The Construction of a Protection Network for Traditional Settlements Across Regions: A Case Study of the Chengdu–Chongqing Ancient Post Road Heritage Corridor in China

In recent years, there appears to be a notable transition towards preserving heritage on a regional scale, aiming to promote the authenticity and integrity of traditional settlements. The complex natural topography of these settlements, along with their spread-out arrangement, poses significant challenges to their protection and preservation. With the acceleration of urbanization and the implementation of the national strategy of building a twin-city economic circle in the Chengdu–Chongqing region, economic, cultural, and ecological exchanges between the twin cities have become the key dimensions of their construction. In this context, the concept of the BaShu Cultural Tourism Corridor has emerged, and the traditional settlement sites in the study area have become an important node of urban–rural integration and the BaShu Cultural Tourism Corridor. The primary objective of this study is to establish a heritage corridor protection network for traditional settlements along the Chengdu–Chongqing Ancient Post Road within the Sichuan Basin of China as an example, using the minimum cost resistance model. This approach comprises several key steps: selecting traditional settlements, analyzing their distribution traits, calculating the resistance value for the spread of traditional settlement culture, identifying potential cultural corridors, identifying cultural spaces, and, thus, constructing a protection network. The results show that the spatial distribution of traditional settlements in the study area shows obvious clustering characteristics, the core ecological space in this study is located in the mountains in the north and the southwest, and the cultural spaces are located along the central and southwestern sections, creating a linear distribution pattern. In the ecological culture corridor network, the Premier Corridor is the most extensive of the three categories, connects important cultural area, and serves as a vital conduit for developing heritage tourism strategies. This research aims to bolster the comprehensive protection and application of the region’s traditional cultural heritage, fostering the integration of urban and rural zones and enhancing regional cultural tourism. Future research directions are to integrate the conservation of traditional settlements and the surrounding environment at different planning scales with local policies and to expand the role of digital technology in the data management and visualization of ecocultural corridors.