**1. Introduction**

As a precious treasure of human beings, linear cultural heritage (LCH) is referred to as the cultural heritage agglomeration in the linear geographical space with features of wide spatial span, prominent theme and diverse cultures, among others. With the continuous expansion of the protection concepts of the European cultural route [1,2] and the American heritage corridor [3,4], people have gradually realized the vast economic benefits of heritage, and the world has set off a boom in the protection and development of LCH [5–7]. The Camino de Santiago in Spain and Route 66 in the USA are well known, but there are many lesser-known examples in developing countries. Protecting cultural heritage is a challenge for developing countries, particularly where heritage sites are widely spread in rural areas and may not include impressive buildings and monuments.

The large-scale spatial pattern has led to many problems in the tourism development of LCH and villages that classify as linear [8]. For example, the destruction and disappearance of some heritage sites have led to the loss of the theme of LCH [5]. Moreover, the assimilation of tourist landscapes that classify as linear have cut off the historical background [9]. In addition, the tourist landscapes that classify as linear are fragmented,

**Citation:** Wu, Z.; Ma, J.; Zhang, H. Spatial Reconstruction and Cultural Practice of Linear Cultural Heritage: A Case Study of Meiguan Historical Trail, Guangdong, China. *Buildings* **2023**, *13*, 105. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/buildings13010105

Academic Editor: Rita Bento

Received: 30 November 2022 Revised: 23 December 2022 Accepted: 27 December 2022 Published: 31 December 2022

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

which makes it challenging to form regional solid tourism competitiveness [10]. A potential solution adopted by a growing number of these countries is to link small sites of mainly local significance into a cultural heritage route and market them as a package while also improving the management and conservation of heritage assets [11]. Although much literature has focused on the centrality of heritage to rural revitalization and development, the production of LCH has remained largely absent from accounts of rural studies.

China's 5000-year-old culture has given birth to many linear cultural heritage sites, such as the Silk Road, the Grand Canal, the Great Wall, the Tea-Horse Historical Trail, the South China Historical Trail, and the Central Axis of Beijing. The South China Historical Trail is an important channel for connecting home and abroad to the Maritime Silk Road on land. It is also a critical cultural practice for the Guangdong Province to realize regional economic development. In China, the central government accelerates national economic development by giving the local government a certain degree of autonomy in developing the local economy. Spatial reconstruction is often included in the growth engine [11]. In order to enhance the region's image, large-scale restoration projects are becoming more and more common. For decades, the government has been packaging its historical landscapes or other heritage sites into heritage products to improve the region's competitiveness in the global tourism industry [11,12]. Its primary purpose is to help the region effectively realize the economic transformation from traditional to more profitable service industries. In particular, during the economic transition period, tourism is the leading force in promoting rural construction and revitalization. Many rural tourist destinations have conducted tourism development based on heritage resources [13], which has promoted changes in the rural landscape, infrastructure, and lifestyle and brought social, economic, and environmental benefits to the local area [14,15]. The exploration of the spatial reconstruction process of LCH based on cultural value is related to the sustainable revitalization and utilization of LCH and the villages that classify as linear.

This paper takes Lefebvre's spatial production theory as the fundamental analysis framework. It combines the follow-up research of Harvey and Foucault to effectively connect "culture" as the core element of spatial production theory. The case study of the Meiguan Historical Trail (Figure 1) aims to reveal that LCH is integrated into locational policies to accrue rural competitiveness and promote rural revitalization. Through this analysis, the article will shed light on how local governments in China mobilize LCH for economic growth and political control and how culture plays a role in the spatial reconstruction of LCH. Placing cultural heritage at the core of regional economic strategy, this paper understands it as the key to "regional economy and social wealth" [16].

Taking the Meiguan Historical Trail in Guangdong as an example, this paper aims to put forward new thoughts about the development of LCH. In particular, it includes the following objectives:


**Figure 1.** The location of Meiguan Historical Trail. Source: Google Maps.
