Since the 21st century, the construction of small towns in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been accelerated obviously and has already taken shape, but there are still some problems such as old towns not being well protected, new towns constructed in unified style, regional culture not being excavated and town features without characteristics. Thus, this paper analyzed some actual cases in Guangxi which are successful in designing the overall image of small towns, including Cendou Xincun, Xing'an County and Yangshuo Dongling, found that all constructions show rich elements of traditional houses, characteristics of local houses and distinctive cultures of folk houses, and concluded that tradition was the source to construct the features of small towns, innovation was the basis to develop small towns and culture was the core to sublimate the features of small towns. It was considered that traditional architectures could only be integrated with modern architectures by fully excavating cultural characteristics of regional architectures, combining with regional tourism industry and motivating local people to participate in reconstruction, to enhance local styles and national features, and create a beautiful, comfortable and harmonious living environment, so the overall regional styles and features of small towns can be represented and proceeded, comprehensive competitiveness and strong vitality can be given to those towns.
By analyzing background and present situation of townscape renovation project in Guangxi, endeavors for inheriting and developing cultures of traditional vernacular dwellings in the implementation of this project are discussed, and characteristics of traditional vernacular dwellings in the study area are summarized. Local vernacular dwellings can be classified in the following 3 ways on the basis of their own regional features:First, classifying by the origin and development history:stilt building, courtyard and non-courtyard building, western-style building; Second, by building materials:bamboo-wood building, stone building, adobe building, earth-stone building, brick-wood building, building of mixed materials; Third, by architectural form:stilt building, courtyard building, non-courtyard building. Stilt wooden building in northern Guangxi is a representative of traditional vernacular dwellings in the study area. By giving mature consideration to inheritance and development of cultures of traditional vernacular dwellings, this study proposes that proper renovation plans should be made according to actual conditions of the planning site; form renovation of vernacular dwellings should be taken as the new trend of renovation; traditional cultures should be further explored, demonstrated and protected. These suggestions are of great instructive significance for improving the cultural taste of townscapes.
Characteristics of townscape reform projects in Guangxi and Taiwan were respectively introduced from the perspectives of origin, gist, course, content, implementation method and supporting measure. On this basis, similarities and differences between reform projects in both regions were compared. It was pointed out that townscape reform project in Taiwan focused on landscapes, but that in Guangxi focused on facade of buildings; reform in Taiwan was a long-term movement with higher participation and cooperation degree of the public, but that in Guangxi was a short-term activity. This study, by focusing on the participation of the public in Taiwan's townscape reform movement, proposed that the long-term and unceasing promotion of urban and rural landscaping policies was to make the value deeply rooted among the masses, and then trigger enthusiasm of community residents by using the spread effect of "a spark of fire burning the whole forest". By comprehensively summarizing the successful experience of Taiwan, suggestions were given to the further reform of urban and rural landscapes in Guangxi.
