An Integrated Geographical-Disaster Factor Approach for Sustainable Management: Case Study of Traditional Villages in Karst Mountains

Karst landforms are characterized by high permeability, shallow soils, and steep slopes. Currently, traditional village development in karst mountainous areas tends toward homogenization, always overlooking geological features in conservation efforts. This study, focusing on all 757 traditional villages in Guizhou province, employed Geographic Information System (GIS), Geodetector, and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to develop a spatially suitable evaluation model that integrates objective driver analysis with subjective weight validation. The aim is to reveal the mechanisms by which geographic and disaster factors influence village distribution. Key findings include the following: (1) Traditional villages exhibit a dual-core clustered pattern centered on “Qiandongnan–Anshun”, with Qiandongnan having the highest concentration. (2) The selected factors—altitude (A), slope (B), aspect (C), flood sensitivity (D), and landslide sensitivity (E)—show explanatory power ranked as A > D > E > C > B. Interaction between any two factors nonlinearly enhances explanatory power. (3) Spatial suitability evaluation identified four suitability categories. Highly suitable areas are mainly in Qiandongnan, while unsuitable zones—containing only 7.66% of villages—are concentrated on the western Guizhou plateau. These results can inform conservation planning and spatial remediation across different administrative levels, providing a foundation for future development.