CHEN Zhijian, MENG Yuan, YANG Dinghai, XIAO Yubing, YUAN Yizhe
91 national and provincial-level traditional villages on Hainan Island were selected as the research objects, and their distribution characteristics, influencing factors, and driving mechanisms were explored using methods such as GIS spatial analysis, geostatistical methods, and geographic detector models based on optimal parameters. The results show that: (1) Traditional villages on Hainan Island have strong spatial distribution imbalance and obvious clustering characteristics, showing an overall pattern of “high in the east and low in the west, high in the north and low in the south, with multiple points in one cluster”. (2) In terms of the connection between natural and cultural elements, most traditional villages on Hainan Island tend to be distributed in urban intersections or suburban areas with low terrain, abundant water sources, high vegetation coverage, and concentrated cultural relics units, and rely on county roads as connecting roads. (3) In terms of influencing mechanisms, overall, regional cultural influence is the strongest, followed by economic development level, and the natural environment is the weakest, with enhanced interaction between various factors. In the stage of the formation of traditional villages on Hainan Island, natural and cultural factors dominate the formation of villages, while natural factors, especially resource conditions, influence the development of traditional villages. Economic and cultural factors dominate the transformation and protection of villages. (4) Through comparative analysis of various provinces, cultural factors have a dominant driving role in Hainan Island and some southwestern regions, and cultural development should be valued, cultural diversity should be fully utilized, and cultural background should be protected.
