Exploring the Delineation Methods for Buffer Zones of Preserved Historical Villages from a Perspective of Cultural Geography: A Case Study of Huitong Village in Zhuhai, China

The buffer zones of historical or cultural heritages are surrounded the core protected areas of heritages. The purpose of such buffer zones could be divided into “inward” and “outward” ones. Currently, there are no mature or universally applicable methods for buffer zones delineation. This study takes a historical and cultural village, the Huitong Village in Zhuhai, Guangdong, as the research subject. Based on the landscape analysis methods of cultural geography, this study explores the steps for delineating buffer zones in historical village preservation areas to supplement the shortcomings of architectural approaches in buffer zones delineation. This paper proceeds from two dimensions—the integrity of landscape system elements and the value connections of view corridor elements—to practice the three-step process of cultural landscape analysis in geography: “identifying elements, exploring relationships, and conducting evaluations”. And then it proposes an improved plan for the preservation buffer zone of Huitong Village. The conclusions of this study are as follows: 1) The cultural meaning of the view corridors uncovered in this research enhances the likelihood of the Huitong Village preservation buffer zone gaining broader recognition among. 2) The cultural meaning of the view corridors explored in this study can serve as a value comparison reference for preservation planning at different scales.