Geographic constraints and individual factors sustain poverty traps in karst Southwest China evidence from Huangping County Guizhou

Poverty remains a critical challenge to global sustainable development. While China has eradicated absolute poverty, persistent spatial “islanding effects” in disadvantaged regions underscore unresolved vulnerabilities. Current research predominantly emphasizes spatial governance and poverty targeting, overlooking individual-level determinants of sustainable poverty reduction. Through a mixed-methods approach integrating geographic weighted regression (GWR), quantile regression, and multilevel modeling, this study analyzes village-scale environmental factors and household-level attributes in Huangping County—a mountainous karst region in Southwest China. Key results reveal: (1) A 22% decline in poverty incidence (88,000 individuals lifted from poverty), yet concentrated residual poverty in remote mountainous areas exhibiting islanding effects; (2) Geospatial analysis identifies terrain variability, soil erosion severity, and ecological land coverage as significant poverty drivers, while accessibility reduces poverty risk; (3) Multilevel models demonstrate village characteristics explain 52.3% of income variance, with individual factors—particularly gender-based educational gaps and occupational mismatch—disproportionately constraining low-income groups. The findings establish that geographic isolation and human capital deprivation interact to sustain poverty traps. Policy interventions must concurrently address ecological constraints through infrastructure investment and dismantle gender barriers via targeted skill development to achieve resilient poverty reduction.