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Article

Optimization Strategies of Commercial Layout of Traditional Villages Based on Space Syntax and Space Resistance Model: A Case Study of Anhui Longchuan Village in China

by
Yunfeng Huang
1,
Zhipeng Zhang
1,
Junsheng Fei
2 and
Xiang Chen
1,*
1
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232001, China
2
School of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Buildings 2023, 13(4), 1016; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/buildings13041016
Submission received: 5 March 2023 / Revised: 19 March 2023 / Accepted: 11 April 2023 / Published: 12 April 2023
(This article belongs to the Section Building Energy, Physics, Environment, and Systems)
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Abstract

:
Huizhou villages are representatives of traditional villages and have a high historical, cultural, and tourism value. In view of the problems of low commercial efficiency due to the small scale of commercial space and the imperfect layout in Longchuan Village, Jixi County, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, this research explores the spatial advantages of Longchuan Village’s commercial layout through an analysis of street and lane space syntax and a commercial space resistance model. The research on the spatial syntax of streets mainly focuses on the analysis of the spatial accessibility, line-of-sight integration, and spatial comprehensibility of Longchuan Village’s streets. The commercial space resistance model mainly studies the attraction of tourism resources to tourists in order to select the most suitable area for the layout of commercial space. The results of the analysis show the following: (1) The integration degree of traffic and the sight line is relatively high at County Road and Water Street in Longchuan Village, so these two places have better accessibility and more sight lines. (2) Longchuan Village has a good spatial understanding in a small area, so it is not suitable to distribute commercial space but rather to centralize it. (3) In the commercial space layout resistance model, the area around Water Street and Qixing Pond has the smallest spatial resistance and the greatest opportunity for population gathering, making it the most suitable for a commercial layout. On the basis of the analysis results, this paper puts forward an optimization strategy of Longchuan Village’s commercial space layout in a targeted manner to help Longchuan Village achieve a better commercial layout. The research contribution of this paper will help planners and architects to take advantage of space to plan the commercial space of traditional tourist villages so that they can exert a better commercial value and tourism effect and to promote the tourism development of traditional villages across the country.

1. Introduction

1.1. Development Background

China has a vast land and a complex geographical environment, resulting in many traditional villages. Traditional villages are representative of Chinese villages, with a rich farming culture. Therefore, scholars and experts place great emphasis on protecting traditional villages. Relying on geographic information technology, Xie established a digital protection platform to provide protection for traditional villages [1]. Wang constructed a theoretical research model for the protection of traditional villages, and they took the southwest region in China as an example to analyze the level of regional protection of traditional villages and its influencing factors from a macro-perspective [2]. Based on a survey of the current situation of traditional villages in different regions of China, Guo used survey data to deeply analyze common issues in the protection and development of traditional villages [3]. Not only can the evaluation system established by Wang promote the research paradigm of traditional villages, the coupling degree, and sustainable development assessments, but it can also widely guide and be applied to the practice of traditional village protection in China [4]. Xie took 454 core documents from 1998 to 2020 as the research object, and they used CiteSpace software to analyze a knowledge map of the author, organization, and keywords of the documents so as to grasp the overall situation of the research on traditional village landscapes in China [5].
Although the protection of traditional villages is very important, development is also important. With the background of the rural revitalization strategy and the requirements of protecting original styles and cultural atmospheres, solutions are required to develop village industries and to increase the employment of villagers [6]. Tourism is the driving force for the development of traditional Huizhou villages [7,8]. Promoting the rational development of commerce in villages can enhance their competitiveness, thereby promoting tourism and gradually realizing rural revitalization [9,10].

1.2. Research Background

In traditional village planning and commercial space research, many scholars have made important contributions. Hu’s study showed that village planning requires transformation and governance innovation [11]. Tong and his team found that the failure of local governments to effectively participate in the planning process is the main reason why planning does not conform to the actual situation of villages and so cannot meet the needs of villagers or contribute to the development of villages [12]. Wan studied two villages with different cultures, and their research showed that industrial development, local culture, and a management system were the main driving forces to achieve rural revitalization in the two different villages [13]. Chen and his team studied the mechanism analysis and the planning strategies of local industries driving rural development [14]. Guo proposed a layout optimization strategy for rural residential areas based on a suitability evaluation and a spatial resistance model [15]. Due to the insufficient consideration of the impact and feedback of the spatial layout and the expansion of the rural residential land on the natural environment, Hong studied an ecological suitability evaluation of rural residential land based on a minimum cumulative resistance model [16]. Guo’s research shows that the original residential function of traditional villages can be replaced by commercial functions, such as homestay, to realize spatial production [17]. Xu studied the development characteristics and mechanisms of commercial space in historical blocks from the perspective of practitioners [18]. Sun studied Anhui Hong Village by analyzing its integration and intelligibility, probing into its spatial structure and understanding its current spatial features with space syntax, and then they proposed a space and commercial layout optimization suggestion to guide and offer a reference for the development of tourism in other traditional villages [19].

1.3. Research Review

However, previous studies have mainly focused on processes such as government participation, industrial development, rural residential area planning, and urban commercial space [20,21,22]. There are few studies on specific methods of rural commercial space planning. With the rise of traditional village tourism, an increasing number of scholars have paid attention to the planning of commercial space in traditional villages, but usually only spatial syntax is used, and the analysis method is not comprehensive enough [19]. In addition to paying attention to the protection and environmental issues of villages, attention should be paid to villages’ commercial space development and villagers’ economic needs.
The commercialization of traditional villages is the process of gradually increasing the commercial space with the background of tourism development. This has two sides: On the one hand, it can stimulate their vitality, increase villagers’ incomes, improve living standards, and provide tourists with high-quality services. On the other hand, excessive commercialization will damage the cultural atmosphere and traditional features to a certain extent, as well as degrade the tourist experience [23]. A field investigation showed that the commercial space of Longchuan Village is relatively small, the tourism industry is simple, and the tourist experience requires improvement. Villagers expressed a strong desire for development, and a certain degree of rational commercialization can improve overall tourism quality [24].

1.4. Research Aim

The main purpose of this study is to improve the use efficiency and the rationality of the geographical location of the commercial space in Longchuan Village by using optimization strategies for the commercial space layout. At the same time, it provides scientific and reasonable planning methods and a planning basis for the inevitable commercialization of traditional villages. This paper aims to help traditional villages to enhance their commercial and tourism values, enhance tourists’ experience, and increase the economic income of villagers. We call on scholars to actively study traditional commercial space.

1.5. Paper Overview and Structure

This article mainly consists of five sections, which are the Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions Sections. First of all, we are concerned that there are certain problems in the commercial spatial layout of Longchuan Village in Anhui Province, China, affecting its tourism development. Secondly, in response to these issues, we collect some spatial data and survey data. Using these data, we can understand the advantages of the commercial space layout from the perspective of street space by analyzing the spatial syntax. Moreover, using the method of the commercial space resistance model, the commercial attraction ability of tourism resources is analyzed to determine the reasonable area for the commercial space layout. Finally, through discussion and conclusions, combining the spatial advantages of the analysis results, three suggestions for optimizing the commercial spatial layout of Longchuan Village are proposed, aimed at solving the problem of the commercial spatial layout of Longchuan Village.

1.6. Contribution

The main micro-contribution of this study is to help Longchuan Village to improve its commercial efficiency and commercial value and to promote its overall development while protecting the original features of the village. This paper uses the space syntax and space resistance model to explore the advantages of the commercial space layout of Longchuan Village and to optimize the commercial space layout. Its purpose is to improve the employment problems and income levels of villagers, increase the village’s commercial service capabilities, and promote Hui culture and agricultural culture [25]. The primary macro-contribution of this study is to expand the research on Longchuan Village to all tourist villages in China, to help these traditional villages better promote their own culture through the commodity economy, and to improve the living standards of residents and the sense of local honor. It makes up for the lack of current research on the commercial space layout of traditional villages. Additionally, while protecting the original landscape and buildings of the village, the geographical advantages of the commercial space layout are fully exploited. This changes the situation in which planners plan based on their own experience in traditional rural planning.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Data Sources

The author team of this study conducted a field survey in Longchuan Village in June 2022. We visited the government, tourists, villagers, and business practitioners and collected the questionnaires distributed by the author team. The questionnaire was designed as a filled questionnaire, and its structure includes guidelines; optional questions, such as whether the existing commercial space meets the development needs of the village; open-type questions, such as questions about the unreasonable layout of the existing commercial space; and a thank-you message. The data of this study mainly came from the planning text, CAD data, and tourism data provided by the relevant government and questionnaires. The POI data in this study (point of interest means the point data in the Internet electronic map, which basically includes four attributes: name, address, coordinates, and category) were obtained from the open website of AutoNavi Maps.

2.2. Research Object

Longchuan Village is located in Jixi County, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province. It is a model of the harmonious integration of Huizhou human settlements and landscapes. Its precise location is shown in Figure 1. In 2012, it was jointly announced as one of the first batch of traditional Chinese villages by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Finance, and it was selected as a national forest village in 2019. Jixi County is one of six counties under the jurisdiction of the ancient Huizhou government, and it is in an important position for the inheritance and development of Huizhou culture [26]. Therefore, Longchuan Village plays a leading role in the protection and development of ancient villages in Jixi County. From 2019 to 2021, Longchuan Village was the tourist attraction with the highest tourism ticket revenue in Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, with an average of 1.4147 million tourists per year and an average annual tourism revenue of CNY 70.3433 million. It can be seen that Longchuan Village plays an important role in promoting the tourism status of the city [27].
Figure 2 shows the current status of the roads, businesses, and facilities in the village, whose overall shape is like that of a boat. The Dengyuan River is close to the southeast side of the village. The Longchuan Stream passes through the village, forming the center of gravity of the tourism structure, Water Street. The visitor center is next to County Road on the southernmost side. The buildings in the village are gathered on the southwest side, with some on the north side. To the northeast is mainly farmland and wildland. The road network is dense in the southwest and sparse in the northeast. Ancient buildings and scenic spots are located on both sides of Water Street and around Qixing Pond, and a few are in the north of the village. Commercial space is distributed on both sides of Water Street and County Road, with some scattered in the village, mainly for retail, handicrafts, food, and lodging [28].
AutoNavi Map is China’s leading provider of digital map content, navigation, and location service solutions, and it also provides detailed POI information. Deriving the POI data of Longchuan Village from the AutoNavi map can help in the analysis of the type and location of the commercial space of Longchuan Village. The main distribution and types of business are shown in Figure 3. There are mainly five types of commercial shops, with a total of 56 shops. There are 17 accommodation service facilities, 18 catering service facilities, 10 shopping service facilities, 5 villager service facilities, and 6 tourist service facilities. In terms of geographical location, accommodation services are mainly distributed on county roads near the villages, making them convenient places for foreign tourists to stay. Most of the catering shops are distributed around the visitor center and Water Street, which is a convenient place for tourists to eat.

2.3. Main Problems

We conducted field research and interviews. After integrating interview questionnaires and research data, the main commercial space layout issues of Longchuan Village were summarized as follows [27]:
  • The overall business scale is small;
  • The commercial volume on the south side of Water Street is obviously smaller than that on the north side, and the agglomeration of commercial space is not strong;
  • The commercial distribution is relatively homogeneous, locations are scattered, and the orientation to tourists is not strong.

2.4. Research Methods

As shown in Figure 4, to solve the above problems, this study proposes the following research methods [29,30,31,32]:
1. Analysis of street space syntax
This research uses the syntactic analysis technology in DepthmapX software to analyze the spatial and sight line integration of Longchuan Village’s streets and lanes so as to understand the advantages and disadvantages of their layout [33].
2. MCR spatial resistance model
ARCGIS software is used to analyze the degree of resistance of the commercial layout. We determine resistance sources that have a certain influence on the commercial layout, divide the influence range according to the resistance size and level of different sources, and superimpose this to obtain a resistance map of the commercial space layout. We can clearly analyze where the dominant resources cover the most. The spatial advantages of Longchuan Village determined by using this method mainly provide a reliable layout basis for the commercial space layout of Longchuan Village, which changes the limitation of past research on the commercial space in villages wherein only street and lane space syntax was used.

3. Results

3.1. Analysis of Street Space Syntax

Space syntax was first proposed by Bill Hillier [34,35,36,37,38]. Space syntax is a series of theories and technologies about space and society. Its core idea is that space is not the background of social and economic activities but rather a part of the development of social and economic activities. As a new language for describing architectural and urban spatial patterns, the basic idea of the space syntax theory is to divide and scale spaces and to analyze their complex relationships. Not only does it pay attention to local spatial accessibility, but it also emphasizes the overall spatial accessibility and connections [39,40].
1. Analysis of Spatial Integration
The degree of integration expresses whether an element is convenient to other elements. It expresses the connection ability of a street, i.e., its accessibility [19,34,35,36,37,38,41,42].
DepthmapX (0.8.0) was used to analyze the global integration on the axis of streets and lanes. As shown in Figure 5, the highest global integration degree was 0.39, in the middle of County Road, and the lowest was 0.18, in the inner streets of the village, with an average of 0.30. X086 County Road, the main external road on the northwest side, and the north side of Water Street had a relatively high degree of integration, which indicates strong accessibility.
X086 County Road is the most important traffic road for external tourists to enter the village. It can replace the role of the village streets in function, but it cannot be ruled out that the traffic flow and texture difference of the roadway will interfere with the tourists’ street experience. Based on this thinking, centering on the interior of the village, the village streets are inward-oriented, and the situation of removing County Road is analyzed. As shown in Figure 6, the highest accessibility is 0.33, located in Water Street; the lowest is 0.11; and the average is 0.24. The overall accessibility is higher in the central area of the village near the intersection of Longchuan River and Dengyuan River, and it is also the most concentrated location on both sides of Water Street. Without considering County Road, the overall accessibility of the village decreases by about 0.06, and the accessibility efficiency drops a lot.
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the integration of county roads and Water Street is relatively high, and they play an important role in the accessibility of villages. Most of the existing commercial stores are located on those streets and lanes, which have a high global integration degree. This shows that, with no specific guidance, some businesses had been spontaneously arranged in locations with a better traffic capacity. In terms of traffic capacity alone, it is reasonable to arrange some commercial spaces on Water Street and County Road. Therefore, the increased commercial volume can be fully considered in combination with the current commercial situation to integrate commercial space and to create a continuous and beautiful street.
2. Analysis of sight integration
Sight integration calculates the visual distance of an individual from one space to all other spaces. At the point of view with the highest degree of sight integration, the fewest lines of sight are blocked, stores are most easily seen, and the field of view is wider [19,34,35,36,37,38,41,42].
Figure 7 shows the sight integration of Longchuan Village’s streets and alleys analyzed using DepthmapX. The area at the intersection of X086 County Road and Water Street has the best integration of sight lines, whose number is most concentrated, and it is the most visible location for business. When the distance from the main intersection increases (or when extending along a fork), the sight line is obstructed due to the irregular street curvature, lanes are squeezed by buildings, and the sight line integration degree gradually decreases. Squares and open spaces have a relatively good sight integration, offering a good view and more consumption opportunities, which is suitable for a commercial layout [43]. Curved streets and closed spaces have a poor line-of-sight integration. The possibility of tourist traffic is small, which is unsuitable for a commercial layout [44].
3. Spatial intelligibility analysis
In spatial intelligibility, the number of axes directly connected to a certain axis in the area is used to judge the importance of that axis in the whole system, suggesting that the overall spatial structure can be inferred from the local spatial structure [19,34,35,36,37,38,41,42].
This is reflected in the correlation between the degree of axis connectivity and the overall integration degree of the region. A higher degree of correlation indicates a higher degree of intelligibility, indicating that the local space is structurally more related to the overall space. Conversely, a lower correlation indicates that the local space is structurally less related to the overall space. In space syntax, intelligibility is expressed by the regression coefficient R2. R2 values between 0 and 0.5 indicate a poor intelligibility of the space, R2 values between 0.5 and 0.7 indicate that the space has a good intelligibility, and R2 values between 0.7 and 1.0 indicate that the space has a high intelligibility.
The connectivity is taken as the Y-axis, and the global integration degree is taken as the X-axis, as shown in Figure 8; in the figure, “×” represents a line segment of a street and an alley in the village.
R2 is 0.08, indicating that the overall space of Longchuan Village is extremely low in comprehension. It is difficult for tourists to grasp the overall space when they are in the streets and alleys, and it is easy for them to become lost. In Figure 9, the connectivity is taken as the Y-axis, and the local integration degree with a radius of 3 is taken as the X-axis; R2 is 0.77, indicating that the integration degree of the local space of Longchuan Village is extremely high. Tourists in the streets and alleys can grasp the characteristics of the surrounding space well, and it is not easy for them to become lost.
Based on the analysis of the space intelligibility above, the overall intelligibility of the village is poor, so the commercial space should not be arranged in intricate streets and lanes, which will increase the burden of tourists.

3.2. MCR Spatial Resistance Model

The MCR spatial resistance model is a minimum cumulative resistance model, which refers to the cost model of moving from source to destination, as proposed by Knaapen in 1992 and modified by Yu (1999) [45]. The minimum cumulative resistance is
M C R = f min ∑ j = n i = m ( D i j × R i )
where Dij is the spatial distance from source j to landscape unit i; Ri is the resistance coefficient of landscape unit i to the movement of a species; ∑ sums the distance between unit i and source j over all units traversed; min is the minimum value of cumulative resistance; and f is the positive correlation between the minimum cumulative resistance and the research process [46].
We used the ARCGIS platform and the MCR resistance model to construct a resistance model for the commercial space layout of the village based on tourists’ tourism needs [47]. The main resistance sources are rivers and ponds, famous scenic spots, public service facilities, and public space [48,49,50].
The commercial resistance model of Longchuan Village is constructed as follows:
  • The Longchuan Village map is divided into 10 × 10 grid cells in ARCGIS, and the resistance source is arranged;
  • Each resistance source is divided into nine resistance value grades according to the influence ability of the resistance sources on business, and the resistance surface of each resistance source is calculated;
  • The judgment matrix is constructed using the AHP analytic hierarchy process [51]. As shown in Table 1, experts and decision makers can use their opinions to quantify the extent of criteria. Moreover, through calculation and a consistency test, we can determine the impact weight of each resistance source on the commercial space layout, as shown in Table 2. Finally, all resistance surfaces are superimposed, as shown in Figure 10.
It can be seen that, in the commercial space layout resistance map of Longchuan Village, the areas with the least resistance to the commercial space layout are on both sides of Water Street and around Qixing Pond. The commercial layout resistance increases gradually with the distance from these two areas. Areas with a greater resistance are less suitable for commercial space layouts, which will increase investment and operating costs and reduce revenue. Under the superposition analysis of multiple resistance sources, areas on both sides of Water Street and around Qixing Pond have the most landscape advantages and offer the most opportunities for people to gather and visit. The commercial layout of traditional villages is inseparable from tourist activities. Therefore, these two areas are relatively suitable for opening storefronts.
Combining the analysis results of spatial syntax and the commercial space layout resistance model [52], we can conclude the following:
  • In the layout of Longchuan Village, the street space accessibility, line-of-sight accessibility, and spatial understandability along both sides of Water Street are the best, while the commercial layout resistance is the smallest, making it the most suitable geographical location for arranging commercial space.
  • Although county roads have certain advantages in terms of data, they are mainly used for external traffic in terms of function, and excessive commercial space may increase the risk of traffic accidents. Therefore, county roads cannot be used as an ideal commercial layout location.
  • The area around Qixing Pond is an area with a low resistance to the commercial space layout, but its data performance is poor in terms of spatial syntax, such as spatial accessibility. It can be used as a subcenter to arrange commercial space in future tourism development.
Combined with existing relevant research, this paper can provide more methods and a basis for optimizing the layout of commercial space to help the development and utilization of commercial space in traditional villages at the planning level while being more conducive to the protection of traditional villages. It is expected to help decision makers better achieve village planning and improve the efficiency of the commercial spatial layout in traditional villages, such as Longchuan Village, so as to enhance the village economy and villagers’ income.

4. Discussion

Traditional villages are human settlements with rich cultural connotations and material products. Most scholars believe that traditional villages should maintain their authenticity and weaken the role of commerce [14,53]. Therefore, most previous studies did not actively analyze the commercial space layout. However, in the process of the development of traditional villages, in order to better attract the attention of tourists, commercialization has become a trend. We should face up to the inevitable commercialization of traditional villages and actively increase the utilization efficiency of commercial space and its cultural characteristics. We try to turn traditional village business activities into a means of promoting traditional village culture 6.
We aim to determine how to better utilize the commercial service effect of commercial space while protecting traditional village buildings and scenery. This paper provides a research method at the spatial level with the help of the traditional village of Longchuan Village. Street space is a medium that connects commercial space and visitors. This paper uses DepthmapX software to analyze the spatial integration degree, line-of-sight integration, and spatial intelligibility of the street space of Longchuan Village in order to identify the streets that are relatively more suitable for commercial activities and the arrangement of commercial space [54]. At the same time, places with more opportunities for tourists to gather are more suitable spaces for arranging stores. In this paper, considering the attractiveness of excellent tourism resources to tourists, GIS software is used to build a commercial space layout resistance model. Superimposing the influence of excellent tourism resources, the area close to these tourism resources is the area with less resistance to the commercial space layout, which can attract more tourists to spend money. This paper fully considers the spatial advantages of the store layout in the research. It fills the gap that currently only uses space syntax to study the coupling relationship between traditional village space and commercial space [19]. Finally, this study puts forward corresponding suggestions for the problem of spatial analyses, aiming to help Longchuan Village solve the current problem of the commercial space layout and promote the overall tourism development of traditional villages.

5. Conclusions

5.1. Summary and Recommendations

This paper studies the current situation of the commercial space layout in Longchuan Village, a traditional Huizhou village in Xuancheng City, Anhui Province. Through the analysis of space syntax and a commercial space resistance model, the spatial advantage of the layout of commercial stores is established, helping Longchuan Village to optimize the commercial space layout without changing the original village style and architecture.
For the problems displayed in the commercial space of Longchuan Village and the results of this research, this paper proposes three optimization suggestions:
  • The commercial space of Longchuan Village is small, and the commercial space should be appropriately increased. At the same time, in order to protect the traditional features and buildings in the village, newly added commercial space should not take the form of new buildings, and the replacement of the original functional space should be considered [55]. According to the analysis of the integration degree and the sight integration degree, County Road and Water Street are the places with the best accessibility and the highest chance of gathering sight lines, and they can greatly increase the opportunities for tourists to spend money [56,57]. Therefore, the layout of new commercial spaces and the adjustment of existing commercial spaces should be reasonably arranged in these two places. However, since County Road can be used by cars and is the main road used by tourists to enter and leave Longchuan Village, frequent passing vehicles will increase the risk of traffic accidents. Therefore, it is not suitable to arrange some commercial spaces with a strong tourist mobility and a short stay time on both sides of County Road, and the choice of commercial type should be carefully considered.
  • According to the analysis of spatial intelligibility, tourists are more likely to have a sense of spatial direction in small-scale spaces, but their intelligibility for the overall space is small, and they easily become lost in the intricate streets and alleys of the village. Moreover, the scale of Longchuan Village is small, making it unsuitable for multiple areas of commercial space. Therefore, newly added commercial space can be arranged in open, spacious, and simple-structured spaces, such as Water Street. It offers convenient transportation, strong accessibility, and good views, and businesses can be arranged on the basis of the original businesses on both sides of Water Street, increasing integrity and constituting a relatively complete village [58]. The commercial space is easy to manage, and it does not conflict with other village functions, effectively avoiding the adverse effects of commercialization on the texture and style of the village. The commercial space of Water Street is mainly linear, which is convenient to guide tourists. Water Street is close to the tourist center, which is suitable for hotels, homestays, food, and other functions. There are many scenic spots on both sides of Water Street that provide much tourist support for commercial stores, and they are suitable for leisure, characteristic handmade products, and other businesses.
  • The commercial space types of Longchuan Village are mainly catering, accommodation, and shopping. These commercial types meet the basic needs of tourists, but they are extremely lacking in characteristics. Tourists come to traditional villages to travel; on the one hand, they want to experience the quiet and beautiful pastoral scenery of traditional villages, and on the other hand, they also want to experience local special customs and special snacks [59]. However, the commercial atmosphere of Longchuan Village is almost the same as that of other ancient streets and ancient cities. In terms of the commercial environment, it cannot provide tourists with a unique tourist experience. It is recommended to add some restaurants that cook local dishes and shops that sell products related to the local culture [60]. It is suitable to arrange accommodation-related commercial space on County Road, and it needs to be equipped with sufficient parking lots. In Water Street, it is suitable to arrange businesses, such as those that sell souvenirs and food and those that have facilities for sports that are easy to watch and play, and to improve the overall vitality of the village. At the same time, public service facilities for tourists and villagers should be increased so as to meet the growing demand for tourism and the quality of life of villagers.
The research purpose of this paper is to examine one traditional village; however, it is also hoped that the spatial analysis method of this paper can be applied to the research on the commercial layouts of traditional villages across the country so as to improve the efficiency and quality of the commercial spatial layouts of traditional villages.

5.2. Research Limitations and Future Works

Our research provides scientific methods and suggestions for optimizing the commercial space of traditional villages, but there are some research limitations. Research on the optimization of commercial space layouts may adopt better quantitative methods to convert qualitative data into quantitative data. In addition to spatial factors, research on the optimization of commercial space layouts should also be intensified in such aspects as the impact of stakeholders, commercial types, cultural impact, and the relationship between commercial space and other spaces [61,62]. In future work, we will pay more attention to adding more factors to the research of commercial space. At the same time, we will adopt more comprehensive research methods to study the optimization of commercial space in traditional villages.
This research focused on the development of Longchuan Village, aiming to improve the tourism experience and the living standards of residents. However, the commercial layout is only a small part of the village tourism development system. In order to achieve the goal of rural revitalization and to enhance the overall competitiveness of villages, planning requires cross-explorations involving government guidance, space design, landscape design, living environment, village protection, and cultural promotion. We need to continue to use a broad perspective and to develop technology and scientific methods to conduct in-depth research to provide a reference for the development, protection, and optimization of traditional villages.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, Y.H., Z.Z., J.F. and X.C.; methodology, Y.H., Z.Z., J.F. and X.C.; validation, J.F. and Z.Z.; writing, Y.H., Z.Z., J.F. and X.C.; revision process, Y.H., Z.Z., J.F. and X.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the interviewees’ participation (in 2021), which provided the basis for this research. We are also grateful for the help and relevant data provided by the local government. Similarly, we thank the School of Civil and Architecture for their support. Finally, we thank relevant professors for their guidance.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Buildings 13 01016 g001 550
Figure 1. Location of Longchuan Village.
Figure 1. Location of Longchuan Village.
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Figure 2. Road, business, and facility layout of Longchuan Village.
Figure 2. Road, business, and facility layout of Longchuan Village.
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Figure 3. Commercial type and spatial location of Longchuan Village.
Figure 3. Commercial type and spatial location of Longchuan Village.
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Figure 4. Research methods.
Figure 4. Research methods.
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Figure 5. Global integration degree of streets and lanes in Longchuan Village.
Figure 5. Global integration degree of streets and lanes in Longchuan Village.
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Figure 6. Global integration degree of streets and lanes in Longchuan Village (no county roads).
Figure 6. Global integration degree of streets and lanes in Longchuan Village (no county roads).
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Figure 7. Sight integration.
Figure 7. Sight integration.
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Figure 8. Global intelligibility scatterplot (R = n).
Figure 8. Global intelligibility scatterplot (R = n).
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Figure 9. Local intelligibility scatterplot.
Figure 9. Local intelligibility scatterplot.
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Figure 10. Layout resistance of commercial space of Longchuan Village.
Figure 10. Layout resistance of commercial space of Longchuan Village.
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Table
Table 1. Attraction strength and quantitative value of resistance sources.
Table 1. Attraction strength and quantitative value of resistance sources.
The Attraction of Resistance Sources to TouristsQuantitative Value
Equal attraction1
Equal to moderate attraction2
Moderate attraction3
Moderate to strong attraction4
Strong attraction5
Strong to very strong attraction6
Very strong attraction7
Very to extremely strong attraction8
Extreme attraction9
Table
Table 2. Judgment matrix of impact indicators.
Table 2. Judgment matrix of impact indicators.
IndicatorsRiversScenic SpotsService FacilitiesPublic SpaceWeight
Rivers11/421/30.1176
Scenic spots41820.5175
Service facilities1/21/811/50.0611
Public space31/2510.3038
λmax = 4.01, CI = 0.005, RI = 0.89, CR = 0.0058 < 0.1
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Huang, Y.; Zhang, Z.; Fei, J.; Chen, X. Optimization Strategies of Commercial Layout of Traditional Villages Based on Space Syntax and Space Resistance Model: A Case Study of Anhui Longchuan Village in China. Buildings 2023, 13, 1016. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/buildings13041016

AMA Style

Huang Y, Zhang Z, Fei J, Chen X. Optimization Strategies of Commercial Layout of Traditional Villages Based on Space Syntax and Space Resistance Model: A Case Study of Anhui Longchuan Village in China. Buildings. 2023; 13(4):1016. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/buildings13041016

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Huang, Yunfeng, Zhipeng Zhang, Junsheng Fei, and Xiang Chen. 2023. "Optimization Strategies of Commercial Layout of Traditional Villages Based on Space Syntax and Space Resistance Model: A Case Study of Anhui Longchuan Village in China" Buildings 13, no. 4: 1016. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/buildings13041016

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