Foreword. The endless and essential lesson from the historical human settlements

The research presented in this volume examines Guizhou ethnic minority settlements located in the eastern part of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, in the southwest of China. The specificity and the relevance of these settlements, therefore, refers to a combination of anthropological, architectural, environmental issues. Guizhou is a province of ethnic groups since thousands of years engaged in farming or semi-nomadic production. These ethnic minority settlements were self contained and balanced communities which gradually developed their own specific and unique culture of farming, settling and inhabiting. As many precious and valuable historical human settlements around the world, whose architecture and urban features are not easily replicable for culture, skills, social and economic conditions, the Guizhou ethnic minority settlements are tangible architectural heritage – including intangible values – experiencing high risks due to their unavoidable physical decay, demography, urban development pressure. Zhou Zhengxu grew up as a young scholar in a very unique and outstanding academic environment, the Institute of Architecture and Urban studied of Tsinghua University, founded and raised by prof. Wu Liangyong, the most eminent living Chinese modern architect and scholar, gathering the most competitive scholars in the field of urban design and planning of China.