Culturally Grounded Perceptions of Rural Landscapes: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of ZhuZhen Town and the Wairarapa Region

<p><strong>The processes of globalisation and rapid urbanisation have resulted in substantial alterations to rural landscapes across the globe, influencing both their tangible characteristics and how they are perceived. This study represents a pragmatic, case-study analysis on how socio-ethnic backgrounds influence the feelings and outlooks for rural landscapes by comparing the rural area of ZhuZhen Town (China) and Wairarapa (New Zealand). The comparison of two culturally different districts creates a special framework for exploring the complex ties of cultural heritage, development, and image perception for rural landscapes.</strong></p><p>This study is designed to use the mixed-methods methodology. Whilst quantitative surveys were carried outside the ZhuZhen Town (N=142) and Wairarapa (N=82), qualitative interviews were carried within ZhuZhen Town (N=20) and Wairarapa (N=15). Data was analysed through grounded theory. The comprehensive Mixed Approach method enabled getting a detailed understanding on the different cultural groups’ perceptions and values towards their rural habitat.</p><p>The most important findings show that although both regions have the same values in beauty of nature, heritage, and sustainable development, there are still significant differences in perception of the landscape. As China’s development pace has accelerated, respondents of ZhuZhen Town have shown more concerns with economic potential and connected infrastructure, indicating China’s different development path. Respondents of Wairarapa have put more emphasis on environmental protection and first-hand experiences with nature, indicating New Zealand’s strong spirit and practices of environmental conservation. The research indicated that gender, occupation, and ethnicity have an explicit impact on landscape preferences in both countries. These findings emphasize the necessity of all-inclusive landscape planning.</p><p>This research revealed 5 important aspects that influenced area-specific rural landscape perception patterns which were based on the difference in cultural and development environment between ZhuZhen Town and the Wairarapa. It covered aspect of sustainable development, culture, community and cultural diversity, tourism, human-nature relationship. These were shown as a multifactorial complexity of landscape perception.</p><p>The research provided a significant contribution to the field, as it demonstrated a cross-cultural comparative framework of rural landscape perception. It also offered insights into the impact of socio-evaluations of rural landscape perception, as well as socio-ethnic differences in preferences and perceptions of tourism development in rural landscapes. The findings are significant for culturally appropriate landscape management plans, inclusive landscape planning, and sustainable tourism development in rural areas.</p><p>The socio-ethnic background showed a significant impact on the perceptions of the rural landscape of ZhuZhen Town and the Wairarapa. It can be observed that cultural values, economic priorities, and their individual experiences played a significant role in the perceptions and evaluations of the rural landscape of the individuals. The tourism developed landscape in perceptions, specifically of ZhuZhen Town. However, the Wairarapa paid more attention to conserving in the natural environment and enhancing community identity. These results demonstrated how deeply cultural context, economic development, and individual perspectives are interwoven, affecting how landscapes are perceived. The study showed the need for culturally sensitive and locality-specific approaches to managing and developing rural landscapes. Through the recognition and integration of these differing perspectives, policymakers and planners to develop more effective strategies to sustainably manage and develop rural landscapes that will not only match expectations of local communities, but also of those visiting the area.</p>