Understanding tourist space at a historic site through space syntax analysis: The case of Gulangyu, China

Although tourist development appears to be an effective approach for the further development of historic towns, researchers have often contended that a balance is difficult to maintain between protection and development. This article applies space syntax analysis to provide an understanding of tourist space at historic sites on Gulangyu Island. The relationship between street network integration and the urban fabric as well as tourist preferences collated from data mining are explored and verified. Then, results of the space syntax analysis along with the proposed historic site plan are compared to provide suggestions in plan evaluation. This research provides a visualized and quantitative approach to the field of tourist management via the application of Geographic Information System (GIS) to urban morphological features, tourist preferences and results gathered by way of planning practice. The effectiveness and limitations of this proposed new approach are also debated and substantiated.