Unveiling the mechanism of diachronic changes and regional characteristics differences in the built environment of traditional villages from the perspective of color data: evidence from Macheng City, China

Abstract Traditional villages hold a vital place in Chinese vernacular built heritage continuation with their colors being a significant constituent of the built environment. While digital technology has advanced our understanding of built environment, current research pays little attention on how color influences the environment, often overlooking temporal changes and regional differences, especially neglects color protection measures. This study establishes an diachronic image dataset using national traditional villages in Macheng City, Hubei Province. By using of K-Means and CIEDE2000 algorithms, we analyze color characteristics differences among 4 regions in Macheng City in 2022. And, we select five year’ s diachronic image data of Dongyuan Village (2017–2022) to elucidate the color changes mechanisms. The results show that: (1) Elements influenced by the government, construction techniques dissemination, and environmental factors exhibit regional similarity, while the color of wall differs significantly. Specifically, K-Means values for northern and eastern wall elements indicate light brown tones RGB: (159, 151, 136), (163, 159, 147), whereas southwestern and central wall elements exhibit distinct colors, including grayish brown RGB: (132, 127, 119) and light yellow RGB: (190, 182, 161), respectively. (2) Dongyuan Village underwent color corrections in accordance with government policies, resulting in a shift from blue RGB: (138, 154, 213) to yellow RGB: (223, 206, 196) for the walls and a gradual unification of road colors into light gray RGB: (239, 238, 243). This initiative led to increased consistency with government guidelines, and the color data stabilized with minimal changes in the surrounding environment. This study enhances our comprehension of traditional village color and regional characteristics changes, contributing to effective measures for the preservation of these culturally significant built heritage.