Enhancing Public Space Vitality in Traditional Villages: A Space–Event Analytical Framework Applied to Yutu Village, China

Public space vitality is increasingly regarded as a central issue in the conservation and renewal of traditional villages, yet existing studies rarely combine spatial pattern analysis with residents’ perceptual evaluation within a single framework. Taking Yutu Village in southeastern Hubei, China, as a case, this study develops a Space–Event analytical framework integrating GIS-based spatial statistics with Importance–Performance Analysis (IPA). Semi-structured interviews, participatory mapping, and questionnaire surveys identified 58 public event units, 34 physical public spaces, and 241 event–space coordinate points. Kernel density estimation (KDE) and Ripley’s K-function analysis indicate a composite structure of one core, multiple centers, four axes, and five clusters. Historical and cultural events cluster around heritage buildings, daily life and production events extend along everyday movement corridors up to 155 m, and ritual and folk cultural events remain concentrated at small-scale ceremonial nodes. Based on 112 valid questionnaires, IPA-based evaluation shows negative gaps between importance and satisfaction across all 23 indicators (p < 0.001 for all items), with spatial narrative showing the largest gap (Δ = −1.66), while ritual-related indicators achieve the highest satisfaction scores, suggesting a degree of cultural resilience in ceremonial spaces. By cross-referencing spatial clustering types with IPA quadrants, the study proposes differentiated strategies, including narrative-oriented design for heritage spaces, connectivity enhancement for everyday networks, and protective maintenance for ritual nodes, offering an evidence-based framework transferable to comparable traditional village contexts.