Study on the “Space Gene” Diversity of Traditional Dong Villages in the Southwest Hunan Province of China

Traditional villages are essential carriers of traditional culture and ethnic culture. Hence, it is of great significance to study and protect them in the context of urban–rural integration. From the perspective of the “Space Gene”, this study proposes the identification and extraction of the space gene. Then, we examine six traditional Dong villages in the Pingtan River Basin selected as cases to quantify their space gene diversity. The results show that (i) traditional Dong villages are rich and diverse in terms of their space types. (ii) The important value of the public space reflects the social cohesion of the Dong people. (iii) However, the sample villages still have differences in their space gene diversity index values. (iv) The characteristic culture encapsulated by the spaces of traditional Dong villages is facing disappearance. Furthermore, we propose a conservation strategy for traditional villages. Through the space gene diversity index, we can examine the current state of the protection and development of the village. The main objective of this study was to deepen our interpretation of the space in order to study the cultural value behind it.