Spatial Relationships and Influencing Factors of Traditional Villages and Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Yunnan Section of the China–Vietnam Border

Abstract

The prefectures and cities along the Yunnan–Vietnam border constitute a key cultural corridor connecting China and ASEAN. Under the dual pressures of globalization and modernization, the regional cultural landscape is undergoing profound structural transformation. This study takes 194 traditional villages and 942 municipal-level and above intangible cultural heritage (ICH) items in Honghe, Wenshan, and Pu’er as the research objects. Kernel density estimation, the standard deviation ellipse, and the gravity center model were employed to identify their spatial distribution patterns, while the spatial mismatch index and GeoDetector were used to examine their spatial coupling relationship and influencing mechanisms. The results indicate the following: (1) traditional villages exhibit a single-core clustered distribution concentrated in the Ailao Mountains-Honghe River Basin of Honghe Prefecture, whereas ICH displays a one-core-two-cluster pattern with relatively weak agglomeration, and the gravity centers of the two heritage systems are separated by 61.21 km; (2) a significant systematic spatial mismatch exists between traditional villages and ICH, with Honghe characterized as a high negative mismatch region, while Pu’er and Wenshan represent positive mismatch regions; (3) their spatial relationship is jointly shaped by nonlinear interactions among natural geographical, socioeconomic, and historical-cultural factors, forming an interaction mechanism dominated by the ecological constraints of hydrothermal conditions and topography together with the spatial organizational effects of border ports and transportation networks. This study reveals the spatial reorganization pattern of cultural heritage elements in the three prefectures and cities along the Yunnan–Vietnam border and provides a scientific basis for the coordinated conservation and spatial optimization of traditional villages and intangible cultural heritage.