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Cultural heritage recognition and rural sustainability in China: Community capacity and tourism workforce participation as pathways to SDGs 8 and 11
Vol 4, Issue 5, 2026
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Abstract
Cultural heritage recognition is often expected to support rural development, but the mechanisms linking recognition with sustainability remain uncertain. This study examines the association between a tourism-resource-weighted cultural heritage recognition exposure index and rural sustainability in China, with tourism-supporting community capacity and tourism workforce participation evaluated as distinct pathways. The UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and the China Tourism Resilience Dataset were combined to form a balanced panel of 31 provincial-level regions from 2011 to 2020 (310 province-year observations). Composite indices were constructed from z-standardized indicators. Associations were estimated using pooled ordinary least squares with province-clustered standard errors, a 2000-resample cluster-bootstrap pathway decomposition, variance inflation factors, an unweighted heritage-count specification, municipality exclusion, alternative index scaling, and two-way fixed effects. The adjusted recognition-exposure-sustainability association was positive but not statistically significant. Recognition exposure was positively associated with tourism-supporting community capacity, and the indirect association through this pathway was significant (0.330; 95 % CI [0.114, 0.499]). The workforce-participation indirect association was small and nonsignificant (0.029; 95 % CI [-0.009, 0.079]), although workforce participation was strongly aligned with the SDG 8 composite. Because the exposure measure and outcomes are analytical provincial proxies with related components, the findings are interpreted as associations rather than causal mediation or direct measures of cultural vitality. Heritage policies should combine recognition with resident-serving infrastructure, community participation, local-enterprise support, employment-quality safeguards, and transparent monitoring of benefit distribution.
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Prof. Kittisak Wongmahesak
North Bangkok University (Thailand)
The editorial team of SSD is delighted to congratulate our Editor-in-Chief, Professor Kittisak Wongmahesak, on his outstanding achievement in the Top 1000 Scholar rankings.
It is with deep regret that we announce the cancellation of the Forum on Sustainable Social Development & Computing and Artificial Intelligence, originally scheduled for June 15, 2025.
