The Community Integration of New Residents in the Community Reorganization at a Heritage Site: A Model Based on Tangkou in Huangshan

Abstract

With the transition of a heritage community from a living community to one based on servicing tourists, an influx of new residents seeking to run businesses and work in the tourism sector generates an intense process of community reorganization. In turn, changes in the external environment that take place during this community restructuring combine with psychological factors to affect the integration of these new residents. Based on an investigation of Tangkou town in the Huangshan district, a theoretical model of the factors in the community integration of new residents of a heritage site was constructed using a grounded theory approach. Three external factors such as support for the government, economic integration, and community environment and one internal factor was psychological integration were identified as affecting new residents’ community integration. The model shows that the external factors influence the psychology of new residents, generating a sense either of closeness or of alienation and affecting their community integration behavior accordingly. In the process of community restructuring, heritage sites might benefit from the smoother integration of new residents, so we should give full play to the participation and driving role of external business entities, and looking to improve the community environment.