Research on Spatial Vitality Mismatch Diagnosis and Targeted Renewal Strategies of Traditional Commercial Villages Based on Multi-Source Data: A Case Study of Lanche Village

Traditional villages commonly face functional decline and vitality loss amid modernization, which severely threatens the long-term cultural and ecological sustainability of rural heritage spaces. Commercial settlements, evolved along ancient trade routes, follow distinct spatial logics, yet existing studies rely heavily on qualitative descriptions, lacking quantitative frameworks that integrate spatial structure and functional vitality to support targeted sustainable heritage renewal. Taking the main street of Lanche Village, a typical commercial settlement along the Taihang ancient trail in southeastern Shanxi, as a case study, this paper establishes an analytical framework combining Space Syntax, Platform-derived geospatial POI data, and agent-based simulation. Core syntactic indicators (integration, choice, intelligibility) are calculated, and POI kernel density analysis and pedestrian flow simulation are conducted. The results confirm the traditional commercial logic of “post road as the axis, shop-front and residence-back” with high integration and accessibility of the main street. However, three key problems are identified: low spatial intelligibility (R2 = 0.43), a significant vitality gap between southern and central sections, and a mismatch between high spatial potential and low functional vitality. Agent-based simulation further reveals pedestrian hotspots and “invisible boundaries” caused by closed street interfaces. This study identifies a context-dependent partial decoupling between spatial potential and functional vitality in declining commercial settlements, expanding the applicable boundary of classical Space Syntax vitality theory in recession-stage settlements. While overall spatial accessibility and functional density show a significant positive correlation consistent with classical expectations, local mismatch zones emerge under the mediation of closed street interfaces and functional inertia. Based on quantitative diagnosis, four micro-regeneration strategies are proposed: structural infill, functional insertion, morphological restoration, and placemaking, forming a complete workflow from diagnosis to intervention. This study constructs a multi-scale spatial vitality mismatch diagnostic framework, and proposes targeted renewal strategies corresponding to the diagnostic conclusions. Centered on revealing the decoupling mechanism between spatial potential and functional vitality, this study builds a matched multi-scale diagnostic workflow as supporting methodology, and puts forward targeted renewal suggestions corresponding to the identified vitality barriers. It also provides an actionable approach for the sustainable renewal of traditional commercial settlements.