Identification, inheritance and restoration of traditional village landscape gene: a case study of Lidipo Village in Tongchuan, Shaanxi Province

Traditional villages preserve irreplaceable tangible and intangible cultural landscapes, which concentratedly exhibit the distinctive civilization of China. With the development of urbanization, traditional villages are facing many development crises, necessitating comprehensive identification of landscape elements and explore protection pathways. In this study, we introduced the landscape gene theory and proposed a novel dual-strand model of "material-cultural" landscape genes of traditional villages consisting of 7 dimensions and 24 indicators to identify the landscape characteristics of the villages. Subsequently, the genetic mechanism and outcome of the traditional village landscape were elucidated by combining biological genetic characteristics with the evolution process of the village landscape genes. Then, combined with AHP-Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation method, a comprehensive evaluation system of genetic inheritance of traditional village landscape was constructed for multiple stakeholders of the village. The genetic inheritance results were screened according to the evaluation scores, capturing the maladaptive variations of landscape genes to guide the restoration of landscape genes. Finally, considering Lidipo Village in Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province as an example, the landscape genes of Lidipo Village were identified, the genetic evaluation results of tourists and villagers were collected the maladaptive variations of landscape genes were screened and restorated. This study not only can realise the whole elements of village landscape capture, but also can accurately capture the genetic inheritance situation of landscape genes. The insights are advantageous for existing village landscape construction. Furthermore, the results provide scientific methods for the sustainable development of "each village with distinct features" in Lidipo Village and more traditional villages.