Study on the Pattern and Path of Integrated Protection and Development of Traditional Villages in County Areas:A Case Study Based on Guangshan County

WANG Yiding; CAO Kunzi; ZHENG Dongjun

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1000-0232.2025.03.007

Abstract：Guided by the establishment of a traditional village community,the integrated protection and development of traditional villages aim to reshape the protection and development patterns.This is a new practice exploring the overall preservation of historical and cultural heritage,and the collaborative development of traditional villages.Therefore,studying traditional villages'integrated protection and development patterns and paths is important.The integrated protection and development of traditional villages is not simply based on the advantages of scale;it is a process of constructing collaborative and symbiotic relationships among village clusters according to local conditions.Guided by this principle,the planning for the integrated protection and development of traditional villages should identify the spatial organizational logic of multiple factors from a regional perspective,and analyze the level of village protection and development as well as resource characteristics.This signals the need for a collaborative development pattern for village clusters and the progressive guidance of the coordinated development of the traditional village community according to the characteristics of the current stage.Hence,a case study based on Guangshan County was conducted to analyze the current situations and challenges of the integrated protection and development of local traditional villages.The pattern and level of integrated protection and development of traditional villages were discussed through the kernel density analysis and analytic hierarchy process.Moreover,the pathways for the integrated protection and development of traditional villages were explored. The current pattern of integrated protection and development of traditional villages in Guangshan County is introduced as follows:for spatial aggregation,traditional villages show a clear trend of regional clustering,forming a contiguous cluster in the central,eastern,and western parts of the county.For spatial distribution of elements,traditional villages,cultural heritage sites,and scenic areas are concentrated in three distribution belts:the Dabie Mountain belt,the Xiaohuang River belt,and the Long March route belt of the 25th Red Army.These areas exhibit multiple village-scenic area association units.In terms of cultural landscape features,the traditional villages form four cultural landscape zones from the perspective of traditional cultural landscapes,and they present one integrated cultural landscape zone and four thematic cultural landscape zones from the perspective of red cultural landscapes.In terms of regional road networks,traditional villages have a low connection level with high-grade roads,and their construction standards are too low to meet the needs for coordinated village development.Moreover,the integrated protection and development level of traditional villages is generally not high,with significant regional disparities. Based on the previous analysis,the pathways for the integrated protection and development of traditional villages in Guangshan County have been explored.First,a traditional village cluster-unit system was established.With overall considerations of spatial proximity,cultural consistency,industrial connections,and resource sharing,traditional villages in Guangshan County can be divided into four village clusters.Traditional villages in each cluster will be further divided into contiguous development units to guide their characteristic coordinated development.Second,a hierarchical protection and development system for different types of traditional villages was proposed.Traditional villages were divided into four levels according to their comprehensive evaluation results:historic cultural towns,core villages,potential villages,and basic villages.Additionally,the traditional villages were classified into five basic types according to resource advantages:cultural-tourism integration,red cultural leadership,location-driven,scenic area-driven,and characteristic agricultural.This classification guides the differentiated development of traditional villages.Third,it is necessary to optimize a multi-element connectivity network.On the county level,Guangshan County can establish an overall development framework of"one vertical direction,two horizontal directions"to integrate traditional villages into the broader regional tourism environment.Meanwhile,the accessibility between villages,and between villages and scenic areas,can be enhanced by incorporating the display routes of characteristic culture.Finally,the orderly coordinated development of traditional villages should be guided.Based on the protection and development levels of the traditional villages,village clusters can be divided into priority development,key development,and general development zones.Specific implementation strategies are needed for each zone to guide the coordinated development of the village clusters systematically.