Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Traditional Villages and Influence Factors Thereof in Hilly and Gully Areas of Northern Shaanxi

Abstract

In recent traditional village studies, spatial distribution characteristics have gained importance as a basis for rural revitalization and holistic protection; however, the total number of such studies remains small, and these studies do not account for the specific geographical area of China’s Loess Plateau. Contributing to recent efforts, the primary objective of this study was to evaluate the spatial distribution characteristics of the traditional villages in the hilly and gully areas of northern Shaanxi and to link their distribution patterns to the conservation and development of the traditional villages. ArcGIS and GeoDetector software were used to analyze the correlation between the village distribution characteristics and the influencing factors, as well as the differences in the influence of each factor. The research results show the following: (1) The traditional villages in the hilly and gully areas of northern Shaanxi present an uneven agglomeration distribution. The Mizhi, Suide, and Jiaxian areas are the main core agglomeration areas, and Yanchuan is a secondary core agglomeration area. An outward radiation forms with the “dual-core” as a center. (2) The spatial distribution of the traditional villages is positively correlated with slope, average annual temperature, solar radiation, and population density and is negatively correlated with the distance from a river and the GDP per capita; it has a median distribution for elevation, aspect, terrain undulation, and rainfall, and the distribution of the urbanization rate fluctuates. (3) The factor detection results of GeoDetector showed that the socio-economic factors had the strongest influence, followed by the climatic factors. The influence of the geographical factors was weak; the interaction between the influencing factors was enhanced, and the interaction between the population density and the climatic factors was the most obvious. (4) In terms of the influence mechanism, this study supports the claim that “natural environmental factors are the basis for the formation of traditional villages, and socio-economic factors determine the direction of development”. However, it is worth noting that the unique natural and human characteristics of the hilly and gully areas of northern Shaanxi are the fundamental reasons for the differences in the spatial distribution compared to the other regions.