Coupling Coordination and Driving Mechanisms of Regional Protection and Development in Traditional Villages of the Loess Hilly and Gully Region, Northern Shaanxi Province

With the rapid urbanization in China, traditional villages are undergoing simultaneous construction and destruction, making it crucial to scientifically balance the protection and development of these villages. The Loess Hilly Area of Northern Shaanxi, one of the most severely eroded regions in the world, was chosen as the study area. Socio-economic, land use, and natural ecological data from 152 traditional villages in this area were analyzed. First, an evaluation model was developed to assess the comprehensive level of protection and development in these villages. Next, a coupling coordination model and spatial autocorrelation model were employed to measure the coordination level and spatial distribution of protection and development. Finally, a coordination influence model was combined with a geographically weighted regression model to reveal the driving mechanisms promoting the coupling coordination between protection and development. The results indicate that (1) the protection and development levels of traditional villages in the study area exhibit contrasting patterns of “high in the east and low in the west” and “high in the west and low in the east”, respectively; (2) nearly half of the regions show a low level of coordination between protection and development, with a few counties and districts in the east achieving better coordination; and (3) the spatial variation in the coupling of protection and development is influenced by regional economic capacity, social development, resource endowment, and policy inclination, with various factors influencing the coordination in different ways. This study helps to further elucidate the relationship between the protection and development of traditional villages and provides valuable references for the protection and development of traditional villages in other ecologically fragile areas.