2025 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 34-52
As global urbanization accelerates, rural decline has become a widespread concern. The surge in peri-urban tourism in China has presented opportunities for historical villages near major cities. However, the prevalent homogenized construction model poses concealed threats to their sustainable growth. Resilience theory provides a comprehensive perspective to address these challenges. Grounded in rural resilience theory, this study compares two villages in Nanjing, China. Differences in their renewal procedures, tourist evaluations, and villagers' perceptions are highlighted. The resilience factors are summarized and extracted from three aspects—resources, morphology, and function—and the differences in the transformation, adaptation, and development paths between the two villages are revealed. Subsequently, a resilience-building trajectory for peri-urban tourism villages is proposed for their sustainable development.
As urbanization progresses, the decline of rural areas has gradually become a global issue. The urban–rural relationship has taken on a new dimension, particularly concerning the survival of rural areas near cities, which is a matter of great concern for governments, inhabitants, scholars, etc. The continuous rise of peri-urban tourism in China has brought opportunities for some historical villages. However, the homogenized development model has also laid hidden risks for the sustainable development of these villages. The emergence of resilience theory provides a comprehensive and multidimensional perspective for addressing complex and dynamic systemic issues. This paper explores the issue of resilience construction in peri-urban tourism villages from the perspective of rural community resilience, aiming to offer valuable insights for the healthy and orderly development of such villages.
The concept of resilience is a relevant framework for understanding the vulnerability, response, and adaptability of systems (Pascariu, Banica et al., 2023). Over time, the concept of resilience itself has undergone profound changes in terms of meaning, academic relevance, and practical applicability (Wilson, 2016). Initially, resilience was interpreted as the ability of a system to bounce back under pressure (Holling, 1973; Pimm, 1984). From this foundation, two different understandings emerged: equilibrium resilience and evolutionary resilience, which are two different approaches to understanding how systems respond to disturbances and change over time. Equilibrium resilience is based on the perspective that systems have a single stable or "normal" state, and they can withstand disturbances that deviate them from this state, subsequently recovering from such disturbances (Lu and Zhai, 2022). This concept is commonly focused on how a system maintains its structure and functionality amidst environmental fluctuations (Davoudi, Shaw et al., 2012; Nosil, Feder et al., 2021). On the other hand, evolutionary resilience rejects the notion of single-state equilibrium or a "return to normal", instead highlighting ongoing evolutionary change processes and emphasizing adaptive behavior and adaptability (Scott, 2013). This concept is more prevalent in the social sciences and humanities, highlighting human agency, learning, innovation, and the role of transformation (Andrews, Crooks et al., 2021; Davoudi, Shaw et al., 2012).
Similar to the diverse interpretations of the resilience concept, the domain of rural community resilience also encompasses various perspectives, roughly classified into three categories: passive reactive capacity, proactive adaptive capacity, and resilience outcomes and alignment with expectations (Dong, Xu et al., 2022). Passive reactive capacity aligns with the equilibrium resilience viewpoint, emphasizing the ability to resist external shocks, maintain stability, and restore the original state (Cutter, Barnes et al., 2008; Perz, Cabrera et al., 2012). Proactive adaptive capacity corresponds to the evolutionary resilience perspective, highlighting the proactive adaptation and transformative ability driven by human agency (Magis, 2010; Zwiers, Markantoni et al., 2018). Subsequently, many scholars have adopted a multidimensional and integrative approach to address rural community resilience issues, integrating the above two viewpoints to shift focus toward resilience outcomes and the influencing factors. Therefore, rural community resilience can be defined as a process of nonlinear interactions among rural economic, social, environmental, and institutional subsystems given the complex constitution of the rural community (Li, Y, 2022). This definition encompasses both the pursuit of maintaining equilibrium and the potential for system evolution. Overall, the fundamental sources of rural community resilience lie in the decision-making and action capabilities of local residents (Li, Yuheng, Westlund et al., 2019) and in the local communities having something that enables them to cope with ever-changing environments (McManus, Walmsley et al., 2012).
Resilience is a multidimensional concept, and the focus of research depends on the resilience “of what” and “to what” (Allen, Angeler et al., 2016). Resilience theory was initially applied in research on community multifunctional transformation, which pointed out that community resilience is a conceptual space where economic, social, and environmental capital intersect. The key to enhancing community resilience lies in the harmonization of all three dimensions (Wilson, 2012). Due to the ease of accessing primary data and the inherent advantage of scale in exploring resilience issues at the village level (Li, H., 2020), investigating rural community resilience from multiple perspectives has become a widely used research approach (Roberts and Townsend, 2016; Salvia and Quaranta, 2017; Wilson, Hu et al., 2018). When discussing rural community resilience, emphasis is often placed on specific contexts and case studies, resulting in various choices for resilience-building pathways. The research on rural communities shows significant regional differences and that their resilience is dynamically changing. Therefore, the tracking and timely evaluation of villages undergoing changes are particularly important. Accompanied by the impacts of urbanization, many historical villages in suburban areas face common challenges during their transformation. By integrating resilience theory with the developmental states of these villages, it may be possible to identify viable pathways for their progression.
This research focuses on the transformation of two typical villages into tourist destinations, observing their collaborative efforts and environmental improvements. By collecting tourists' comments from online platforms, the transformation outcomes of the two villages are quantitatively compared. In this study, we analyzed the resilient changes and comprehensive outcomes of the transformation process of the two villages in terms of their resources, functions, and morphology. The analysis is primarily centered on the tourists' perspectives while using the results of resident surveys as a background for the pre-renovation period, aiming to address the following questions:
(1) In the process of constructing rural resilience, what approach and path should be taken—maintaining the status quo or embracing evolutionary changes to create new patterns for the villages?
(2) After comprehensive integration of resource utilization, functional empowerment, and morphological presentation to construct rural community resilience, how can we perceive the objectives and outcomes of its resilience construction?
(3) What principles should guide the collaboration and division of labor among the key stakeholders involved in building rural resilience?
This study selected two historical villages located in the Jiangning District of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. Jiangsu Province has been known as the land of plenty since ancient times, boasting a favorable natural environment. Starting in the 1980s, the rapid development of rural industries led to the emergence of a network of small towns. A considerable number of farmers underwent a transformation in their identities with a "live in the village while leaving the land" approach, resulting in a unique model of industrialization and modernization in the region, often referred to as the "Southern Jiangsu model" (Zhou, X., 1998). However, in recent years, with the rapid development of urbanization, rural areas have gradually declined and hollowed out. To address the issues in rural areas, Jiangsu Province has implemented a distinctive “Characteristic Pastoral Countryside” construction approach, based on the foundation of rural revitalization policy. This approach focuses on the local context and highlights the unique features of the region, aiming to revitalize rural charm and infuse enduring vitality into the villages.（Characteristic Pastoral Countryside is a rural development action undertaken by the Jiangsu provincial government since 2017. It encompasses various current situations and development types, comprehensively selecting villages with distinctive features for focused development in nine key aspects: industry, ecology, culture, pastoral landscapes, rural architecture, rural lifestyle, beautiful villages, livable villages, and vibrant villages. As of now, 665 villages have been selected as pilot projects, and corresponding construction standards have been released.）
Shecun Village (hereafter referred to as Shecun) and Yangliu Village (hereafter referred to as Yangliu) are renowned historic villages located in the Nanjing suburb (Figure 1). Yangliu was recognized as a “National Historical and Cultural Village” in 2014, while Shecun was designated as one of the first demonstration villages for “Characteristic Pastoral Countryside” in 2017. Both villages are nestled among mountains and waters, boasting abundant natural, historical, and cultural resources. A comparison of the basic information of the two villages is presented in Table 1.（Chinese Historical and Cultural Villages are designated jointly by the Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development and the National Cultural Heritage Administration. These villages possess abundant cultural relics and hold significant historical value or commemorative significance. They provide relatively comprehensive representations of traditional styles and local ethnic characteristics during specific historical periods.）
| Village | Shecun | Yangliu |
|---|---|---|
| Distance to the city center | 15 km | 20 km |
| Surrounding environment | Connected to the mountains to the west, north, and east, and a reservoir to the south | Near the mountains to the north and Yangliu Lake to the south |
| Population |
560 households with about 2,250 inhabitants |
316 households with about 1,350 inhabitants |
| Topography | High in the northwest and low in the southeast | High in the north, low in the south |
| Cluster | 6 natural clusters | 3 natural clusters |
| Renewal area | 42.18 hectares | 25.83 hectares |
Essentially, both villages have undergone governance and redevelopment under the guidance of the government. The government serves as the supplier of resources and entrusts development companies as grassroots agents to implement resource supply through project-based methods, which involves financial transfer payments (Zhou, F., 2012). The agents typically operate in two modes: first, the investment platform of the local government operates directly; second, a specialized project company is formed with government funding as the primary capital contributor, responsible for the entire process of village development, operation, and management (Liu, Z., Shen et al., 2018).
The comprehensive renovation of Yangliu began in 2007. During this period, the government carried out restored historic buildings and converted them into museums. The village also saw the planning of mountain biking trails and fishing sites and the construction of lawn squares, a folk street, and an ecological agricultural park. At the time, the government explored a new approach to rural development, emphasizing the "government's priority investment, guiding and motivating the village to generate self–rejuvenating functions" (Liu, Y., Zhang et al., 2017). While the project coordinated by the development company improved efficiency, the construction was detached from the village. It marginalized the villagers and community in the village renewal process, neglecting the construction of social resilience. As a result, despite significant investments, the benefits were limited, and the vitality of the rural community was not fully revitalized. Most villagers wanted to participate in the village's development, but they lacked appropriate means of involvement and corresponding distribution methods.
In 2018, Shecun was selected as a focused village for the first batch of Jiangsu Province's Characteristic Pastoral Countryside actions. Multiple locations in the village underwent renovation, including the restoration of cultural heritage sites such as ancestral halls, historic houses, ancient wells, and abandoned kilns. The project also involved the relocation and settlement of residents, the construction of a new community service center, and overall improvements to the village's landscape and infrastructure. Benefiting from the trend of rural tourism around urban areas and promotion on various online platforms, Shecun has become a well-known leisure and recreational destination in recent years, reaping considerable benefits. Unlike Yangliu, Shecun strengthened the role of its rural community to some extent. Through the design team, the villagers' opinions were investigated accordingly in the preliminary stage, and a deliberation organization of the inhabitants was set up. The subsequent solicitation of cultural projects from the community provided a platform for villagers to participate in village tourism.
Data sources and methodsSince both case study villages aimed to become tourist destinations, the orientation of tourists' comments can effectively reflect the effectiveness of their resilience construction. The comment data for this research were collected from two popular review platforms in China: Dianping (www.dianping.com) and Red Book (www.xiaohongshu.com). These platforms are typical non-intrusive information-sharing platforms and serve as significant channels for influencing consumer decision-making and facilitating business promotion and interaction. The comments were collected on July 9th, 2023.
An analysis of the tourist comment content was carried out as follows:
| Village | Dianping | Red Book | Total | After cleaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shecun | 1909 | 452 | 2361 | 2153 |
| Yangliu | 331 | 357 | 688 | 397 |
The statistical data on the local residents' perceptions in this research originated from a survey conducted during the early implementation of the Characteristic Pastoral Countryside policy in 2017. In the village, we randomly sampled 30 villagers using face-to-face questionnaire surveys and selected a few individuals for one-on-one interviews. The purpose of the study at that time was to investigate the villagers' satisfaction with their local environment. This included the villagers' views on the village construction, which is one of the backgrounds of this study. Specifically, some of the questionnaire data collected at that time were statistically analyzed to describe the overall appearance and thoughts of the villagers, which were then compared with the aforementioned comments and views of tourists.
In 2017, the research team conducted a questionnaire survey and interviews with residents of natural villages in the vicinity of Nanjing, focusing on their living environment. The survey covered three main aspects: basic information of the interviewed residents, their personal involvement in the village construction, and their perceptions of the future of the rural areas. These aspects provided valuable material on the perceptions and objectives of resilience construction at the social level.
Through field surveys and questionnaire statistics (Figure 2), it was found that at that time, the residents in the village were predominantly elderly with low levels of education, while many young people either commuted to nearby towns for work or had left the village, indicating a trend of rural hollowing. Regarding the village construction, a significant number of villagers expressed a strong desire to actively participate. When asked about the village's characteristics, a considerable proportion of the villagers highly praised the historical heritage and architectural landmarks within the village, believing that these features could attract tourists and promote development. However, when asked about the development of their own descendants, the vast majority of villagers were not willing to see them return to the village for opportunities, reflecting that the village construction had not brought tangible and visible benefits or corresponding opportunities for the inhabitants.
Although villagers in both villages expressed concerns about the future of their communities, they still hoped for development and were willing to assist. The difference appeared in the attitudes of the villagers: the villagers of Shecun were noticeably more proactive, with some even willing to invest their own money. In contrast, the villagers of Yangliu exhibited a more negative attitude, believing that the decline of their village was inevitable and doubting the possibility of modernization. The interviews revealed that while the villagers were aware of the historic buildings and their value, they did not view this as a positive factor. Instead, they felt it hindered potential changes.
The number of tourist comments can reflect the flow of visitors. Since Shecun's development started later, data from Yangliu before 2018 were combined for comparison (Figure 3). To eliminate the interference caused by platform popularity, the data from the two platforms were separately compared. It can be observed that Shecun's number of tourist comments steadily increased during this round of development and reached its peak in 2020 when the construction projects were nearly completed. Subsequently, there was a rapid decline, followed by stabilization. With the total comments for the first half of 2023 surpassing those for the entire year of 2022, it can be predicted that another peak in tourist visits may occur this year. Regarding Yangliu, there was already nearly a hundred comments on Dianping before 2018, indicating a certain number of tourists at that time. Despite the recent surge in rural tourism, Yangliu's situation has not shown significant changes. However, on Red Book, there was a noticeable upward trend; although not as rapid as Shecun's growth, the number of comments also surpassed that of the total comments of the previous year.
The SmartAnalysis platform, utilizing artificial intelligence algorithms, was employed to judge the sentiment orientation of the comments, categorizing them into positive, negative, and neutral levels (Figure 4). The results indicate that tourists' positive evaluations of Shecun were higher than those of Yangliu, while negative and neutral evaluations were lower than those of Yangliu. However, overall, the difference in the proportion of tourist comments between the two villages was not significant. In terms of the annual trends, Shecun generally followed the overall trend in the number of comments. For Yangliu, there was a significant increase in positive evaluations in 2019 and 2020, but it dropped to its lowest in 2021 before gradually recovering.
According to the results of the platform's algorithm, further manual screening of the keywords was performed based on the following principles:
The top 20 frequent keywords from the comments are presented in Table 3 for further discussion, and a word cloud with the top 50 keywords is shown in Figure 5.
| Shecun | Yangliu | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | historic buildings | 11 | sceneries | 1 | historic buildings | 11 | street |
| 2 | village | 12 | landform | 2 | village | 12 | car parking |
| 3 | take photos | 13 | recommendation | 3 | scenic area | 13 | driving |
| 4 | reservoirs | 14 | very much | 4 | ticket | 14 | take photos |
| 5 | pretty good | 15 | Instagram places | 5 | pretty good | 15 | park |
| 6 | stone pit | 16 | convenient | 6 | particularity | 16 | canola |
| 7 | tick off | 17 | canola | 7 | visit | 17 | convenient |
| 8 | weekends | 18 | agritainment | 8 | weekends | 18 | recommendation |
| 9 | self–driving tour | 19 | roadside | 9 | tourism development | 19 | fly kites |
| 10 | scenic area | 20 | transportation | 10 | sceneries | 20 | agritainment |
The results visually display a high degree of overlap of the keywords between the two villages. Historic buildings are the most attractive characteristic features of both villages, and overall village ambiance is a key concern for tourists. Many tourists visit on weekends during self-driving trips, showing a particular interest in specific activities and facilities like parking and transportation. However, there are also some significant differences. Shecun has gained popularity on social media platforms, attracting tourists seeking trendy destinations and unique photo spots. The keyword "landform" refers to the residual remains of lime kiln, which suggests that tourists currently focus less on the village's developmental history and more on novelty. In contrast, Yangliu appears more like a conventional tourist attraction, with visitors focusing on ticket prices, scenic area facilities, and even evaluating the village's historical buildings transformed into a museum based on the standards of urban museums. This indicates a deviation in the atmosphere and ambiance created in the village.
The TF–IDF values were subjected to K-means clustering to group the keywords into themes. The themes are represented by combinations of keywords, with the top ten keywords for each theme based on their TF–IDF values shown in Table 4. The half-yearly trends of the themes are illustrated in Figure 6. It can be observed that after the concentrated construction period, in 2019, tourists predominantly visited for the historical buildings and village landscapes, followed by interest in the mine waste heaps resembling karst landforms. However, this theme was gradually replaced by the third theme, centered around outdoor activities and team-building events, which is now becoming a new mainstream attraction in Shecun. Regarding Yangliu, all three themes are similar to Shecun's first theme, focusing on historical buildings and the village. With the recent rise in tourist numbers, the first theme remains dominant, without any emergence of new themes, indicating a trend toward a single consolidated theme. In other words, the majority of tourists visiting Yangliu have a relatively singular purpose.
| Shecun | Yangliu | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theme One | Theme Two | Theme Three | Theme One | Theme Two | Theme Three |
| historic buildings | historic buildings | riding bikes | village | tourism development | village |
| village | landform | on foot | scenic area | visit | scenic area |
| pretty good | stone pit | reservoirs | historic buildings | village | street |
| sceneries | take photos | team building | ticket | scenic area | flagstone |
| self-driving tour | tick off | roadside | weekends | ticket | particularity |
| take photos | village | campsites | car parking | transportation | ticket |
| reservoirs | sceneries | weekends | pretty good | historic buildings | water village |
| particularity | reservoirs | Sichuan–Tibet route | sceneries | pretty good | open up |
| visit | self-driving tour | drift along | self-driving tour | favor | dependence on mountains and water |
| stone pit | Good looking | hollow | visit | convenient | intense |
Comparing the evolving pathways and tourist comments of the two villages reveals the presence of two tendencies in resilience theory: equilibrium and evolutionary. Yangliu, having undergone earlier updates, has followed a traditional approach of preserving historical buildings in their original state while constructing an ancient-style street as a tourist attraction (Figure 7). This resilience pathway aligns closely with the idea of restoring the original state in the physical context, but it lacks comprehensive reinforcement of the village's overall resilience. As a result, a disconnect arose between the practical living area and the tourist area within the village. It can be said that Yangliu's renovation was comprehensive but not thorough. On the other hand, Shecun initiated minor renovations to various sites representing collective memories, such as historical buildings and lime kilns (Figure 8), gradually driving overall development in a step-by-step manner and achieving a cascading effect of project-driven progress. Shecun's resilience building not only maintained the stability and balance of the system but also created new mechanisms for its operation. Currently, based on the number of tourists and the sentiment analysis results, it is evident that Shecun's vitality has been significantly revitalized, successfully completing a phase of its transformation.
By comparing the expectations of the villagers with the themes of the tourists' comments, consistency can be observed between the goals and outcomes of rural community resilience building during the transition from agriculture to tourism in the case study villages. The initial rural revitalization policy can be summarized as follows: With the support of government funding and the coordination of proxy companies, the construction of environmental spaces and infrastructure serves as a carrier to activate the vitality of rural areas. In this context, the two villages in this study have essentially completed the transformation of their functions, transitioning from agricultural villages to tourist destinations, with varying degrees of improvement in the environmental quality within the villages. However, rural resilience is not only a comprehensive reflection of “thriving businesses, pleasant living environments, social etiquette and civility, effective governance, and prosperity”. It is also the unity of resilience among industry, ecology, culture, organization, and livelihood (Yang, Jiao et al., 2022).
In general, the villagers, as the main stakeholders in rural development and an essential part of rural resilience, were marginalized in the overall construction activities. While the decision-makers may have considered the villages' structure and composition, it might not have been sufficient to support the main aspects of development. In the subsequent maintenance and management stages, there is room to further guide and encourage the participation of the villagers. In the case of Shecun, they adopted a bottom-up approach in cultural project design, where the government took the lead and solicited community opinions, and then social organizations spearheaded the projects with encouragement for the villagers' involvement. However, interestingly, the tourist reviews seldom mention such cultural projects. Instead, some unexpected locations appeared frequently in the comments. Recently, due to the increasing negative reviews on trendy tourist spots, there were dissatisfied tourists attracted by photos in Shecun's reviews as well. Shecun has achieved a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches in a comprehensive project flow. While this approach represents progress compared to entirely top-down project management, it is still in the early stages of implementation.
Rural resilience factors during transformationIn a study focused on the resilience of 386 villages in Jiangsu Province, China (Li, Hanbing, Jin et al., 2022), a village-level resilience assessment framework was developed. In a rural system, resources are the basis of the system’s operation, and rural morphology is an important manifestation of the system's various functions. Rural system function is the ability of the system to interact with the environment, which is the role and purpose of the system's operation (Tittonell, 2020). The resilience factors of the peri-urban tourism villages were extracted based on this framework.
Resource availabilityThe resources of rural systems stem from various aspects, such as nature, history, culture, society, and capital, serving as the substratum for resilience construction and the safeguard against impacts. The cases in this study possess unique natural and historical–cultural resources. For instance, both villages are nestled amid mountains and waters, adorned with longstanding history, and architectural heritages that carry memories. These attributes provide the foundation for their transformation into tourism villages. However, the current disparities arise from their manner of utilization. The historical and cultural resources of both villages have been preserved. However, in Yangliu, this preservation was achieved in a direct, reserved manner, isolating these resources as attractions separate from the village as a whole, which hindered community connectivity. This tourist-centric transformation has not received favorable reviews from visitors. Instead, Shecun's environment and the ubiquitous historical houses are more appealing. Thus, by effectively integrating and utilizing the distinctive resources of the villages, developing extended industrial chains, the enhancement of rural resilience can be realized.
Environment and spatial morphologyAs a subset of resilience, spatial resilience is closely linked to the actual construction of physical space, with its core elements revolving around boundaries, locations, and other morphological elements (Allen, Angeler et al., 2016). A comparison between the two case villages reveals distinct differences in spatial patterns: Yangliu exhibits a more concentrated residential clustering surrounded by natural elements, whereas Shecun appears more dispersed, with farmlands and ponds interspersed between clusters, which is more suitable for environmental updates in a collage-like manner. For instance, Shecun has repurposed industrial heritage into new activity spaces and has introduced agricultural experiential projects, like small farms, between clusters. This approach has maintained the overall integrity of the spatial layout while strategically creating attractors at key points to stimulate the vitality of the surrounding areas. The issue with Yangliu lies in its inflexible utilization of cultural heritage within the village. During the updating process, the selection of locations and methods was simplistic, failing to consider the living environment of the villagers. Fortunately, the original living scenes were preserved, which turned out to be more attractive to visitors than the deliberately restored ancient buildings. This indicates that preserving the original village lifestyle and balancing the activities of villagers and tourists are crucial aspects that need attention.
Function innovation and diversificationAt the functional level, enhancing the resilience of rural communities involves not only maintaining the essential infrastructure but also exploring innovative and unique attractions that set them apart in the competitive tourism market. By diversifying the offerings and introducing creative elements, these villages can captivate the interest of visitors and ensure their continuous engagement. Furthermore, a comprehensive understanding of tourists' preferences and expectations is paramount in crafting a successful functional framework. Conducting thorough market research allows these villages to identify untapped opportunities and tailor their offerings to match the evolving needs of their target audience. Integrating tourists' comments, the attraction of rural tourism lies in its differences from urban areas, such as the cobblestone roads in the countryside compared to the asphalt roads in the city. This creation of a different atmosphere stems from the differing lifestyles between rural and urban areas, leading to different spatial functions due to varying needs. Respecting the rural lifestyle and its required functions rather than blindly imitating urban areas is the source of rural vitality. Adaptability and continuous improvement will ensure that the villages remain relevant and attractive to tourists, thus fostering sustainable growth in the tourism sector and supporting the overall resilience-building process.
Resilience mechanisms and sustainable developmentThe sustainability of villages depends on social, environmental, and governance aspects (Yuliastuti, Esariti et al., 2024). Although the two villages in this study share some similarities in their basic conditions, their current development trajectories differ significantly. Thus, their neighboring villages should carefully consider their unique strengths and choose an appropriate path for building resilience. Failing to do so may lead to homogenization in rural tourism, resulting in losses for the regional tourism industry.
While Shecun appears to be more prosperous at present, it is crucial to recognize that its current popularity might be influenced by the trend of peri-urban tourism. After the initial period of growth in its transformation, there has been a decline in tourist numbers. Beyond the impact of COVID-19, it is essential to acknowledge the significance of tourist loyalty for the sustainable long-term development of a tourist destination. According to the mechanism of rural resilience (from resistance to adaptation and transformation), if future shocks arise from shifts in tourist demands or policies, new situations may emerge.
As both village residents and tourists share similar perceptions of the village's unique features, the villagers, being more familiar with the actual conditions, can have a positive influence on various aspects of the village's development. Implementing community participation can reduce cost, increase the use of local resources, and socially empower the community (Wikantiyoso, Cahyaningsih et al., 2021). Contrary to the rapid construction is the gradual shift in the awareness of the inhabitants. Rural areas are inherently conducive to a natural pace of life, and villagers are risk-averse producers and consumers. Despite the rapid evolution of material conditions, there is no fundamental distinction for the local villagers. A gradual and extended process is required to ensure that the villagers will fully embrace and actively participate in the transformation of the village's functionalities. Therefore, it is essential for the government, agents, and local community managers to provide proper guidance at the right timing, aligning with the goals of building resilience to drive the vitality of the rural community. Establishing a "community planner system" might be a viable approach (Chen Tsai, Song et al., 2021). In summary, for project-based renovations of villages, it is essential to balance the needs of the villagers and others and coordinate resource utilization, environmental renewal, and functional transformation (Figure 9).
We conducted a comparative study on the perspective of rural community resilience, analyzing and comparing the goals, methods, paths, and outcomes of two tourist villages in the vicinity of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. The empirical findings illustrate different effects of the resilience mindset on equilibrium and evolution in practice. We identified and extracted resilience elements from three aspects—resources, morphology, and function—providing insights into the mechanisms and development patterns of resilience. This study highlights that resilience comes from multiple facets and requires comprehensive planning, particularly emphasizing the construction of social resilience. As a dynamic concept, rural community resilience demands appropriate construction paths and methods at different stages, which should be tailored to the specific circumstances of each village. The foundation of the transformation of tourist villages lies in the needs of both villagers and tourists, which also serve as sources of rural vitality.
This research has some limitations, as the data on the subsequent maintenance of resilience in the villages and the current situation of the residents mainly rely on brief visits, and systematic first-hand data are lacking. To address this, follow-up questionnaires and interviews will be conducted with villagers to supplement their current intentions and actual participation, so as to analyze the resilience construction successively in more detail.
Based on the research findings, several recommendations are proposed to foster the resilience and timely multifunctional transformation of rural communities within urban outskirts as a response to the evolving urban–rural relationship:
Conceptualization, Y.Y.; methodology, Y.Y.; software, Y.Y.; investigation, Y.Y. and Y.W.; resources, Y.Y. and Y.W.; data curation, Y.Y.; writing—original draft preparation, Y.Y.; writing—review and editing, Y.Y. and Y.W.; supervision, Y.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript..
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of the paper.
Thanks to the other members of the team for their work during the field survey and questionnaire collection. Special thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.
