Holistic construction and classification of serial heritage corridors using Spatial Design Network Analysis and a minimum cumulative resistance model

Serial heritage increasingly requires methods that move beyond site lists to network-scale reasoning. This study constructs a heritage network and operationalises the construction using CRITIC-based indicator weighting, minimum cumulative resistance corridor modelling, spatial design network analysis (sDNA), and Herfindahl–Hirschman Index-based type concentration. Validated on the Maritime Silk Road in Zhangzhou (China), it: (1) selects 421 heritage sites in six categories; (2) integrates sites with a minimum-resistance surface to generate a hierarchical corridor pattern of a main trunk with bilateral branch lines; (3) partitions the network into 80 segments and grades them in five levels (I:13; II:9; III:20; IV:26; V:12); and (4) classifies segments into five primary types and sixteen subtypes. Using an sDNA-centred spatial network analysis, this study uncovers the internal structure and functional organization of heritage corridors and proposes a transferable quantitative approach to support holistic cognition and conservation planning of serial heritage.