Heritage Spatial Association and Influencing Factors for Huizhou Traditional Villages

Integrated conservation has become a mainstream principle for protecting traditional village heritage. However, regional-scale conservation research still has notable deficiencies: the heterogeneous quality of traditional villages’ heritage is often overlooked, and systematic exploration of the spatial associations of heritage remains insufficient. Taking Huizhou traditional villages as the research object, this study first identified the spatial agglomeration characteristics of village heritage resources, quantitatively analysed the intensity of heritage spatial association, and revealed the core driving factors of inter-village heritage correlation. The results indicated significant spatial heterogeneity in the heritage value of Huizhou traditional villages. Their heritage distribution exhibited three typical spatial association types—high-high (H-H) clustering, low-high (L-H) clustering, and high-low (H-L) clustering—presenting marked network-based spatial correlation characteristics. This study further clarified the distinct influences of natural, social, and economic factors on heritage spatial association. Among these, social conditions—particularly those reflecting linguistic attributes and accessibility, as measured by the distance to the central city—played a pivotal role in shaping the spatial association of Huizhou’s traditional village heritage. Economic factors contributed only to a limited extent. The research findings provide a scientific basis for formulating targeted policies for the concentrated and contiguous conservation of traditional villages. Additionally, the results can support the collaborative and efficient utilisation of regional heritage resources and facilitate the sustainable inheritance and innovative development of traditional village cultural heritage.