Mountainous cultural landscapes, characterized by fragmented heritage sites, present significant challenges for integrated conservation and regional planning. Taking the Mount Song Culture Circle in Dengfeng City, China—a World Heritage site embodying the core of Chinese ritual civilization—as a case study, this study proposes an adaptive minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) gravity model to optimize heritage corridor resilience against spatial fragmentation and development imbalances. Based on a spatial database of 294 cultural relic units, the adaptive model introduces a dynamic cultural value weight (CVIndex = 0.82) and a time decay function (λ = 0.05) to capture the interplay between cultural significance and ecological constraints—features absent in traditional static approaches. The model identifies three optimized heritage corridor networks—”Seeking Wisdom in the Mountains”, “Searching for Culture in the Landscape”, and “Exploring the City Along the River.” Compared with a traditional static MCR model (αindex = 0.42; core area node density = 0.74 nodes/km²), the adaptive approach improves network connectivity by 37% (α-index = 0.58, p < 0.01) and increases core area heritage node density to 1.12/km². Space syntax analysis further confirms that optimized network integration values strongly correlate with cultural dissemination efficiency (R² = 0.78, p < 0.01, n = 48). This research offers a methodological innovation for resilient conservation of complex cultural landscapes in World Heritage contexts.

The wisdom embedded within traditional human settlements offers profound insights for addressing contemporary ecological challenges. This study systematically investigates the spatial management strategies and ecological wisdom of ancient settlements in the Yiluo River Basin (Luoyang Section), a cradle of Chinese civilization. A mixed-methods approach combined with historical document analysis was utilized, and the results reveal how these settlements achieved harmonious coexistence between human activities and the natural environment over millennia. The research uncovers a sophisticated system of ecological wisdom, primarily manifested across four key dimensions: (1) Macro-Topography-Responsive Siting Strategy: Settlement locations adhered to the principle of “nestling against mountains and facing water,” utilizing natural barriers and resources to mitigate flood risks and optimize microclimates. (2) Context-Adaptive Spatial Layout: The internal layout of settlements was attuned to local topography, water systems, and wind corridors, enhancing living comfort and aesthetic appeal. (3) Gray–Green–Blue infrastructure Synergy: Ancient water management systems were integrated with farmland and transportation routes, forming a synergistic network for irrigation, drainage, flood control, and transportation. (4) Culture–Nature Symbiosis: Cultural practices integrated human life cycles with natural landscapes, fostering regional identity and cultural sustainability. This study argues that the ecological wisdom of ancient Yiluo settlements—marked by its systematic and adaptive nature—provides a valuable historical paradigm for enhancing ecosystem services, building climate resilience, and achieving human–nature harmony in contemporary watershed management and urban–rural development.

As complex socio-ecological systems, cultural landscapes face increasing challenges under climate change. Taking the Eight Scenic Spots of Mount Song in Henan Province, China as a case study, this research examines meteorological–cultural genes as integrated expressions of meteorological conditions, cultural meanings, and human perception. Historical texts, meteorological observations, and tourist surveys were analyzed within the framework of landsenses ecology. Historical materials were coded using NVivo, while meteorological and perceptual indicators were standardized and weighted through the entropy-weight method. A dynamic coupling coordination model was then applied to evaluate interactions between meteorological conditions and multisensory landscape perception. The study identified astronomical-calendar, microclimate-adaptation, poetic–symbolic, and ritual–spatial genes. The results reveal strong climate–perception interactions but comparatively weaker coordination, indicating that environmental sensitivity does not necessarily translate into effective climate adaptability. Based on these findings, a meteorological–sensory dynamic coupling framework and a threshold-responsive management pathway are proposed to support gene identification, climate-risk diagnosis, and differentiated adaptive intervention. The study provides a methodological and practical basis for maintaining cultural expression, multisensory experience, and landscape resilience under climate change.

Mountainous rural cultural heritage remains poorly connected within tourism networks, while rural scenic byway research insufficiently links node selection, cultural resource organization and route planning. The deduplicated inventory contained 173 officially designated traditional villages and historic villages and towns across 11 county-level units in the southern Taihang Mountains, Henan, China. Spatial analyses assessed village clustering and road proximity. Candidate roads were evaluated across five dimensions using combined BWM–CRITIC weighting and GIS overlay. Official designations defined candidate nodes, and GIS-assisted manual planning integrated cultural resources, node coverage and road connectivity. Villages were significantly clustered (NNI = 0.546, z = −11.425, p < 0.001), mainly in Linzhou and the Hebi–Huixian mountains. We identified 6151 road segments with high or relatively high suitability, totaling 2624.405 km. Recommended routes covered 89 nodes across a physical road network of 1200.375 km; 94.69% of this length was traceable to the preceding suitability assessment. Protected-area intersections and steep-slope risks require further ecological compliance and engineering safety assessments. These findings provide a spatial basis for integrating mountainous rural cultural heritage into connected routes and coordinating traditional village conservation.

Under the requirements of ecological civilization and rural revitalization strategies in China, studying and evaluating the development potential of rural recreational resources surrounding the urban areas of megacities is of great significance for promoting the integrated development of urban and rural areas. Based on the collection and processing of multi-source datasets, this paper proposes corresponding evaluation methods for the development potential of three types of rural recreational resources (nature-historical culture-village). It combines AHP-entropy weight combination weighting, GIS spatial analysis, and Graphab network connectivity analysis to explore and evaluate the potential of rural recreational resources within the Zhengzhou urban area, which is in Central China. It quantifies the contribution degree and development priority of potential points to the overall recreational network. The results show that the recreational resources in rural areas are abundant and have great development potential. High potential points of the natural category are concentrated in the western shallow mountainous and hilly areas, with convenient transportation and a high green coverage rate, suitable for developing as suburban forest parks. High-potential points of historical sites are close to the urban area, and should be integrated and connected with the urban leisure corridors, suitable for developing as suburban cultural parks. High-potential points of villages are suitable for creating composite stations (homestay, study, folk customs) and developing into key nodes of the recreational network. Potential points with high contribution to the overall recreational network should be prioritized for development. In the future, the optimization and development of rural recreational resources can be achieved through four paths of overall planning, key promotion, brand driving, and network collaboration.