Page 78 - JCAU-5-2

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Chinese troglodyte villages toward tourism

for various reasons. However, in the specific case of the The abandonment phenomenon has undergone an
effects of tourism on practice, we cannot say that we have acceleration since the 1980s, during the period of reform and
encountered gentrification phenomena at the moment. opening-up of China, after which residents in Loess terrace-
like plains gradually moved to new or more significant
Table 3 offers a summary of the reuse highlighted in
selected cases. settlements or, simply, from cave dwellings to aboveground
architectures, searching for more comforts and modern
4.1. An overview of cave settlement development standards. The vernacular architecture was filled, collapsed,
initiatives in the Chinese scenario or abandoned almost in all Loess areas. To avoid these risks,
since the 1990s, various government initiatives have been
The protection practice deserves a different treatment promoted, basically dedicated to two areas of intervention:
and a classification in the broader national scenario. As
explained above, it should be emphasized that yaodong (i) The revitalization and rural development that seeks to
address and alleviate poverty, and (ii) the conservation of
villages and their territorial context are very fragile, and traditional settlements and their productive landscape,
the consequences of their abandonment of vernacular seeking to promote the development of rural tourism
architecture are multiple. Depopulation means the (Li, 2009; Wang, 2016; Zhang et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2019;
deterioration and destruction of earthen heritage, which
is made from highly perishable materials, thus requiring Wang et al., 2021). Among the initiatives, the Loess Plateau
Watershed Rehabilitation project, which is concentrated in
constant maintenance and protection from atmospheric the northwest of Shanxi, including Pianguan County and
agents (Genovese et al., 2021). Looking at the problem from Laoniuwan village, was initiated to avoid desertification
a micro- to macroscale, it is the loss of local architectural and support the survival of farms in the plateau area (World
typicality and craftsmanship, the loss of cultural and social Bank, 2006). Very recently, China’s new Rural Revitalization
integration of communities, and the loss of the sense of has entered a new stage, and a Promotion Law to advance
place. More generally, it impacts the conservation of the the work of rebuilding the rural economy came into effect
historical and cultural landscape.
in June 2021 (Rural Revitalisation Promotion Law, 2021).
Furthermore, in 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture launched
A B a project supported by the Asian Development Bank, aiming
to strengthen sustainable green agricultural production
systems and agricultural value chain, to revitalize rural areas
in six provinces, such as southern Shanxi, particularly the
Pinglu County (“Yellow River Basin Green Farmland,” 2022).
In the long run, this trend of protecting and enhancing
rural assets has acted as a tool to articulate the country’s
Figure 7. Qikou town, Lin County, Shanxi province, 2017. (A) A complex urbanization and modernization project. At the same
of yaodong, which is almost degraded and partially abandoned. (B) A time, this initiative has made it possible to preserve and
yaodong courtyard, at the basis of the monumental complex, having
been rebuilt many times in traditional style with modern materials. strengthen the Chinese historical and cultural identity.
Source: Photos by Laura Genovese The inclusion of many rural settlements in the national or
Table 3. UBH analysis and RE-USE classification

Name Interpretation Protection Reusing Rebuilding Abandonment
Beiying village (北营村委会) x x x
Jingsheng village (静升镇) x
Laoniuwan village (老牛湾) x x x x
Lijiashian village (李家山) x x x
Pinglu County (平陆县) (Jidu, Yaoli, Shijianian villages) x x x
Qikou town (碛口镇) x x x
Snail Valley, in Tongchuan city x x x x
Yan’an town (延安) x x x
Zhangbi village (张壁古堡) x x
The table summarizes cases illustrated above, in relation to the type of action detected for the adaptation of historic underground architecture to the
site’s tourism development strategy. Source: Table by Laura Genovese

Volume 5 Issue 2 (2023) 10 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0940