The architectural heritages of the Peking-Mukden Railway has witnessed the industrialization of China. When it no longer serves its original function, finding a new way for reuse becomes a trend. It requires feedback from reused cases to guide decision-making. This article aims to propose an approach to post-occupancy evaluation of architectural heritages in the Peking-Mukden Railway and apply it to real cases for analysis. The evaluation indicator system used here consists of a hierarchical structure, evaluation indicators, and interpretation indicators. Cosine similarity, entropy weight method, and precedence chart method are utilized to determine final weights. The GRA-TOPSIS method is utilized to identify reuse cases that require additional optimization. The conclusions are as follows: 1. The cosine similarity can be introduced to neutralize individual preferences. The entropy weight method can be used to neutralize subjective factors. 2. Based on the analysis of the sensitivity levels, indicators that need to be improved first can be identified. Priority should be given to spatial accessibility and cultural transmission when making adjustments with limited resources. 3. The GRA-TOPSIS evaluation method can be used to rank and find reuse cases that need further optimization.

This research analyzes the development and evolution of the Jinqin section of Peking–Mukden railway. Based on defining the scope of the study, the project to make “The List of Architectural Heritage of Jinqin section in Peking–Mukden Railway” is proposed. Data acquisition, data processing, and heritage information visualization are completed after the survey. ArcGIS was applied to build the database, which was used to analyze the spatiotemporal distribution. The following conclusions were obtained after analyzing spatial distribution characteristics, spatial agglomeration, and spatial equilibrium: ① The overall spatial distribution of architectural heritage is characterized by significant “cohesion”, while the three major categories of heritage in three time sections show obvious spatial distribution direction. ② The integral architectural heritage is characterized by an agglomeration pattern of six points connected by railway. ③ Both the integral heritage and the three major categories have a large gap in distribution, a low degree of balance, and a high degree of agglomeration. The research can support the study of regional protection strategy and sustainable use of railway architectural heritage.

Historic buildings often exhibit high energy use intensity (EUI), while conservation constraints limit envelope retrofits, making it difficult to identify robust and actionable operational predictors. Using four in-use historic buildings in Shenyang, China, this study presents a pilot methodological demonstration with a controlled-comparability workflow consisting of two linked layers: (i) a Driver layer of intervenable operational variables and (ii) a Pathway layer of calibrated EnergyPlus heat-balance terms for physics-informed interpretation. Three importance approaches (Spearman, wrapper RFE with XGBoost, and Random Forest) are compared; rankings are fused via reciprocal rank fusion, and stability is tested using cross-period rolling validation across Top-K feature sets. After similarity screening, EUI variation is better explained by operational predictors and the corresponding simulated loss channels than by macro-scale structural heterogeneity. Infiltration-related indicators and envelope/infiltration loss components remain consistently prominent, while Spearman importance is less stable in the Pathway layer under seasonal switching and nonlinear coupling. A Top-10 subset provides a favorable accuracy–stability trade-off. The proposed Driver–Pathway mapping supports conservation-compatible prioritization hypotheses within a simulation-consistent interpretive framework; findings are associational and context dependent and should be validated through field measurements and experimental or quasi-experimental studies before prescriptive claims are made.

Suichang County, Zhejiang Province, China, boasts a complex geographical setting and a long history, housing 25 national-level traditional villages with distinct spatial morphologies. However, previous studies have primarily focused on the impact of single factors (e.g., terrain) on village spatial morphology. Drawing on cultural ecology, this study selected 25 national traditional villages in the county as subjects and developed an indicator system encompassing 11 environmental, 4 cultural, and 10 spatial morphology indicators. Using methods including spatial design network analysis and Spearman correlation analysis, this study uncovered the mechanisms through which environmental and cultural factors influence the spatial morphology of traditional villages. The results indicate that environmental and cultural elements jointly shape traditional villages’ spatial morphology through distinct pathways. Terrain geomorphology constrains the regularity of architectural clusters and the complexity of alley networks. Climatic characteristics and hydrological conditions drive alley network connectivity and affect the coefficient of variation of direction. Population and transportation elements promote the expansion of traditional villages. The proximity of ancient roads is related to alley network connectivity and betweenness, while the ancestral hall centroid deviation affects the village’s morphological base. These findings provide technical support and planning guidance for the improved protection and utilization of similar traditional village heritage in southwestern Zhejiang.