The importance of seeking a win-win solution in shaping the vegetation of military heritage landscapes: The role of legibility, naturalness and user preference

Garden on the Great Wall—A Sustainable Solution for the Plants on the Top Surface of the Great Wall Heritage Site

“…It must be noted that although the Garden on the Great Wall is formed by a combination of the Great Wall itself and 'soft capping' (original and regenerative) plants on the top surface of the Great Wall, the formation and continuous maintenance of the Garden on the Great Wall center around protecting the Great Wall itself. This aligns with the basic international requirements for cultural heritage protection [10,34,35]. In other words, the Garden on the Great Wall is composed of the Great Wall itself-repaired due to architectural damage-and wall-top plants, which do not pose a threat to the safety of the Great Wall structure in its current state.…”

“…Previous studies have suggested that the plant cover formed by root systems of herbaceous plants on the surface of the brick-and-stone architecture, which helps consolidate the shallow soil layer (0-30 cm), can weaken the intensity of natural rainfall erosion, buffer temperature and humidity changes on the top surface and reduce soil permeability via transpiration. Thus, wall-top plants have positive effects on the protection of the top surface of the Great Wall [10,20,32,33]. The original covered soil and retained wall-top plants are integral components of 'soft capping' and the main body of the 'Garden on the Great Wall'.…”

“…With the broadening of cultural heritage protection and improvement in the protection technology promoted by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), those restoring the Great Wall gradually realized that 'the process of unplanned removal of the wall-top plants also destroys the Great Wall itself and changes the original state of cultural relics'; 'the authenticity, integrity and the historical style of the Great Wall heritage should be protected'; and wall-top plants may play a positive role in heritage protection [4][5][6][7][8][9]. Thus, in connection with the restoration of the Great Wall body, the technical system of plant disposal on the top surface has been a topic of discussion among researchers [10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Confirmative biophilic framework for heritage management

“…This study also supported the proposition that heritage architecture sites should consider natural window views and natural landscape promotion. One study indicated that the natural environment should not obstruct the view of historical structures at the cost of promoting landscape preferences [ 64 ], implying that the aesthetic and natural view of historical structures should be an important consideration while undertaking heritage greening activities. Interestingly, natural decoration and ornamentation are not considered cost-effective or favored in the general built environment by stakeholders [ 63 ].…”