Spatial scanning of traditional villages and geographical exploration of spatial differentiation mechanism: a case study of Gansu Province

Based on the empirical data of traditional villages, this paper analyzes the correlation of influencing factors of the spatial distribution of traditional villages by using the method of the geographic detector, and discusses the spatial differentiation characteristics of traditional villages in Gansu Province by using the method of geoscience statistics. The following results were obtained: (1) In the spatial differentiation, the spatial agglomeration is obvious and different, which shows the distribution along the upper reaches of the Yellow River to the southeast, and the distribution of the prefecture is related to the landform type. In the vertical spatial distribution, the altitude data span is large, the highest in the Gannan city of Mula village in MaQu County, and the lowest in the Longnan city of Zhengjiashe village in Bingkou Town. With increasing altitude, the number of traditional villages within the 1000–1999 m level first rose to a maximum and then gradually decreased. (2) The spatial differentiation of the traditional villages has a normal distribution with the elevation, and the spatial differentiation is low, showing a distinct gourd-like structure; the eastern and southern regions are more concentrated, while the northern and western regions are less concentrated. (3) The spatial differentiation of traditional villages shows the characteristics of a regional difference, which is mainly distributed in the mountainous area of South Gansu, the Loess Plateau of central Gansu, and the plateau of South Gansu. The main factors of the spatial distribution difference of traditional villages are average slope, elevation, geological hazard risk, distance from the city, per capita GDP, and climate index.