Landscape Character Identification in Large-Scale Linear Heritage Areas: A Case Study of Beijing Great Wall Cultural Belt

Under the background of the construction of the national cultural park, China attaches more and more importance to protecting of areas where large-scale linear heritage is located. However the research on landscape character identification in belt areas where the large-scale linear heritage is located is still blank. Taking Beijing Great Wall Cultural Belt as the research area, this research, based on the theory of landscape character assessment (LCA) and by virtue of the geographic information system (GIS) technology, establishes the identification framework for cultural heritage elements in the side walls, castles and beacon towers of the Great Wall centering around the three historical functions of Great Wall defense, reclamation and military intelligence, and explores the technical routes and realization means for landscape character identification in large-scale linear heritage areas. Additionally, the research forms 31 landscape character types based on the classification and integration of natural landscape elements and cultural heritage elements, and then identifies key characters in each landscape character type. Finally, the coupling relationship between natural landscape and cultural heritage and its formation mechanism are deeply studied, to provide reference for the overall evaluation, protection and utilization of large-scale linear cultural heritage areas in China.