Spatial transformation of a She ethnic rural settlement under heritage tourism development: the case of Dongnong Village, China

This study put forward an approach based on geospatial methods to analyse the spatial changes of a She-ethnic rural settlement, Dongnong Village in Zhejiang Province, China, after local tourism developments. Utilizing multiple geospatial algorithms in the GIS environment, including settlement morphology analysis, space syntax, and the urban network analysis (UNA), we examined settlement boundaries’ morphology, road networks, and accessibility of sites in the settlement quantitatively in 2015 and 2025. The findings reveal that the developing tourism activities have reshaped the village’s spatial structure, leading to more complex and less compact settlement patterns of the heritage sites, while enhancing accessibility to newly developed tourist attractions. Effects of tourism developments on spatial structure essential to the village’s vitality are analysed accordingly. Disappearance of the village's original core spatial structure was observed, whereas spatial gentrification and commodification by tourism development have impacted the spatial vitality. This empirical research provides insights at the intersection of digital humanities and rural sustainability of tourism in rural ethnic villages, emphasizing the integration of local settlement heritages with proper design and management to foster sustainable tourism growth and preserve cultural identity.