Using the CiteSpace software and bibliometric methods, with the core collection of the Web of Science (WoS) database as the data source, the development of industrial heritage research in China and Western countries since the 2006 Wuxi Proposal was analyzed. The study found that the latest quantitative changes in China and Western countries’ industrial heritage research have similar fluctuations. However, researchers and institutions in the two places are independent of each other, lacking in-depth cooperative research. Notwithstanding, comprehensive and holistic research needs to be strengthened. The research content in China mainly focuses on the issues of urban renewal, industrial heritage tourism and creative industries, whereas Western countries are dominated by heritage and community building industrial heritage, the exploration of tourism and the protection of industrial sites, post-industrial heritage protection, and new technology use. Finally, by comparing and analyzing the research status of the two regions, future research on industrial heritage in China and Western countries are encouraged.

As the national economic situation improves, concerns about rural issues in China, a large agricultural country, are gradually increasing. Hence, rural tourism has been thrust into the limelight. This research is based on the National Rural Tourist Towns of China (NRTTC). It aims to analyze the spatial structure, influencing factors and their relevance to rural tourism development. Initially, this research examines the spatial distribution pattern in terms of kernel density. Subsequently, the imbalance index and Lorenz curve are used to distinguish the differences in spatial distribution. The Gini coefficient is used to explore the clustered regional distribution. The results indicate the following: (1) the number of NRTTC in each province is relatively even; and (2) the spatial distribution is highly uneven. The degree of aggregation is bounded by the Hu Huanyong boundary, with more in the southeast and less in the northwest. The capital circle is the core density area. Additionally, those NRTTC in the eastern and southeastern regions have a large distribution density and a more comprehensive radiation range. This study additionally analyzed the factors influencing the spatial distribution characteristics of NRTTC, and found four crucial aspects, namely, the national development strategy, the social environment, the geographical environment, and historical development. This research can provide a reference for the construction of rural tourist towns in different countries and regions.

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Rural tourism development has been an essential driving force behind China’s promotion of integrated urban–rural development, sustainable rural development and rural revitalization in the new era. This study included 1470 villages on the national list of beautiful leisure villages in China (BLVCs) from 2010 to 2021. We explored the distribution characteristics and influencing factors based on mathematical statistics and spatial analysis in ArcGIS to provide a theoretical reference for promoting the development of leisure village agriculture and rural tourism. The results show that the distribution of BLVC presents a clustered state, showing a distribution pattern of a dual core, seven centers and multiple scattered points. BLVCs are mainly distributed in areas with flat terrain and sufficient water resources, which are conducive to agricultural production and life. Having convenient transportation and rich tourism resources aids the promotion of rural tourism development. The resulting gap in regional development is balanced to some extent by government support. The research results provide a reference value for future rural spatial optimization and sustainable development. This paper summarizes the law of rural development and clarifies the factors influencing the development of rural tourism, and it provides the Chinese experience as a model for a rural renaissance empowered by rural tourism.

Street view imagery (SVI) provides efficient access to data that can be used to research spatial quality at the human scale. The previous reviews have mainly focused on specific health findings and neighbourhood environments. There has not been a comprehensive review of this topic. In this paper, we systematically review the literature on the application of SVI in the built environment, following a formal innovation–decision framework. The main findings are as follows: (I) SVI remains an effective tool for automated research assessments. This offers a new research avenue to expand the built environment-measurement methods to include perceptions in addition to physical features. (II) Currently, SVI is functional and valuable for quantifying the built environment, spatial sentiment perception, and spatial semantic speculation. (III) The significant dilemmas concerning the adoption of this technology are related to image acquisition, the image quality, spatial and temporal distribution, and accuracy. (IV) This research provides a rapid assessment and provides researchers with guidance for the adoption and implementation of SVI. Data integration and management, proper image service provider selection, and spatial metrics measurements are the critical success factors. A notable trend is the application of SVI towards a focus on the perceptions of the built environment, which provides a more refined and effective way to depict urban forms in terms of physical and social spaces.

As the material carrier of industrial heritage, industrial landscape planning integrates industrial heritage, post-industrial, and industrial tourism landscapes. In this study, we define the concept of industrial landscape planning. As a subsystem of urban planning, we study industrial landscape planning by using the theories and methods of urban planning. As an example, we consider Belgium and identify the main categories of industrial landscape planning as industrial heritage landscape and industrial tourism landscape. We use an ArcGIS spatial analysis tool and kernel density calculations and reveal the characteristics of four clusters of industrial heritage spatial layout in Belgium, which match its located industrial development route. Each cluster has unique regional characteristics that were spontaneously formed according to existing social and natural resources. At the level of urban planning, there is a lack of unified re-creation. Urban planning is relatively separated from the protection of industrial heritage in Belgium.

Along with the increase in modern industry, original facilities and cultures have disappeared progressively, leading to the disappearance of traditional values. However, from the perspective of the stewardship of industrial heritage, preservation is vital for Western Europe, where the Industrial Revolution emerged firstly, and it has leading technology in terms of the advanced stewardship of industrial heritage protection. Meanwhile, there is a large market for industrial heritage growth in China, but its stewardship began later. Horizontal and vertical research into the stewardship of the industrial heritage of these two regions offers a review of the developed industrial regions and experiences for developing industrial regions in their future expansion. By analysing the values and dilemmas and the features of the legal, administrative, and fund guarantee systems, this paper summarizes the advanced expertise of the stewardship of industrial heritage in Western Europe and China and proposes strategies based on them.

This research focusing on the world architectural heritage sites registered in the World Heritage List established by UNESCO aimed to analyze its spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors at the world and regional level to provide a scientific basis for further architectural heritage conservation. Firstly, this study explored the spatial distribution characteristics of the world architectural heritage sites using the ArcGIS spatial analysis method. Then, we used the space–time statistical method to analyze their spatial and temporal distribution characteristics. The main findings are as follows: (1) world architectural heritage sites are distributed in clusters with imbalanced patterns and a strong degree of concentration: in Western Europe, Eastern Asia, and Northwestern Latin America, with clear country distribution, especially in Italy, China, and Mexico; (2) the time of construction can be divided into four stages: the ancient historic sites stage, the uniform and stable stage, the stage of growth in Asia and Europe, and the stage of growth in Europe, America, and Africa; (3) different types of heritage sites are unevenly distributed, and the type distribution differs significantly between regions, with regional uniqueness. The authors also analyzed the influencing factors of the spatial distribution characteristics and highlighted the important influence of the geographical environment, historical evolution, economic strength and discourse power, international heritage protection situation, and registration policy. This study may provide basis for specific guidance and directions for heritage protection for various countries and regions.