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China's countryside is rich in cultural heritage. It is an important engine for rural development and revitalization. How to improve the tourists' satisfaction with their aesthetic experience, raise the revisit rate and loyalty, and provide new methods and ideas for re-understanding the tourism experience is a topic worth discussing. This study chose Zoumatang Village in Ningbo, China, as the research target, and explored the important factors affecting tourists' satisfaction with the aesthetic experience of their visit. Through a literature review and eight experts applying the Delphi method, this paper develops a framework of important criteria for the Zoumatang Village aesthetic experience. It then ranks their importance and causal relationships using the DEMATEL-based ANP method. It also combines 16 important factors for tourist satisfaction to explore improvement measures. The research results show that pleasure is the most critical factor of the aesthetic experience offered by Zoumatang Village with interactivity, variety, associability, sociability, and stewardship as factors that need to be improved given that naturalness lies at the heart of tourists' aesthetic experience. The evaluation model of this study can provide a reference for improving the aesthetic experience of Zoumatang Village in particular, and the research methods and ideas for rural tourism development planning and integrated marketing in general. The findings can be used when investigating aesthetic experience, questionnaire making, and evaluation optimization related to tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The secure layout of traditional settlements is key to their sustainability. The criteria and assessment framework for spatial safety have not yet been systematically summarized, and their safety assessment criteria and dimensions have not yet been established. Therefore, this study aims to develop the constructs, assessment framework, and relational network, and analyze the association among and roles of key criteria of the spatial safety of traditional settlements using the Delphi method, DANP (DEMATEL (Decision Making and Trial Evaluation Laboratory)-based ANP (Analytic Network Process) method), and IPA (Importance–Performance Analysis) for case studies. Based on the results, this study extracted the localized elements of traditional settlements to create special local settlements. This study found that: (1) the dimensions of spatial safety include spiritual, physical, and behavioral aspects, and 16 criteria, eight of which are key criteria; (2) religious beliefs are important and have mutual influence on the organization and source of other criteria; (3) the use of IPA found that key criteria together makes up safe living places. Spiritual defense combines trust with the sense of belonging; the physical defense constructs a spatial environment; and behavioral defense involves daily life activities. Spiritual defense consists of psychological consolation and has a complementary relationship with physical defense. Behavioral defense has a social organizational system, which it reflects in spiritual and physical defenses. The spiritual, physical, and behavioral defenses are related to each other, and are reflected in the psychological, spatial, and living aspects. Overall, when taken together, the spiritual, physical, and behavioral aspects of the spatial safety criteria of settlements construct safe living places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]