Spatial Heterogeneity and Influence Factors of Traditional Villages in the Wuling Mountain Area, Hunan Province, China Based on Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression

Abstract

Traditional villages are the spatial carriers of the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation, the concentrated expression of thousands of years of farming civilization, and a nonrenewable precious cultural heritage. However, in recent decades, with the rapid development of urbanization and modernization, traditional villages have rapidly declined or even disappeared. Therefore, exploring the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of traditional villages and clarifying their formation and development laws, can provide a new perspective for the continuity protection of traditional villages on a cross-regional scale. This study takes six batches of 462 traditional villages in the Wuling Mountains, Hunan, China as the research object. On the basis of the analysis of the spatial distribution characteristics of overall and different ethnic minority traditional villages, this research proposes the idea of simulating the spatial distribution mechanism of traditional villages by using the multiscale geographical weighted regression (MGWR) model. Results indicate that (1) the spatial distribution of the traditional villages of the overall and different ethnic minorities shows significant agglomeration characteristics (among them, traditional Miao and Tujia villages have formed the main and sub cores of the space gathering of traditional villages in the Wuling Mountains in Hunan); and (2) compared with the least squares (OLS) method and the classic geographical (GWR) weighted regression model, the MGWR model can reflect the impact scales of different factors, and the simulation effect is better. From the perspective of influence factors, natural factors are the basis of affecting the distribution of traditional villages in the Wuling Mountain area and are generally positively correlated. Socioeconomic factors have a dual influence on the spatial distribution of traditional villages and generally have a negative correlation. Cultural factors are the key to the spatial distribution of traditional villages and are generally positively correlated. Spatial factors have no significant impact on the spatial distribution of traditional villages. On the basis of these conclusions, this study discusses the relevant strategies for the protection and development of traditional villages.