The Analysis of the Spatial Distribution of Traditional Villages in Guizhou

Guizhou's traditional villages are gradually disappearing as rural ur- banization accelerates. However, there has been little in-depth research into how village dwellers are coping with spatial changes caused by resource relocation and modernization. Prior to that, it is critical to determine the villages’ distribu- tion characteristics and geographic features. This study focuses on the spatial dis- tribution characteristics of Guizhou traditional villages using the software ArcGIS. The findings show that (1) Guizhou Province's traditional village distri- bution is "dual-core" intensive. (2) The topography of Guizhou Province is char- acterized by a "high in the west, low in the east" trend. In Guizhou Province's western and central zones, there are very few traditional villages with higher al- titudes beyond Anshun City. (3) The slope analysis of this study shows that the slope of these two regions, Qiandongnan and Tongren with densely populated villages, are diametrically opposed.