Spatial Characteristics of Suburban Villages Based on Spatial Syntax

Abstract

(1) Background: In the process of urbanization, current suburban village spaces are undergoing drastic changes. Many villages have lost their original rural appearances, and their unique rural cultures have been destroyed. (2) Methods: In this study, we used the Depthmap software to analyze the integration and comprehensibility of the village spaces in the central suburbs of Jilin province. Based on spatial syntax theory, we quantitatively interpreted the suburban village spaces, and we analyzed the correlations between their spatial morphological characteristics and industrial structures. (3) Results: Fishbone and radial villages each have one spatial nucleus, while comprehensive villages have multiple spatial nuclei. The comprehensibility of the villages with industrial structures that are dominated by the secondary and tertiary industries expressed higher results, with the highest comprehensibility value for the village of Nianshan (0.874). (4) Conclusions: The spatial characteristics of the suburban villages in central Jilin province generally have a high correlation with their industrial structures. We can use the spatial syntax measurement index as a basis for the spatial-form adjustment and reconstruction of the villages, with the aim of providing a reference for the industrial selection of suburban villages with different landforms and industrial structures, as well as the sustainable development of rural cultural tourism, in order to contribute to the revitalization of the countryside in the new era.

1. Introduction

Researchers have developed the domestic research on villages on the basis of residential research. Since 1990, there has been an increasing number of studies on the villages in China, covering such aspects as the village space and form, village division and pedigree, village evolution, village protection and development, ancient village renovation, new village construction, etc. Researchers not only focus on the traditional residential buildings, but they also carry out research on the overall village spaces [1,2,3,4,5,6]. In recent years, under the influence of the topology, anthropology, sociology, and ecology theories, researchers have adopted new research methods in the domestic research on villages, such as geographic information system (GIS) and spatial syntax analyses, to conduct quantitative research on the spatial forms of villages. The range of the studies on villages has gradually expanded, and the research results have greater theoretical meaning and practical significance.

The suburban villages in China are unique in their urbanization, having both the color of urban life and the appearance of the traditional countryside. In terms of urban–rural relations, suburban villages are integrated with cities in terms of the urban–rural industrial development and the interconnection of the infrastructure and public service sharing, but they retain their rural appearances [7]. The spatial forms of suburban villages are the external expression of a combination of endogenous factors, such as the natural resource conditions and social and cultural development of the region. Studies on the spatial forms of villages serve as the basis for their protection and development.

As a method of studying the interrelationship between spatial forms and human society, researchers use spatial syntax to assess the relationship between architecture, urban spaces, and people through quantitative analyses. The object of this theory is the ontology of space, and the starting point of spatial syntax is always the space itself. The fundamental task is to analyze and study the complex relationships within a spatial system. The spatial syntax fundamentally changes the designer’s basic perception of the space, transforming the correlations between the spaces into mathematical topological relationships, and elevating the basis of the planning from an empirical and intuitive way of thinking to an objective and quantitative one. By transforming spatial correlations into mathematical topological relationships, the basis for planning is moved from the empirical and intuitive to the objective and quantifiable. The result is a more scientific, rational, and universal design of village spaces that is based on spatial syntax. However, the spatial syntax method focuses more on the rational consideration of the spatial form and lacks the comprehensive consideration of the natural, historical, social, cultural, and other influencing factors, and the analysis results derived from the calculation of the spatial syntax method alone should not be used as the basis for planning and design.

Most researchers have made extensive use of spatial syntax to explore spatial issues at the urban scale, mainly using it to study urban spaces, traffic, and road planning. Russo, A. and Campisi, T. used spatial syntax to describe urban spatial morphology and quantitative analysis of urban transport demand and supply to provide dynamic planning strategies for post-epidemic cities [8]. Mccormack G R and Koohsari M J explored the impact of social street integration on community walkability [9], Van Der Hoeven F and Van Nes A have developed a syntactic model for assessing and measuring urban underground spaces, they used spatial syntax to develop optimal design and transformation solutions [10]. Esposito et al provide a useful perspective for urban analysis and planning to better understand the relationship between the spatial characteristics of the cognitive spatial subject and the urban environment [11]. Koohsari M J extends knowledge of spatial syntax to the study of parks and public open spaces [12], and Mahmoud explores the impact of spatial form on views resulting from green design in urban parks [13]. Some scholars use spatial syntax as a complementary measure to facilitate early planning by gaining comprehensive insight into urban corridors [14]. Chen and Liu combine spatial syntax parameters with data obtained from GIS to complete a quantitative analysis of urban spatial morphology [15], and Othman uses GIS processing and spatial syntax methods to study spatial visualization of spatial syntax parameters to evaluate street behavior [16].

At the rural scale, studies in which Chinese researchers apply spatial syntax to the village space with regard to the definitions of the concepts, spatial cognition, morphological types, and spatial structures are lacking. In terms of the village spatial form and cognition, Yang Xiaojun, Kong Ziqi, and Li Xiuyuan used GIS spatial syntax to construct a spatial-syntactic-relationship diagram and mathematical model of the traditional village of Baishe, and they explored its spatial morphology and deep spatial structure characteristics [17]. In 2021, Fu Xiaoli took the villages of Jinbing, Wufeng, Dongyuan, and Yuntou as the research objects, used the axial analysis method of spatial syntax theory to conduct a comparative analysis on their spatial morphologies, and discussed the main factors that affect the development of the village spatial morphology [18]. Zhang Dong, Shi Chunhua, and Li Linggrun used spatial syntax and spatial images to explore the typical characteristics of the spatial morphologies of Hejia and other villages in southern Henan, providing pedigree research and a theoretical basis for the rural mapping of the region. Spatial syntax is a useful supplement and correction to spatial images, and it can provide more scientific and accurate research results. Due to the flexibility of the village characteristics, the authors recognized the limitations of the morphological characteristics of the existing samples during the study [19]. In terms of the spatial morphological evolution and spatial structure characteristics of villages, Chu Kaifeng and Wu Mengyu refined the technical methods for the renewal of traditional settlements by studying spatial syntax theory. Previously, the renovation and renewal of traditional settlement dwellings had been only superficial; however, the authors used spatial syntax theory to construct a model of the research object and analyze its spatial characteristics, combined with its cultural interpretation, and they proposed a planning and renewal plan for the whole area from the perspective of the spatial system [20]. The theory of the spatial syntax of the traditional villages in China has taken initial shape, but in the existing studies, the authors are less likely to analyze and compare the spatial morphological characteristics of suburban villages from the point of view of industrial adaptability, and there are fewer relevant empirical and theoretical studies.

In the process of rapid urbanization and land development, urban–rural integration is accelerating, and the sustainable operation of suburban villages is facing many difficulties and challenges [21]. The industrial structure of suburban villages is influenced by urbanization. Most of the village industries serve the city and combine the natural landscape and cultural resources. Wei introduces the creative processing, planting, and tourism industries for the provision of diversified economic and ecological benefits for suburban villages at the cultural level [22]. Currently, suburban village spaces still have many problems, such as the loss of the village style, the failure of some spaces to meet the needs of the villagers, and the existence of spatial behavioral conflicts between tourists and villagers [23]. The spatial forms of villages are in urgent need of reconstruction. Yibie Chai explored the stage characteristics and driving factors of the spaces of typical tourist villages from 1908 to 2018 from an evolutionary perspective, deepening our understanding of the suburban village development process [24].

From the perspective of overall spatial village planning, in this study we used spatial syntax Depthmap software to quantitatively interpret the overall spatial morphologies of the suburban villages and to summarize and compare the correlations between the different overall village spatial morphology types and industrial structures. We used the spatial syntax parameters as the basis, with the aim of providing an effective and feasible spatial reconstruction and optimization scheme to provide a more comprehensive perspective for the selection and development of suburban village industries and the promotion of the village revitalization.

The innovation of this research is to provide a method to quantitatively interpret the overall spatial morphology of suburban villages from the perspective of overall village spatial planning. We used spatial syntax Depthmap software to summarize and compare the correlations between the overall village spatial morphology types and industrial structures, and to provide an effective and feasible spatial reconfiguration and optimization plan based on the spatial syntax parameters. This study provides a more scientific approach to the planning and design of suburban villages and helps to provide a more comprehensive perspective for the selection and development of different industrial types of suburban villages in other regions and the promotion of the village revitalization.

2. Methods

2.1. Overview of Spatial Syntax Approach

The main methods of spatial syntax are axial analysis, convex spatial analysis, and view field analysis. The medial axis analysis method, in which researchers use straight lines to string together and translate spatial systems according to the longest and least drawn principle, is applicable to traditional village streets and linear spaces of all sizes. In the convex spatial method, researchers translate multiple actual spaces into systems of convex spaces, and it is applicable to the study and treatment of building interiors and small-scale and nodal spaces. In view field analysis, researchers use a grid of squares to translate a spatial structure into a system of small squares, reflecting the degree of the spatial compression and enclosure, and it is suitable for large-scale and nonlinear spaces. In this study, we used the village street-plan form to analyze the overall spatial forms of the villages, and therefore we chose to use the axis analysis method [25,26,27,28].

The axial analysis method describes the relationships between the axes by means of the parametric variables, such as the integration, choice ability, intelligibility, and depth, connection, and control values. In this study, we focused on the overall spatial forms of the villages based on their street-plan forms. We used the axis analysis method to establish axis models based on the street plans, and we used the axes to reflect the spatial layouts of the villages by using the degrees of integration and intelligibility to analyze their spatial characteristics.

2.2. Interpretation of Relevant Parameters

2.2.1. Integration

RA_i is the integration-value variable, and it is calculated as follows [29]:

$${\mathrm{RA}}_{\mathrm{i}}=\frac{2\left({\mathrm{MD}}_{\mathrm{i}}-1\right) }{\mathrm{n}-2}$$

(1)

where n is the topological meaning of the number of all the nodes in the connected graph, and MDi is the topological meaning of the mean depth. The depth values reflect the minimum numbers of connections that a space needs to pass through to reach other spaces.

2.2.2. Intelligibility

The intelligibility (R²) is a value that researchers use to measure the contribution of the local space to the overall spatial perception, and it can be based on the extent to which the local space provides some perception of the overall spatial system, and on the extent to which a person perceives the whole spatial system through the spatial location that they are in. Based on the linear regression analysis of the local and global integrations, we deduced the intelligibility of the space system by an XY scatter diagram. The larger the value of the intelligibility, the easier it is to establish the perception of the overall spatial structure of the village through the local space, which is calculated as follows [30]:

$$R^2=\frac{{\displaystyle \sum }(I_3-I_3\prime )\left(I_n-I_n\prime \right)}{{\displaystyle \sum }{(I_3-I_3\prime )}^2{\displaystyle \sum }{\left(I_n-I_n\prime \right)}^2}$$

(2)

where I₃ is the local integration value at the topological distance (n = 3); I₃′ is the average value of the local integration at the topological distance (n = 3); I_n is the global integration value; I_n′ is the average value of the global integration [31,32,33,34].

2.3. Overview of Study Area

In this study, we took the suburban villages of central Jilin province as the main body of research. The agricultural development of Jilin province has had a profound influence on the distribution of the villages and their construction and development. The central part of Jilin province is a plain area, and it is the main grain-producing area of the province. The industrial structures of the villages are mainly based on the primary and secondary industries. The economic strength of the central region has considerable radiating power within the province. According to the overall distribution state, the central region has a high number and density of villages. As of 2018, the central region had 4426 villages, accounting for 47.46% of the villages in the province. The area is still in a phase of urban spatial expansion and increasing urbanization. With the cities as nodes, the region is characterized by an obvious tendency towards the agglomeration of the production factors and the frequent spatial movement of the economic factors. The urban–rural economic development difference is obvious, and the complementarity is strong. The stage of economic and social development and the characteristics of the region provide good conditions for the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy for the suburban integration of the villages. The suburban village spaces have been affected by the acceleration of the urbanization process. The current village spaces have obviously failed to adapt to the changes in the development of the rural industries and the living needs of the residents, and the village spatial forms are in urgent need of reconfiguration.

Through field visits and studies (Figure 1), researchers have revealed that there is currently much unplanned street construction in the suburban villages of Jilin province, which has made it so that the residential compounds are rigidly crammed together, with a lack of clear links and transitions between the spaces. The overall spatial structure of the countryside is unclear, and the street space only meets the traffic function. Due to the lack of relevant experience and guidance, the landscape design and construction of most village spaces follow the path of the city, which has resulted in the serious homogenization of the rural landscape, which now includes large hard squares, an increasing number of pavilion buildings beside rural roads, and a large number of southern-style whitewashed tiles. The village spaces were built without regard to the regional differences, which has led to the loss of the original northern rural appearance. In the village construction pilots or projects, many of the public spaces that were converted from sites at the edges of the village streets and lanes were not integrated and lack connection to the village, and the site configurations are limited to site hardening and fitness facilities, lack electrical facilities, greenery, and seating pavilions and stages to conduct activities, and have poor drainage, which is not attractive and makes it difficult for the villagers to conduct their diverse social activities.

In this study, we took the suburban villages in the central region of Jilin province as the basic information and case sources. In order to facilitate the analysis and research on their spatial layouts and street spaces, we combined the analysis and summary of the field research and basic data to classify the suburban villages into the following three categories in terms of the spatial-plane features [35]: (1) There are fishbone villages (Figure 2), which have main roads that are often county or provincial roads that run through the main nodes in the villages. The secondary roads unfold perpendicular to the main roads, and the village buildings are mostly arranged along one or both sides of the main roads (e.g., the village of Yehe). (2) There are radial villages, in which the road network structures are emitted from the nodes to the surrounding areas, with inward-to-outward spatial extensions (e.g., the village of Nongfeng). (3) There are comprehensive villages, which have more complex road network structures that are formed by the combination of several plane types; the scales of the villages are larger than the other types of villages, and their formations are mostly influenced by their topographical factors, industrial structures, etc. (e.g., the village of Xiasantai in Siping).

Based on these three types of village spatial planes, we selected eight suburban villages in central Jilin province: Renao, Liujia, Nianshan, and Yehe, which are fishbone villages; Nongfeng and Xixiawazi, which are radial villages; and Xiasantai and Mangka Manchu Township, which are comprehensive villages (Figure 3). These eight villages have typical planar characteristics, and to a certain extent, they represent the spatial characteristics of the suburban villages in the central region of Jilin province. We used the spatial sentence method to parametrically analyze the overall spatial morphologies of the villages to study the correlations between their spatial morphological characteristics and industrial structures, and to analyze and summarize strategies for their planning and development. Researchers can verify the correlation between the spatial morphologies and industrial structures of the other suburban villages in the central region of Jilin province by using the methodological procedures of this study, which provide a reference for the planning and development of the same types of villages.

From the field research and basic information on Jilin province, we learned the following.

The village of Renao is located in the Longshan District in the city of Liaoyuan, and the whole district is carrying out “five-star beautiful countryside action” with the creation of 1603 beautiful model households. The industrial structure of Renao is mainly based on the primary industry, which is the traditional planting industry. The secondary industry is slowly developing. The village of Liujia is located in the Jiutai District in the city of Changchun, Jilin province. The arable land is fertile and produces corn, rice, soybeans, melons, vegetables, and other crops. The village of Liujia has built the first farmers collection museum in the three northeastern provinces, has a rich history and folk culture, and is surrounded by scenic spots, such as the Miao Xiang Mountain scenic area and Shi Toumen Reservoir. The village of Nianshan belongs to the town of Dengta, in the Longshan District of the city of Liaoyuan. Formerly a provincial poverty-stricken village, it has currently set up a boutique e-commerce service station and has become an e-commerce demonstration village. The village of Yehe belongs to the city of Siping, Tietong District, Yehe Manchu Township. Yehe Manchu Township was named the “national health township”. The national 3A-level tourist attractions of the city of Yehe Nara are located at the East Castle Mountain, the cultural city of Xingyuan, the mountain lake, and other scenic spots, which link to create a tourism boutique line in preparation of the completion of the mountain gate - Yehe scenic area master plan. The village of Nongfeng is part of Changchun’s Chaoyang District, which is the center of science and technology, culture, the economy, education, and commerce in Changchun. The village of Xixiawazi belongs to Huanxi Township in the Fungying District in the city of Jilin, Jilin province, with 398 hectares of arable land, including 135 hectares of rice. The main crops are corn, soybeans, rice, and vegetables. The village of Xiasantai belongs to the Tiedong District, the city of Siping, and its industrial structure is mainly based on primary industry. Mangka Manchu Township belongs to the Jutai District in the city of Changchun, Jilin province, and it is located in the eastern part of the Jutai District, 65 km from the government of the Jutai District. The total area is 153 square kilometers, the food crops are corn and rice, the main economic crops are vegetables and flowers, and the farmers raise pigs, cattle, and poultry. Mangka Manchu Township has a number of ancient city sites, including the ancient Tibetan Xietun Kiln, and the Boerhatong ancient burial site from the Ming and Qing dynasties [36,37,38].

2.4. Feature-Point Extraction for Village Space

In this study, we focused on the internal spaces of the villages, and so we selected the street spaces of the villages as the analysis node. The connecting lines for the period indicate the connection relationship. We drew the axis models for this study using Autodesk Computer-Aided Design (AutoCAD), and on the basis of the accessibility of the feature points based on satellite maps of the suburban villages of central Jilin province (

Table 1. Extraction of spatial feature points of suburban villages in central Jilin province.

Village Type	Name	Satellite Map of Village Space *	Feature-Point Extraction
Fishbone	Renao Village (125.276731, 41.927054)
	Liujia Village (126.391031, 44.363909)
	Nianshan Village (125.073572, 43.010748)
	Yehe Village (124.545724, 42.953176)
Radial	Nongfeng Village (125.300372, 43.716138)
	Xixiawazi Village (126.466365, 43.795906)
Comprehensive	Xiasantai Village (124.500606, 43.160968)
	Mangka Manchu Village (126.423958, 44.270521)

* Satellite maps of village spaces from Baidu Map.

).

3. Results

3.1. Integration Analysis

We quantified the village streets and roads using Depthmap software, and we constructed the axis models by linking the street spaces to the axes based on the principle that the axis is the longest possible straight line drawn on the same road or street on the map with the least number of axes. We used Depthmap software to analyze and process the axis models of the villages under study, assign and color the axes, and generate a global integration image. We used colors to distinguish the spatial-integration levels of the village streets, with the warmer axis colors (towards red) representing higher degrees of spatial integration, and the colder axis colors (towards blue) representing lower degrees (Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6).

The higher the value of the global integration, the more accessible the element in the spatial system, and the more likely it is that crowds will gather in that spatial area. In addition, if the total number of axes is less than 200, then the spatial areas with the top 5% of the total spatial elements in terms of global integration are referred to as the “spatial core” of the overall space (i.e., the core street space of the area). According to the comparative analysis, the global-integration-degree axis maps and spatial kernel feature points have patterns shown in Table 1.

The spatial nuclei of herringbone villages are often located in the main street spaces, and they are connected to the entrances and exits of the villages and carry the main pedestrian and vehicular traffic. According to the field research, the main public spaces of the villages of Renao and Yehe, such as the village halls, schools, and main trade projects, are located on the main streets. In the villages of Nianshan and Liujia, due to the structure of the village patterns, the houses are set up along the main streets on both sides, and so the most accessible areas of the villages are the main street spaces. The daily lives of the villagers mainly revolve around the main streets; thus, the process of optimizing the village spaces should focus on transforming the main streets and surrounding street spaces.

The most accessible areas of radial villages are generally found in the centers of the villages, which are the spatial nuclei, and which are made up of networks of intersecting roads, the structure of which both enhances the overall spatial integration of the villages and makes it easier for people from discrete areas to reach the cores. The central area of Xixiawazi is the village’s commercial factory, the village’s industrial structure is predominantly secondary industry, and the village production and life revolve around the processing factory. The spatial nucleus area of Nongfeng contains the village health office, animal husbandry and veterinary workstation, and brick factory, which make up the center of the villagers’ daily lives.

Most of these villages have the highest accessibility to the central parts of the villages, and some of them have relatively large village scales and complex road network structures, which are characterized by multiple spatial nuclei in the syntactic analysis, with primary and secondary spatial nuclei. For example, Xiasantai has two spatial nuclei: the main spatial nucleus area in the main street space, and the secondary spatial nucleus area in the feeder roads that are connected to the main street, with industrial parks, such as nurseries. Mangka Manchu Township also has two spatial nuclei: the main and secondary spatial nuclei, which are both located between two of the most globally integrated and parallel street areas, which, together with the intersecting branch roads, form the spatial nucleus area. The streets in the spatial nucleus area are equipped with the public facilities necessary for the villagers’ daily lives, such as petrol stations, fire stations, courier centers, and rural commercial banks, and the snacks and restaurants in the village are also distributed in this spatial area. The integrated villages are well developed in terms of basic industries, but they lack some rural characteristics. From the perspective of ethnic culture, the villages can be optimally transformed by adding cultural colors to the overall spaces and promoting the development of rural tourism.

3.2. Intelligibility Analysis

The higher the intelligibility, the easier it is to build up a perception of the overall space through the local spatial structure. We selected the local integration and global integration for the linear regression analysis, which resulted in XY scatter plots (

Table 2. Intelligibilities of suburban villages in central Jilin province.

Industry	Village	Intelligibility
Primary Industry	Renao	0.623
	Xixiawazi	0.706
	Yehe	0.755
	Nongfeng	0.757
	Xiasantai	0.792
Secondary and Tertiary Industries	Mangka manchu	0.852
	Liujia	0.871
	Nianshan	0.874

, Figure 7). R² values greater than 0.7 indicated good spatial intelligibility.

According to Table 2, the comprehensibility of Renao is the lowest, (less than 0.7), which indicates that the overall spatial system and local spatial correlation are poor. According to the field research, the industrial structure of Renao is dominated by the primary industry, which is traditional farming, and the secondary industry is slowly developing. Some of the village streets are crowded and mixed, and the construction of the comprehensive commercial and regional markets is insufficient; thus, it is difficult for foreign tourists to form an impression of the whole village when they are in the local space of the village, and they have a poor perception of their locations.

When the industrial structures of the villages are mainly secondary and tertiary industries, the arrangements of the village streets and alleys are generally more compact in order to take into account the layout of the building space and the industrial and commercial processing and transportation, the intelligibilities of the villages are relatively high. The intelligibility of Nianshan is the highest at 0.874. In 2020, Nianshan became an e-commerce demonstration village in the city of Liaoyuan, and the arrangement of the village streets and alleys was based on the renewal of the original street structure and express high intelligibility.

4. Discussion

Based on the above syntactic parsing results, the implications for the spatial reconfiguration and development of the suburban villages in central Jilin province are as follows:

(1) Sorting out the contexts of the village streets and lanes, and strengthening the construction of the street and lane networks.

According to the results of the syntactic processing, the integration degrees of fishbone villages are higher in the core areas and are substantially different from the integration degrees of the surrounding streets and alleys, which are less accessible and have looser organizations. Taking the village of Renao as an example, on the basis of the original street structure, we can sort out the broken roads, connect them with the surrounding areas in an orderly manner, repair some of the missing routes; build a convenient road traffic network, improve the convenience of the villagers’ lives, clarify the spatial flow of the crowded and mixed streets and lanes, set up the road use in a classified manner, demolish the illegal self-built housing structures, and repair the façade shapes of the buildings on both sides of the crowded surrounding streets to maintain the flow and accessibility of the streets and lanes. We established the optimized spatial axis model of the streets in Renao, imported the model into the Depthmap software for the axis analysis, and compared the quantitative results (Figure 8, Figure 9 and Figure 10). According to the results, after the optimization, the accessibilities of three streets in Renao were substantially improved, and the comprehensibility of the village was raised to more than 0.7, which is a remarkable improvement compared to before the optimization.

(2) Delineating the functional core areas and building a culturally integrated overall village landscape system.

In the context of rural revitalization, the economic development of villages focuses on the establishment of core areas, which should drive the development of the whole village. In order to realize the overall synergistic development of villages, we should establish more balanced spatial structures. Based on the results of the spatial syntactic analysis, multiple core spaces can be established on the basis of the existing spatial nuclei, and the richly layered functional core areas can be divided. In the village landscape development plan, public activity spaces can be added to the less integrated subspatial core areas to create a new level of functional core areas. To build a cultural landscape system with rich village layers, cultural elements can be integrated into the creation of the node spaces, and local unique folk activities can be protected and inherited by setting up corresponding cultural activity squares and organizing regular cultural and recreational activities for villagers to encourage their active participation and attract foreign visitors.

(3) Optimizing and transforming the current street space to activate the village.

According to the field research, some of the highly integrated street spaces in the villages have problems, such as uneven pavement, insufficient greenery, and imperfect peripheral facilities. The current road accessibilities are high, but the roads only satisfy the traffic function and are not attractive to tourists. For the streets and lanes in villages with similar current conditions, the main focus should be on the following: improving their current conditions, repairing uneven road surfaces; increasing the greenery areas of the street spaces, enhancing the ornamental nature of the overall spatial areas, increasing the radiation effect on the surrounding street spaces, strengthening the interaction between the spaces and tourists, and activating the potential vitality of the village spaces.

(4) Exploring the cultural identities of the villages and promoting their sustainable development.

The sustainable development of the villages should not only consider the real needs of rural urbanization, but also the preservation of their unique cultural characteristics. The homogenization of rural landscapes should be avoided, and the balanced development of the urban and rural economies and cultures can be achieved through the integration of the village culture and tourism. In the process of constructing an integrated industrial system of village culture and tourism, the proportion of the secondary and tertiary industries in the industrial structures of villages, such as the tourism, services, and manufacturing around culture, should be appropriately increased. The humanistic histories, physical spaces, and natural environments of the villages should be fully utilized, giving full play to the role of the physical space as a bearing base and display function, while improving the village infrastructure, creating fine lines for rural excursions and sightseeing, improving the comprehensive experience of the village tourism, strengthening the cultural characteristics of the village space, and widening the village economic development space.

5. Conclusions

We deciphered the spatial syntactic parameters of the street spaces of different types of suburban villages in central Jilin province based on the collation and analysis of the spatial patterns of the streets and alleys. According to the comparative analysis of the optimization results of the case villages, we reached the following conclusions: (1) Among the suburban villages in central Jilin province, the fishbone and radial villages each have one spatial nucleus, while the integrated villages have multiple spatial nuclei because their road networks are more complex. The spatial nucleus of a village is generally its industrial and commercial core, and it is the main production center and most accessible area. (2) Based on the spatial syntax analysis, the spatial characteristics of the suburban villages in central Jilin province are highly correlated with their industrial structures. The street structures of the villages with primarily secondary and tertiary industries are more complete than those of the villages with primary industries, and it is easier for the villagers to perceive the overall morphological structures of the village spaces through the local spaces, which means that the spatial intelligibilities of these villages are higher. We can use the spatial syntax measurement index as a basis for reconfiguring the spatial forms of the villages, combined with the directions of their industrial development, strengthening the connections of their overall spatial structures, and enhancing the accessibility and recognizability of the street spaces.

To sum up, the suburban villages in central Jilin province are important areas in the province, and their development still faces many contradictions and challenges. The current village space cannot adapt to the development of and changes in the rural industries and the living needs of the residents, and we urgently need to reconstruct the village spatial form. Through quantitative descriptions and a parametric comparison analysis of the spatial configurations of the suburban villages in central Jilin province through the theory of spatial syntax, we explored the relationship between the overall spatial morphological types of the different villages and their industrial adaptabilities, and we summarized the countermeasures for their spatial reconstruction and development from a spatial perspective.

We found deficiencies in the research process. Due to the limitation of the geographical factors and the proportion of the agricultural industries in the villages under study, the adaptability of the research findings of this study has certain limitations, and it is necessary to expand the database and improve the methodological system in follow-up research, providing certain references for the adjustment and reconstruction of the spatial forms of suburban villages with different landforms and industrial structures in more areas, and helping to revitalize the countryside in the new era.