Spatial evolution of Guangzhou’s foreign trade spaces in the Maritime Silk Road: an actor-network theory and historical GIS approach to urban heritage

Understanding the dynamic evolution of cultural heritage spaces is essential for advancing knowledge of civilization exchange and ensuring scientific protection and sustainable management, especially for transnational routes like the Maritime Silk Road (MSR). This study pioneers an integrated Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Historical Geographic Information System (HGIS) framework, combining relational network analysis with spatiotemporal reconstruction to systematically reveal the evolutionary mechanisms of Guangzhou’s MSR foreign trade spaces from the Tang Dynasty to the eve of the Opium War. Findings show: (1) a three-stage pattern dominated by the central government – open and pluralistic “fanfang” international communities (Tang–Yuan), defensively introverted “Huaiyuan Post” tributary nodes (Ming), and monopolistic, institutionalized “Thirteen Factories” precincts (early Qing to pre-Opium War); (2) “spatial isolation” as the persistent governance strategy balancing trade openness against political security; (3) evolution driven by coupled interactions of institutional power, geographical change, technological adaptation, and economic vitality within actor-networks, with policy rigidity and internal contradictions ultimately triggering collapse. This study offers an interdisciplinary methodological paradigm for heritage space evolution in complex historical contexts and provides critical pathways and historical evidence for the scientific protection, cross-regional collaborative governance, and spatial regeneration of MSR heritage under globalization.