early attention paid by the Chinese Government to the situation, as well as the impacts of both industrialization and urbanization. Traditional villages which exhibit moderate implementation and man-agement of protection and utilization are often influenced by industrialization and urbanization in rural areas in the Pearl River Delta. Driven by demolition of old houses and the construction of new housing sites for villagers facing a land shortage, the rural landscape and appearance of villages have undergone different degrees of damage. For traditional villages with poor implementation and management of protection and utilization, the locations of such villages are significantly influenced by urbanization or industrialization in the Pearl River Delta. As traditional villages are attrac-ted by the economic benefits, protection and utilization encounter severe impacts caused by urbanization and the construction of industrial parks in rural areas, and are stuck in a dilemma. Ultimately, the implementation and management evaluation system of traditional village protection and utili-zation is established in the current study based on the case study of Lingnan Waterfront. The results of the study not only deepen the existing body of knowledge on the implementation evaluation of traditional villages, but also provide a reference point for action to address the situation.