Multiscalar analysis of spatiotemporal evolution and adaptive conservation in Luoyang historic urban area

Historic urban areas face mounting pressures from rapid urbanization, threatening the continuity of cultural landscapes and spatial relationships. Using Luoyang historic urban area in central China as a case study, this study examines morphological change across five spatial hierarchies: city, plot, street network, spatial nodes, and buildings. Integrating historical cartography, drone imagery, and GIS-based spatial analysis, it traces changes from the Republic of China period (1912–1949) to the present. Kernel density and accessibility analyses identify spatial differences in the continuity and transformation of historic relics. The findings suggest two broad pathways of heritage spatial change and highlight the importance of addressing both extant and traceable vanished relics in conservation practice. The Luoyang case provides an empirically grounded example of how multiscalar morphological analysis can inform conservation diagnosis in a functionally active historic urban area.