Cultural landscape characteristics and zoning of traditional villages in Huizhou City

Abstract

Traditional villages and cultural landscapes harbor rich historical information, representing a crucial agricultural heritage. This systematic categorization of these zones is essential for scientifically identifying their distinctive characteristics and values, thereby focusing protection efforts effectively. This paper focuses on Huizhou City, a typical multicultural area, examining its rich traditional villages and cultural landscapes through a comprehensive index system covering four levels and 22 factors. To categorize the city’s diverse cultural landscape, K-means cluster analysis is employed, resulting in the identification of five traditional village cultural landscape zones, namely the northern mountain valley, the central plain of the Dongjiang River basin, the south-central plain of the Xizhi River basin, the southern coastal area, and the eastern mountainous hills. Each zone exhibits different spatial patterns and landscape characteristics. While this paper offers a preliminary analysis, future research should integrate advanced data analysis methods to comprehensively examine the cultural landscape to guide dynamic protection strategies and facilitate the adaptive reuse of traditional villages.