Establishing Linear Cultural Heritage Corridors by Integrating Cultural and Ecological Values: A Case Study of the Jinzhong Section of the Great Tea Road

To address the challenge of disconnection between cultural and ecological values in Linear Cultural Heritage (LCH) conservation, this study examines the Jinzhong section of the Great Tea Road to develop a dual-dimensional framework for corridor identification and collaborative governance. The research establishes a dual-value evaluation system encompassing cultural and ecological dimensions, applied to grade 422 heritage sites. A potential corridor network is subsequently generated using the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model. The study innovatively integrates the Multiple Centrality Analysis (MCA) model, employing heritage site values as network weights to identify and classify two primary corridor types: “culture-dominant” and “ecology-dominant” corridors. Through spatial overlay analysis, a ‘culture–ecology composite corridor’ network is ultimately constructed. The results demonstrate that the cultural value network exhibits a “monocentric” clustering pattern, whilst the ecological value network displays a “multicentric, networked” configuration, revealing significant spatial disjunction between the two systems. This analysis enables the identification of three corridor typologies—culturally dominant, ecologically dominant, and composite corridors integrating both values—alongside the positioning of key connectivity hubs and network vulnerability points across distinct value zones. The proposed “dual-dimension Multiple Centrality Analysis analytical framework” transforms the abstract concept of cultural–ecological value coupling into a quantifiable spatial analysis pathway, thereby addressing existing research gaps. This framework provides refined decision-making support for both conservation practices and World Heritage nomination processes of the Jinzhong section of the Great Tea Road, whilst offering a replicable scientific methodology for conserving comparable linear heritage sites globally.