The development of rural ethnic culture resources is conducive to protecting the cultural characteristics of traditional ethnic villages and achieving the great goal of the industrialized utilization of rural cultural heritage resources as well. Oriented by the goal of rural revitalization, this article targets the characteristics and problems of the development of the Tujia village of Feng Xiang Xi in Guizhou Province. Employing the methods of field investigation and cultural gene identification, this paper analyzes the cultural genes of the Tujia ethnic identity and summarizes the characteristics of its spatial representation. It is essential for us to summarize the current difficulties of rural protection and development and clarify the relationship between cultural revitalization, rural revitalization, and sustainable development, which then puts forward a new path for rural revitalization, especially by virtue of the inheritance of the spatial cultural genes of the Tujia village. Specifically, the “protection of the cultural genes of the Tujia ethnic identity” is determined as the principal policy for rural development, the rural spatial structure is reconstructed based on the study tour of the Tujia village, and the public cultural space is reconstructed based on the inheritance and utilization of the cultural genes of Tujia. In the meantime, attention should be paid to orderly construction, and priority should be given to the construction of transportation and service facilities. Finally, it is expected that the research can provide an implementation path for rural revitalization with distinctive ethnic cultures.

This study focuses on the streets and spatial networks of the historic urban area in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, China, by mainly investigating the evolution of their geometric and topological characteristics. It draws on the theories and methods of urban morphology and space syntax, combines the digital historical maps at different times, and uses methods such as historical map spatial interpretation, geographic information system (GIS), sDNA tools, and urban morphological parameter analysis to explore and sort out the evolutionary process of the street and alley network in Changsha from the early modern period to the present. The paper constructs a parameter system for analyzing the street and alley network of historic urban areas from a geometric and topological perspective. It introduces the indicators of road density, road orientation, intersection density, and approaches such as closeness, betweenness, and intelligibility in space syntax into the parameter analysis framework of street and alley network morphology and spatial characteristics evolution. By comparing the changes in various parameters at different spatial scales, the process of the spatial order evolution of the street and alley network in the historic urban area is analyzed, and the evolutionary rules of the various periods’ morphological characteristics are extracted.

In this study, we used a complex network analysis to examine the accessibility features of changing road networks in historic urban areas. We aimed to discover the pattern of evolution after studying the accessibility of the road network in the Changsha historic urban area over four periods of time. The results were as follows: the layout of the urban road network shows repetitive cluster–parent–subsidiary development, which provides evidence of adaptive adjustment in urban road development; vulnerability has been kept low in the changing urban road network, while the spatial framework of the Changsha historic center is fixed; the evolving urban road network generally shows a deteriorating level of stability, which is largely affected by the shape of the network; the degree centrality (1877, 1.87%; 1917, 1.32%; 1987, 1.85%; 2021, 1.51%) of the urban road network shows a decreasing trend, meaning that the network is generally becoming more balanced in its evolution; and the accessibility of land plots currently used to preserve cultural relics and historic sites remains at a medium to low level, and improvements are needed for some plots. In analyzing the changing accessibility of urban roads in the historic center of Changsha city, two major problems for road renewal were identified: (1) unbalanced development of the urban space due to capital-based projects and (2) providing an appropriate increase in plot accessibility while putting equal emphasis on the protection of the spatial framework in the historic urban area. We conclude that a dynamic review of urban road network accessibility and its targeted optimization are of great significance for the protection and development of Changsha’s historic urban area.

Traditional villages, as forms of significant cultural heritage, have garnered global scholarly attention. This study focuses on the traditional village clusters in Qiandongnan Prefecture, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which includes 415 nationally designated villages. Based on spatial relational analysis and other methods, this study explores the intrinsic relationship between the spatial connectivity of traditional village clusters and their development. The findings are as follows: 1. The spatial distribution of villages exhibits a “dense core, sparse periphery, and localized jumps” pattern. 2. There are five types of development, with over 70% based on agriculture and low industrial differentiation. 3. The spatial connectivity network is clustered, with overall connectivity but a lack of internal coherence, forming a hierarchical network constrained by geography. 4. The spatial connectivity is relatively unstable, highly vulnerable, and exhibits a clear core-periphery structure, where geographical proximity determines basic connections and functional uniqueness drives value-added connections. 5. The overall development potential of these villages is assessed as medium to low. Enhancing network connectivity can foster comprehensive development, and adjusting spatial connectivity could improve its development potential. The study proposes a two-tiered optimization strategy based on the intrinsic connectivity and development characteristics of these villages, providing insights into the development of traditional villages in other regions and cultural heritage areas worldwide.

Cultural Relics Protection Unit (CRPU) is vital historical and cultural heritage. This study investigates municipal-level unit in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture (Qiandongnan) using complex network analysis and quantitative methods. Key findings include: (1) CRPUs exhibit “area-wide distribution and multi-cluster concentration”, primarily driven by natural factors; (2) The spatial network features a multi-group parallel structure with an obvious core-periphery structure, characterized by low stability, poor completeness, weak balance and low vulnerability; (3) Functional CRPUs are key network nodes. Their comprehensive development potential is generally moderate, with positive correlations among potential, the overall network, and individual networks, primarily influenced by historical and cultural value. Based on the findings, a quantitative Integrated Contiguous Conservation and Utilization System (ICCUS) was established, covering spatial distribution, network structures, resource endowments, and development strategies. It provides replicable solutions for the systematic conservation of globally dispersed cultural heritage clusters.

Industrial heritage, recognized as a significant aspect of historical and cultural heritage, has garnered considerable attention from scholars globally. To elucidate the spatial morphological characteristics and the underlying influencing factors of industrial heritage within karst regions, this study employs methods such as the interstice index, fractal dimension analysis, and spatial syntax. It conducts research on the spatial morphological characteristics of nine typical industrial heritages in Guizhou Province. The primary factors contributing to the variations in layout forms are the intricate karst topography and the functional requirements of production. The functional zoning of industrial heritage aligns with its layout, characterized by straightforward functional zones that have not developed into composite spaces. The overall connectivity of industrial heritage is relatively low, exhibiting weak integration, significant disparities in control values, low average depth values, and a deficiency in comprehensibility and diversity of options. This indicates that the internal connectivity of industrial heritage spaces is generally inadequate, with low accessibility, strong interrelations, average convenience, limited connectivity, and generally acceptable passage. The overall spatial, architectural, and roadway configurations of industrial heritage predominantly exhibit a uniform pattern. Importantly, industrial heritage reveals a highly variable overall spatial form, with an average fractal dimension of 1.57, complex architectural layouts (average fractal dimension of 1.50), and simplistic road network designs (average fractal dimension of 1.43), which collectively suggest high spatial complexity and irregular characteristics. This study can provide a reference for the analysis of spatial characteristics and influencing factors of other material cultural heritages, and it is of great significance for the systematic protection and revitalization of industrial heritage.