Under the accelerating urbanization, the evolution of public spaces in traditional villages increasingly diverges from social needs. The top-down governance model fails to adequately address the actual needs of indigenous residents, highlighting the necessity for structural analysis and optimization from an integrated physical–social perspective. This study, focusing on traditional villages in Beijing’s Fangshan District, constructs a three-tier model (village-street-node) by integrating Social Network Analysis (SNA) and space syntax theory. It analyzes the relationship between the accessibility and traffic potentiality of linear and point-based public spaces across the region and the frequency/scope of villagers’ daily activities. The findings reveal that within the linear belt-like spatial layout of traditional villages in western Beijing, historical spaces situated within the core residential areas demonstrate high stability and integrity, serving as primary venues for villagers’ daily activities. In contrast, historical spaces located at the periphery of settlements suffer from low utilization rates and even exhibit social segregation. Additionally, deficiencies in spatial choice, intermediary nodes, and functionality within settlements are identified as key factors contributing to social segregation in public spaces. Finally, the study proposes targeted policy recommendations for the preservation and sustainable development of traditional villages.
Chen et al. (2025) studied this question.