The historical authenticity of historic urban areas has been compromised, and community cohesion has declined, necessitating comprehensive methods to systematically identify spatial textures and socio-cultural transformation characteristics. This study investigates the Jianxi Historic Urban Area in Luoyang from a Historic Urban Landscape perspective, integrating GIS, sDNA tools, and semi-structured interviews to analyze material spatial evolution and socio-cultural shifts. The findings reveal stable street network structures enhanced by road expansions, functional intensification marked by rising residential density and tertiary sector growth, and high replacement rates of 1950s–1960s buildings that improved the area’s physical quality but disrupted historical continuity and heritage integrity. Material transformations fragmented collective memory and reshaped residents’ sense of place identity. This research proposes sustainable renewal strategies, emphasizing refined gradient control models, community identity revitalization, and participatory decision-making, offering actionable insights for regenerating historic urban areas.

This study aimed to determine the characteristics and driving factors of spatial evolution in urban historical areas during urbanization and urban renewal and recommend how to protect these areas. The urban historical district of Zhangye, a famous historical and cultural city in China, was chosen as the study area. The research used a land transfer matrix, spatial design network analysis (sDNA), GIS analysis, and relevant statistical methods. It analyzed the spatial evolution characteristics of the district by considering the transformation of land use, the evolution of road networks, and the renewal of building profiles. GeoDetector was used to explore the effects of the factors. The study found that in the district, commercial and business land increased while industrial, manufacturing, logistics, and warehouse land decreased. The evolution speed at each stage had a wave-like development. The street pattern maintained the basic “cross” shape, with continuous improvements in the road system and overall accessibility. The building volume also increased gradually. The main types of architectural renewal included setback, integration, demolition, and addition. Meanwhile, economic and industrial factors had the most significant influence on the renewal of the district, whereas cultural factors had increasing influence. Finally, the dual-factor effects were more significant than the single-factor impacts.

In this study, we investigate the spatial evolution characteristics and driving mechanisms of the Barkhor Historic Area in Lhasa, Tibet, China, in the context of rapid urbanization and heritage conservation. Using multi-temporal spatial data, an integrated analytical framework combining a geographical information system, spatial design network analysis, and GeoDetector software 2015 is employed to examine land use, road network structure, and building morphology. The results show that the overall spatial structure remains highly continuous within a stable pilgrimage-based spatial framework, with spatial evolution occurring primarily through functional reorganization and incremental adjustment within the existing structure. Land use shifts from relatively single functions to mixed patterns, with commercial and public services increasingly concentrated along pilgrimage routes. The road network maintains a stable structural backbone centered on the pilgrimage system, while building morphology evolves through small-scale infill and localized transformation, preserving traditional spatial scales. Driving factor analysis reveals a transition from single-factor dominance to multi-factor coupling. Socio-economic factors dominate early-stage changes, spatial structure provides a persistent organizational framework, and cultural heritage increasingly shapes spatial continuity and functional adaptation. This study highlights a form of pilgrimage-oriented spatial adaptation in religious–cultural historic areas, characterized by structural continuity, functional embedding, and multi-factor coupling, and provides new perspectives for adaptive conservation and spatial governance in historic urban areas.

Residential historic districts face simultaneous pressures from tourism development, functional transformation, and the need to sustain everyday community life. Taking the Barkhor Historic Area in Lhasa as a case study, this study integrates GIS-based spatial analysis, GeoDetector, resident questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews within an environment–culture–people framework. Spatial evolution intensity (SEI) was examined for 1960–1980, 1980–2000, and 2000–2022, while GeoDetector analysis was restricted to 2000–2022 to examine the explanatory power of recent cultural-ecological factors for spatial differentiation in SEI during this period. The results show that high-SEI areas shifted from peripheral clustering to dispersed local nodes and then to a more pronounced multi-centered pattern. For 2000–2022, GeoDetector results showed generally modest explanatory power for individual cultural-ecological factors, while factor combinations exhibited higher joint explanatory power. Questionnaire results, interviews, and field observations further revealed the continued presence of religious practices and everyday residential life alongside the adaptive incorporation of new commercial and community-service functions. Based on these combined findings, three cultural-ecological pathways are proposed: cultural anchoring, functional embedding, and life maintenance. Accordingly, the study proposes a holistic conservation approach combining refined spatial identification and differentiated management, adaptive functional renewal, and sustained resident participation through multi-stakeholder governance, with the aim of coordinating cultural continuity, everyday residential life, and ongoing spatial change.