Potential of the Digital Information Platform Applied in Promotion of Rural Landscape in China: From Preliminary Practices to Framework Conception

Abstract

The rural landscape is an integrated system of tangible and intangible cultural heritages in rural areas, which includes multiple attributes in terms of culture, spirit and nature. The multi-dimensional, holistic protection and promotion of the rural landscape is considered to be a challenging topic in the academic circle. In the past two decades, digital information platforms have been widely used in the field of protecting cultural heritage because of their convenience, as well as their cross-temporal and systematic nature. However, a digital information platform that is specifically designed for a rural landscape is still in the initial stage of experimentation and exploration, and there is a lack of systematic understanding and overall framework conception. In this paper, with the preliminary practice of the rural landscape digital information platform (RLDIP) in China in the past two decades as the example, a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis is conducted to deeply explore the data source, data type, data organization and functional structure of the platform samples. The common characteristics, potential in application and typical problems of the current platform are summarized. What is more, based on the need for a comprehensive rural revitalization in such developing countries as China, a framework conception of the rural landscape digital information platform (RLDIP) is proposed, and its data-classification system, functional structure and digital process are identified. This study will provide a theoretical basis and technical reference for the digital information platform to develop its potential in overall protection, coordinated development and sustainable management of the rural landscape in the future.