Continuous Space Production of Living Heritage Sites Based on TSL Model: A Case Study of the Old Town of Lijiang

Abstract

Living heritage sites will have continuous changes in continuous use, and the general rule of their evolution has not been systematically studied. The evolution of living heritage sites is a continuous space production process. It is of great significance to reveal its characteristics and logic for the protection, utilization and inheritance of living heritage sites. Tradition, site and living are the three elements to express the liveness of heritage sites. The three elements are coupled with the "spatial ternary dialectics" (representation of space - space practice-space of representation) to build a TSL (Tradition-Site-Living) model. Applying this model to study Old Town of Lijiang, it is found that: 1) The Old Town has experienced three stages of space production, namely "consumption in space" around the intention of the ruling class under the guidance of political function, "production in space" around the needs of the citizen class under the guidance of industrial and commercial function, and "space production and consumption" centered on the activities of outside operators and tourists under the guidance of tourism function. Core communities have played a key role, and the reconstruction of core communities in different periods has a direct impact on the transformation of space production. 2) The change of external environment factors promotes the succession of the core use functions of the Old Town, triggering the interaction of living, site and tradition, so as to realize the space production process of each stage. The function adjustment is inseparable from the transformation of physical space, and the shaping of place will lead to the change of social life and the variation of cultural tradition. The power subject in social relations restricts the shaping of place and guides social life through traditional construction. The reconstruction of social relations can promote cultural exchanges and traditional evolution, and the transformation of lifestyle will promote the adjustment and optimization of physical space. 3) The continuous space production of living heritage sites is the result of the operation of endogenous mechanism driven by external factors, which follows three logics: the continuous change of time and space, the driving of external environmental factors and the operation of internal living elements. The logic of temporal and spatial continuous change shows that the living heritage sites are constantly changing in the continuous space production, but always inherit the historical and cultural value. The driving logic of external environmental factors shows that the change of external political and economic environment leads to the transformation of physical space, and the change of external social and cultural environment leads to the change of social structure, lifestyle and cultural representation. The operation logic of internal living elements shows that the ternary interaction of "living-site-tradition" is the operating mechanism of continuous space production of living heritage sites. The living heritage site is a space-time continuum composed of time, environment and space, and the TSL model provides a theoretical framework for revealing the basic rule of continuous changes in living heritage sites.

Keywords

• continuous space production
• living heritage site
• tsl model
• spatial ternary dialectics
• old town of lijiang