Research on the Route Selection Method of the Grand Canal National Trails for Central Urban Areas: A Case Study of the Grand Canal, the Old Town of Jining City Section, China

Scientific route selection is the premise of constructing the Grand Canal National Trails (GCNTs). How to highlight the historical and cultural characteristics of the cities along the Grand Canal and meet the diverse needs of urban residents and tourists through GCNTs while considering the reality is an important goal of the route selection research. Taking the old town of Jining City as an example, this study proposes a theoretical framework for route selection of the GCNTs based on resource connectivity, spatial continuity, and residents’ promotion, with a realization path of “three sections and six steps”. The results show that the optimal connection path between “canal–resource–community” can be found through systematic methods such as the optimized minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model and space syntax, and the “main route–branch route–connection route” system of the GCNTs can be constructed. The GCNTs closely connect the canals, 59 resources, and 352 communities into an integral spatial network, forming a complete canal cultural narrative system and path. The results offer theoretical and methodological support for the route selection of GCNTs in 35 prefecture-level cities and 150 districts and counties along the Grand Canal, providing reference for route selections of similar related concepts in central urban areas.