Spatial Transformation Characteristics and Driving Mechanisms of Traditional Villages from the Perspective of Space of Flows TheoryA Case Study of Longchuan Village in Jixi County

The adaptive transformation of traditional village flow space guided by science is not only a practical requirement for achieving the living inheritance and innovative development of cultural heritage, but also an important topic in rural space reconstruction research in the digital era. Based on the flow space theory framework, Longchuan Village in Jixi County, a typical representative of Huizhou traditional villages, was taken as an empirical case. Methods such as field research, literature analysis, and semi-structured interviews were combined to analyze the transformation characteristics and driving mechanisms of traditional villages from three aspects: material space, social space, and cultural space. The results show that under the dual driving forces of digital technology and rural tourism, Longchuan Village is characterized by functional diversification of material space, diversification of social space subjects, and dynamic preservation of cultural space. The core driving mechanisms are identified as information technology, capital operation, and cultural identity. Information technology is found to reconstruct spatial relationships within and outside the village by accelerating information exchange, capital operation is observed to provide continuous dynamic support for village space transformation, and cultural identity is demonstrated to form an endogenous development mechanism by strengthening the cohesion of social groups. These three factors are revealed to jointly promote village space transformation through dynamic interaction. The analytical framework of characteristics and driving mechanisms constructed in this study can provide theoretical basis and practical paths for traditional villages to adapt to the new spatial flow paradigm.