Author(s): LIU Run, YANG Yong-chun, LI Wei, WANG Lu-cang, ZHANG Hui, College of Earth and Environmental Science, Lanzhou University, College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Tourism School, Lanzhou University of Arts and Science
Pages: 41-47
Year: 2014 Issue:  2
Journal: Human Geography
Keyword:  social relations; social space; revolution; religious tourist resorts; Langmusi township;
Abstract: As an important content for social space’s research, the change of social relations will easily lead to a corresponding alteration on social space. The phenomena of gentrification, suburbanization, marginalization, spatial polarization and isolation could be regarded as the outcome that dominant social relations cannot continue to exist for certain reasons. In order to reveal the mechanism on how the social relations affect social space and promote the optimization of tourism-oriented social space, this paper, taking Langmusi township as a case study and social relations as a research perspective, divides the social relations into inner-outer relations, inner relations and interactive relations, explores in detail the change process of different social relations and its influence on the social space consisting of religious space, residential space and commercial space. At the end of the paper, it concludes that: Firstly, the social relations, with patriarchal principle, consanguinity and geo-relation as their traditional bonds are inclined to be unstable and the new social relations, with tourists as their central characters, are shaping. The traditional social relations are undergoing the process of differentiation and transformation driven by the tourist relations. Secondly, the social space is shifting from a religious and commercial town to a religious and tourist town. Thirdly, this article discusses the difficulties and drawbacks in the analysis of social relations.