Journal of Resources and Ecology >
Space Changes in the Rural Tourism Area of Mufu Town, Hubei Province, China
TAO Hui, E-mail: taohui@muc.edu.cn |
Received date: 2020-04-16
Accepted date: 2020-07-02
Online published: 2020-10-25
Supported by
The National Natural Science Foundation of China(41901180)
The National Social Science Foundation of China(17ZDA165)
In a society dominated by tourism consumption, space changes occurring in rural areas can generally reflect their social changes. On the theoretical basis of flow, regeneration and adaptation of rural tourism space, this paper originally and creatively proposes that the spatial elements in a rural tourist area can be classified into three categories: Attractions (A), Towns (T) and Villages (V). By analyzing the spatial transformation characteristics of A, T and V, five types of rural spatial transition modes are found, the types of heritage, theme park, those serving as scenic spots, leisure industrial clusters and ecotourism areas. These different classes emerge due to their geographical differentiation. They show the same spatial evolution trend: The Attractions are distributed throughout the whole area and characterized by diversification; supporting services facilities gather in the Towns; and the Villages are landscape images. In this area the traditional rural benefit trends toward that of compound development. Mufu Town, Hubei province, is taken as a study case, and the changing characteristics of A, T and V from 2006 to 2016 are described. Problems in the process of establishing the new spatial order are considered. In order to realize the synergy between production space, living space and ecological space, the interactive development between Attractions, Towns and Villages is recommended. The perspective of Attraction-Town-Village (ATV) can lead to a better understanding of the situation of tourism space in rural areas and provide directions for thinking about the reconstruction path for the modernization of traditional societies.
Key words: rural tourism; space change; attraction; town; village; China
TAO Hui , GAO Jing , CHEN Kaiqiang . Space Changes in the Rural Tourism Area of Mufu Town, Hubei Province, China[J]. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2020 , 11(6) : 633 -644 . DOI: 10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2020.06.011
Fig. 1 Spatial turn and the social order research mechanism |
Fig. 2 The Spatial functions of ATV |
Table 1 Rural spatial changes from the perspectives of interaction with attractions, towns and villages |
Serial number | Mode | ||
---|---|---|---|
Spatial transition characteristics | Spatial combination evolution | ||
1 | Heritage | The town is both a commercial service area and a core attraction. Along with the development of tourism, the old town expands into a new town with new living functions. Influenced by the industrial economy, the surrounding rural settlements evolve. The surrounding rural landscapes extend outward. The original villages are constantly absorbed by the town | ![]() |
2 | Theme park | There is no scenic spot at first. But then a large-scale cultural tourism scenic spot is created, which develops from one or several specific theme parks at the early development stage. Theme tourist attractions and theme real estate are developed jointly at the middle and later stages. The area where there is a scenic spot develops into a town, while concentrated villages merge into a new town | ![]() |
3 | Services for scenic spots | At this stage, urban leisure space continuously extends to the periphery. In rural areas with abundant tourism factors (location, environment, resources, etc.), new administrative jurisdiction systems are gradually formed, thus changing the ways land is used. With rural settlements becoming fewer, new towns form and rural landscape lands are protected | ![]() |
4 | Leisure industry clusters | The high-grade scenic spots lead to expansion of the service space. With the upgrading of tourism industries, village service points no longer meet the demands of the markets. Scattered villages are distributed not far away from the scenic spots. Owing to the existence of the scenic spots, a characteristic tourist town forms in peripheral rural areas | ![]() |
5 | Ecotourism areas | Scenic spots and the town are normally located in the urban fringe. Owing to the development of industries, rural settlements have been relocated several times, forming a new tourist town. The tourism attraction continuously expands with the development of the towns. Then leisure and holiday industries gather in the new towns, and the original villages are merged | ![]() |
Note: |
Fig. 3 The diagrams comparing land use changes in Mufu (2006-2016) |
Table 2 The statistics of land use changes in Mufu region (2006-2016) |
Area (km2) | Year | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | |
Woodland | 104.90 | 103.67 | 102.70 | 102.65 | 102.57 | 102.71 |
Cultivated land | 45.65 | 44.19 | 44.19 | 41.86 | 38.65 | 38.19 |
Roads | 1.17 | 1.74 | 1.96 | 1.96 | 2.01 | 2.05 |
Lakes | 2.35 | 2.34 | 2.67 | 2.67 | 2.87 | 2.87 |
Construction land | 3.25 | 4.56 | 4.98 | 7.36 | 10.40 | 10.68 |
Total | 156.50 | 156.50 | 156.50 | 156.50 | 156.50 | 156.50 |
Photo 1 The comparison of landscape transformation of Mufu Town (2009-2016) |
Fig. 4 The schematic of the village spatial changes (Type 1) |
Photo 2 The spatial changes of Ma’anlong Village in Mufu (Ma’anlong 2012-Nverzhai 2015) |
Photo 3 Pictures showing the resident changes (Xianghong’s House, 2010-2015) |
Table 3 The statistics of rural industrial changes in Mufu |
Time | Characteristic industry base | Tourism service facilities |
---|---|---|
2012 | 5000 mu of tea gardens, 1000 mu of golden pears, 1000 mu of small peppers, 1600 mu of small fruit, 3000 of tribute base, 2000 mu of medicinal materials base, 4430 mu of vegetables | There were 35 farms and 25 farmhouse hotels. The rural hotel industry realized revenue of 1.5 million yuan |
2013 | More than 10300 mu of tea, grapes, peonies, rape, marigold, and lavender | There were 32 farms and 3 branded farmhouse hotels. An operator’s annual average income is about 50000 yuan |
2014 | 20000 mu of tea gardens, golden pears, small peppers, peach trees, glutinous rice base, and potatoes; approximately 27400 mu of various anti-season vegetables. There were 19 professional farmer cooperatives | There were 35 farms. The rural hotel industry realized revenue of 3.5 million yuan |
2015 | 20300 mu of tea, grapes, peonies, lavender and other varieties. More than 5000 farmers participated in the project of industrial adjustment | There were 35 farms, 14 of which had upgraded to high-grade homes offering 350 employment positions. The rural hotel industry realized revenue of 3.8 million yuan. A total of 203 shops were built in the Grand Canyon Scenic Area, all of which were leased to the land-requisitioned farmers in the scenic spot development |
2016 | Another three new farmers’ cooperatives have been established, yielding a total number of 22 | There are more than 150 farms, 44 of which are star-rated farms. There are 28 branded farmhouse hotels and about 2000 employees in the whole tourism industry. The average annual income of an operator was nearly 130000 yuan |
Note: The data were collected from the author’ field survey and field statistics from the Mufu Government Office; 1 ha=15 mu. |
Xiaoxi Village is adjacent to the main road in Enshi Grand Canyon tourist scenic area. The first investigation in 2008 found that the village was in an undeveloped state, while it was semi-developed in 2013. Three years later the appearance of the buildings, spatial structures, traffic roads and even the identity of residents had changed substantially. On August 20, 2016, the author arrived at the entrance to the village driving along the scenic road, and was surprised to see the dramatic changes. There was a two-story parking lot in the tourist service centre. The driveway along the bank of the creek extended from its upper reach to the lower reach. The surroundings of Mr. Hu’s courtyard were full of tourist receptions on both sides of the road. At lunchtime, I entered a hotel with a specific restaurant and was given a warm reception by a female with a foreign accent. She introduced local food for us in detail. She had come from Henan and got married to a native. The restaurant run by her and her family brings substantial revenues in the peak season. |
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