Disaster Risk Identification and Prevention Strategies for Cultural Tourism Characteristic Towns: A Case Study of Zhangguying Town, Hunan Province

Abstract

As one of the key vehicles to integrating culture and tourism in urban and rural development, cultural tourism-oriented characteristic towns are increasingly facing natural and social disaster risks caused by global climate variability, large-scale expansion of town areas, and intensified human engineering activities. In particular, characteristic towns that have rapidly developed through tourism based on historical and cultural heritage face challenges such as compact layouts of ancient architectural complexes, extensive outward expansion of newly developed areas, and inadequately planned emergency evacuation systems—making them ill-equipped to cope with increasingly uncertain disaster risks. In response to these issues, this study takes Zhangguying Town in Yueyang County, Hunan Province, as a case study. Through field investigations, interviews, and GIS-based hydrological simulations, the research systematically identifies the characteristics and influencing factors of disaster risks in the town. It also reveals the core dilemmas confronting current disaster prevention planning and proposes strategies such as enhancing chain disaster prevention measures, promoting micro-scale, site-specific disaster prevention retrofitting, and establishing a multi-scale disaster prevention system through “point-line” linkages. By reducing disaster risks, preserving cultural heritage, and optimizing emergency response capacities, this research effectively supports the sustainable development of cultural tourism-oriented characteristic towns from a disaster prevention perspective, enabling these towns to withstand natural hazards while sustaining their historical, cultural, and socio-economic functions. The findings provide a theoretical basis and methodological reference for comprehensive disaster prevention planning in similar cultural tourism-oriented characteristic towns.

1. Introduction

In response to the persistent outmigration of population from small towns to large cities in China, the deep integration of culture and tourism has been recognized as an effective pathway to promote the development of small towns and facilitate the flow of urban-rural factors [1]. Consequently, a growing number of characteristic towns—leveraging their historical and cultural heritage, distinctive vernacular landscape resources, and traditional residential architecture and customs—have emerged across China [2,3]. These towns stimulate economic development through cultural heritage tourism, attract large-scale population inflows, and establish close linkages with their surrounding regions [4]. Due to their long histories, these characteristic towns are often regarded as exemplars of high resilience and ancient disaster prevention wisdom, having withstood the test of time and past hazards. However, with the ongoing transformation of environmental and socio-economic systems, several critical questions arise: Are they still resilient to disasters? Do they need to cope with new disaster scenarios? And has the development of modern cultural tourism increased their disaster risk?

First, the hazard, exposure, and vulnerability that constitute the disaster risk of such characteristic towns are continuously evolving within the new environmental and economic systems. Due to the combined effects of the increasing frequency of extreme weather events (e.g., short-duration heavy rainfall, flash floods, and persistent heatwaves) [5], the uncontrolled expansion of land use driven by rapid tourism development [6], and the surge in tourist numbers during holidays [7], the pressure on town infrastructure—particularly comprehensive disaster prevention infrastructure—has intensified significantly. Characteristic towns are often situated in river valleys and hilly areas where mountains and water converge. While these geographical settings endow them with distinctive landscapes, their inherent geological, geomorphological, and hydrological conditions render them susceptible to natural hazards such as floods and landslides [8,9,10]. The architectural heritage in these towns typically employs traditional materials and construction techniques; in southern China, most structures are timber-framed or of mixed brick-and-timber construction. These buildings are often arranged in contiguous clusters with insufficient fire separation distances, and the narrow alleyways impede access for some firefighting equipment, posing significant fire hazards. Moreover, during peak tourist seasons, the high concentration of visitors—who are unfamiliar with local disaster warning signals and evacuation routes—generates coupled “human-disaster” compound risks.

Second, the ancient disaster prevention wisdom developed to address these risks needs to evolve and be integrated into modern disaster prevention planning systems. Over their long history of coping with natural hazards, traditional Chinese settlements have accumulated systematic disaster prevention wisdom, including site selection to avoid geological hazards [11], water management for flood control and drainage [12], and water storage for drought prevention and firefighting [13]. At the site selection level, emphasis was placed on “seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages,” prioritizing locations where natural topography could inherently mitigate flood and geological risks. At the settlement layout level, stormwater was systematically channeled through drainage systems, while spatial measures such as fire lanes and firewall gables achieved physical fire isolation. At the facility level, domestic water supply, firefighting water storage, and stormwater detention were integrated into a unified water network, forming multifunctional disaster prevention infrastructure. However, these wisdom traditions are often multidisciplinary in nature and are difficult to align with current disaster prevention planning systems for towns and townships. Existing disaster prevention plans are generally compiled based on single-hazard responses, lacking systematic consideration of multi-hazard superposition and chain effects. Furthermore, there is insufficient coordination and synergy among monitoring data and early warning platforms for different hazard types. Moreover, existing research on comprehensive disaster prevention planning has predominantly focused on urban areas, where populations and economic activities are concentrated and disaster risks exert more profound impacts [14]. Previous studies indicate that disaster prevention planning models for large cities emphasize high-investment engineering measures and sophisticated emergency management systems, whose resource allocation capacities and organizational complexity are beyond the reach of small towns [15,16]. Specifically, comprehensive disaster prevention planning in large cities relies on well-established fiscal budgets, specialized emergency management teams, dense monitoring networks, and institutional frameworks for multi-departmental coordination—conditions that are generally absent at the township level. Consequently, resource allocation models developed for large cities are ill-suited to small town regions, where natural and anthropogenic disaster risks are highly intertwined. Such models lack compatibility with the local spatial patterns, socio-economic characteristics, and special conservation requirements of small towns, thereby limiting their functional effectiveness.

More critically, disaster prevention planning for cultural tourism-oriented characteristic towns faces a unique set of deep-seated contradictions. The rigid constraints imposed by historical heritage conservation limit the feasibility of large-scale engineering interventions, while the high concentration of tourist flows resulting from tourism development places greater demands on the carrying capacity of disaster prevention facilities. This creates dual challenges in terms of goal compatibility and pathway feasibility, rendering the complexity of disaster prevention planning in such towns significantly higher than that of ordinary towns. Current research on cultural tourism-oriented characteristic towns in China has largely focused on spatial layout optimization [17], ecological conservation [18], and tourism development [19], with relatively limited attention given to comprehensive disaster prevention planning. A systematic and targeted resilience enhancement pathway has yet to be established. Against the backdrop of territorial spatial planning reforms that offer institutional innovation opportunities for comprehensive disaster prevention at the township level, there is an urgent need to fill the academic gap in disaster risk identification and prevention strategy research for cultural tourism-oriented characteristic towns [15].

In summary, existing studies lack systematic identification and mechanistic analysis of the compound disaster risks faced by cultural tourism-oriented characteristic towns, pay insufficient attention to the spatial mechanisms through which the micro-scale spatial morphology of historic settlements affects disaster prevention effectiveness, and fall short in providing integrated planning strategies that balance cultural heritage conservation with disaster resilience enhancement. This study takes Zhangguying Town in Yueyang County, Hunan Province, as an empirical case study. It analyzes the disaster characteristics and their influencing factors within the town, as well as the current status and developmental dilemmas of its disaster prevention planning. Based on the findings, it proposes strategies to enhance the preventive capacity of chain-disaster measures, promote micro-scale, site-specific disaster prevention retrofitting, and establish a multi-scale disaster prevention framework featuring “point-line” synergy. The findings are intended to provide a theoretical basis and methodological reference for comprehensive disaster prevention planning in cultural tourism-oriented characteristic towns.

2. Study Area: Zhangguying Town

Zhangguying Town is located in Yueyang County, Yueyang City, Hunan Province. Formerly known as Weidong Township, it was renamed Zhangguying Town in 1995 and has since developed into a cultural tourism-oriented characteristic town centered on the historic architectural complex of Zhangguying Village. The town proper is nestled in the valley between Longxing Hill and the Weixi River, at the foot of Bijia Mountain to the east of Weidong in Yueyang County. To the north lies Zhangguying Village, which contains the best-preserved Ming and Qing dynasty vernacular architectural complex in the Jiangnan region. Designated as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 2001, this complex comprises over 1700 Ming and Qing structures with a total floor area of approximately 51,000 m². It consists of three main architectural clusters—Dangdamen, Wangjiaduan, and Shangxinwu—and features numerous distinctive attractions such as the “Panxi Corridor,” “Hundred-Step Three Bridges,” and “Longzhu Stone,” endowing the town with rich historical heritage and strong tourism appeal [20].

From the late 1980s to the present, capitalizing on the opportunities brought by tourism development in Zhangguying Village, the town government, developers, and local residents have deliberately constructed a cross-shaped street network at the southeastern exit of Zhangguying Village. This street network has gradually expanded outward, connecting with surrounding vernacular dwellings, and has formed the main body of the present-day town proper [21]. Within the town, various commercial operations have emerged, including homestays, hotels, restaurants serving farmhouse cuisine, and shops selling soybean products, craft fans, wood carvings, and root carvings. These facilities provide tourists with accommodation, dining, reception, and guide services, while also serving the daily commercial needs of surrounding villages. According to survey data, Zhangguying Town receives approximately 500–800 visitors per day on regular days. However, during peak holiday periods such as May Day and National Day, daily tourist arrivals can exceed 10,000, representing a more than tenfold increase in instantaneous population density compared to ordinary days. This surge imposes immense pressure on the town’s emergency evacuation and disaster prevention facility capacity. With the continuous development of its cultural tourism industry, Zhangguying Town has been designated as one of the first ten characteristic cultural tourism towns in Hunan Province and is actively promoting the construction of an all-for-one tourism demonstration area.

3. Disaster Characteristics and Influencing Factors in Zhangguying Town

Unlike ordinary administrative towns, Zhangguying Town’s built-up area consists of the core ancient architectural complex of Zhangguying Village to the north and the newly developed area to the south (Figure 1), creating a spatial pattern where traditional settlement fabric and contemporary architectural forms coexist. The presence of distinctive historic buildings within the town proper makes it more vulnerable to disasters than fully modernized towns, influenced by factors such as building materials, settlement morphology, and residents’ lifestyles. Currently, disaster risk in Zhangguying Town is shaped by both natural and human factors, which can be seen in three aspects: the natural environment, settlement space, and human engineering activities. Distinct from ordinary administrative towns, Zhangguying Town—as a cultural tourism-oriented characteristic town—is also significantly affected by a “human-disaster coupling” mechanism. During holidays, tourists congregate in high densities within the historic architectural complex and along the main tourist routes, substantially increasing the exposure to secondary disasters such as crowd crushes and fires. Furthermore, tourists’ unfamiliarity with local disaster warning signals and evacuation routes further complicates emergency response.

3.1. Concentrated Rainfall and Susceptibility to Floods and Geological Hazards

Zhangguying Town is situated in a hilly area where localized slopes are underlain by loose rock and soil with well-developed rock fissures, rendering the area susceptible to geological hazards such as landslides and collapses. The ancient village was originally sited in flat valley areas, following the traditional settlement principle of backing onto mountains and facing water. The architectural complex as a whole is nestled against Longxing Hill and oriented toward Weixi River, with no slope-cutting construction, and has thus remained relatively unaffected by geological hazards. In modern times, however, to preserve the overall historic character of the ancient buildings, construction activities have been restricted within the core protection zone. Consequently, the construction of new vernacular dwellings and the expansion of the town have followed a pattern radiating outward from the ancient architectural complex into surrounding forested areas. Constrained by topography, some vernacular dwellings on slopes have adopted slope-cutting practices, which have compromised slope stability and created significant geological hazard risks. In addition to its geological conditions, Zhangguying Town is characterized by a typical subtropical monsoon climate with uneven seasonal rainfall distribution, and the flood season is concentrated from June to August. In recent years, influenced by extreme climate variability, short-duration heavy rainfall events have become frequent [22]. On 12 August 2017, a rainstorm and flood disaster struck Zhangguying Town. Continuous rainfall triggered mountain torrents, causing the Weixi River within the scenic area to surge violently. Ancient buildings and vernacular dwellings along the river were inundated, with internal water depths reaching 1.7 m. In the southern built-up area, maximum road surface flooding reached 0.9 m (waist-deep), resulting in severe overall damage. A complex interaction mechanism exists between the aforementioned geological and flood hazards. Short-duration heavy rainfall not only directly triggers mountain torrents but also sharply increases slope moisture content, thereby inducing secondary hazards such as landslides and debris flows. This cascading effect—“heavy rainfall–mountain torrents–geological hazards”—significantly amplifies the extent of disaster damage [23]. Within this disaster chain, geological hazards typically lag behind rainfall by several hours to several days, while upstream flash flood convergence further aggravates waterlogging in the downstream town area. This cascading effect across both temporal and spatial dimensions renders single-hazard early warning and protection measures inadequate. Furthermore, during peak tourist seasons, visitors’ vehicles are densely parked along the town’s main roads, with some sections encroaching on emergency access routes, further constricting the passage space for rescue vehicles in the event of geological hazards. This constitutes a compound risk wherein natural disasters and anthropogenic management failures are superimposed.

3.2. Compact Historic Settlement Space and Fire Risks

The buildings within Zhangguying’s ancient architectural complex are predominantly brick-and-timber structures, with a small number being rammed-earth and timber structures. The architectural complex presents a distinctive style characterized by continuous courtyards, interconnected roof ridges, and contiguous building clusters extending approximately one kilometer (

Table 1. Building Structure and Spatial Form of Historic Settlements in Zhangguying Town.

	Earth-Wood Structure		Brick-Wood Structure
Building Structure
Spatial Form of Settlements

Source Digital Museum of Traditional Chinese Villages, Photographed by the Research Team.

). Despite the preservation of traditional fire prevention measures such as fire lanes and skywells, the fire separation distance within this large-scale wooden structure complex remains significantly inadequate. Furthermore, some vernacular dwellings exhibit fire hazards due to aging electrical wiring and residents’ use of open flames for cooking. The internal alleyways connecting the ancient building clusters are approximately 80 cm wide—only wide enough for single-person passage—making it difficult for certain firefighting equipment to access. Additionally, the use of private partitions and the accumulation of miscellaneous items have reduced connectivity, further complicating fire rescue operations. As a cultural tourism-oriented characteristic town, Zhangguying’s fire risk is compounded by anthropogenic disturbances associated with tourism activities. During peak seasons, tourist densities within the historic complex surge, making open-flame management more challenging and raising the risk of electrical overload. Meanwhile, street-front shops, in order to meet tourism consumption demands, extensively utilize modern electrical appliances, further increasing the load on the original electrical circuits.

3.3. Altered Surface Hydrological Pathways and Reduced Stormwater Drainage Efficiency

Historically, the drainage system of Zhangguying Village’s ancient architectural complex was designed to follow the natural terrain. Through underground drainage pipes beneath the courtyards, collected rainwater and domestic wastewater, together with runoff from peripheral ditches surrounding the buildings, were directed toward the Yanyan Ponds or the Weixi River in front of the village gates, enabling rapid and efficient drainage and resulting in a low flood occurrence frequency [24].

In recent years (2017, 2024), however, Zhangguying Town has experienced several severe flood disasters, with significant waterlogging occurring within the town proper, particularly inside the ancient architectural complex. To investigate the causes, this study conducted hydrological analysis based on the ArcGIS 10.8 platform. Using DEM data, surface runoff flow direction and accumulation were calculated, and flow convergence pathways and nodes were identified to derive the surface hydrological pathways of Zhangguying Town (Figure 2) for in-depth analysis. The ArcGIS simulation utilized ALOS 12.5 m resolution DEM data. After sink-filling to eliminate data errors, the D8 single-flow-direction algorithm was applied to determine flow direction for each grid cell, based on which flow accumulation was computed. A flow accumulation threshold greater than 50 was adopted for stream network extraction, ensuring over 85% concordance between the extracted river network and the actual water system depicted on topographic maps. The simulation results reveal that the surface hydrological pathways exhibit the typical dendritic pattern characteristic of hilly areas. The town proper is situated at the confluence node where first-level tributaries join second-level tributaries, with relatively small overall discharge but significant water convergence effects (Figure 3a). Field investigation results corroborate these findings: stormwater drainage in the town proper primarily flows from the ancient architectural complex in the northwest, following the topography toward the newly developed area in the southeast, ultimately passing through the cross-shaped intersection of the town and discharging into drainage channels in the southeast (Figure 3b).

Further analysis reveals that the water network system of the ancient Dawu architectural complex, dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, remains well-preserved and continues to function for stormwater drainage. In the past two decades, driven by tourism development, rising income levels, and the demand for improved living conditions, road infrastructure in the newly developed area has been continuously upgraded, and the area of construction land has increased. Large tracts of farmland and forest have been converted into impervious surfaces, significantly altering the underlying surface type of the town proper, reducing rainwater infiltration rates, and increasing surface runoff. Notably, the drainage channel section extending from the Zhangguying scenic area exit to the town’s cross-shaped intersection was transformed into an “underground culvert” during recent construction by burying drainage pipes. However, the buried pipes have relatively small diameters. When short-duration heavy rainfall accumulates, stormwater exceeding the maximum discharge capacity of the pipes cannot be drained effectively, resulting in rainwater backflow and severe waterlogging in the ancient Dawu architectural complex located upstream of the town’s drainage system. Additionally, both sides of the drainage channel at the southernmost part of the town, which collects converging stormwater, have been hardened, reducing its flood peak discharge capacity (Figure 4). The compounded decline in drainage capacity caused by town expansion, underlying surface hardening, and increased surface runoff constitutes the core factor contributing to the significant exacerbation of flood risk in Zhangguying Town in recent years. Furthermore, during peak tourist seasons, the section from the scenic area exit to the cross-shaped intersection experiences dense pedestrian flows. Temporary structures such as awnings and vendor stalls proliferate, locally obstructing surface runoff pathways and further reducing the efficiency of stormwater entry into the covered culvert. The 1.7 m inundation depth within the historic architectural complex during the 12 August 2017 rainstorm event corroborates this mechanistic inference. A spatial overlay analysis of the ArcGIS-simulated confluence nodes and the current covered culvert location reveals that the culvert is situated precisely at the primary confluence node of surface runoff within the town area. Its insufficient conveyance capacity directly impedes drainage from the upstream historic architectural complex, forming a spatial causal chain of “confluence node—culvert bottleneck—historic building inundation”.

4. Current State and Development Dilemmas of Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Planning in Zhangguying Town

Based on field investigations, publicly available information from government websites, and interviews with village management personnel, this study systematically examines the operational status and development dilemmas of the disaster prevention systems addressing major hazard types in Zhangguying Town.

4.1. Current State of Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Planning in Zhangguying Town

Synthesizing the analysis of disaster characteristics and planning implementation status, the existing comprehensive disaster prevention planning in Zhangguying Town primarily focuses on four aspects: geological hazard prevention and control, meteorological and flood disaster prevention and control, fire protection, and earthquake protection.

4.1.1. Geological Hazards

As a small town prone to frequent geological hazards, Zhangguying has implemented protective engineering measures at sites susceptible to landslides, collapses, and subsidence. It is stipulated that new construction projects must avoid areas with potential geological hazards such as landslides, collapses, and subsidence; where avoidance is impossible, engineering prevention measures must be adopted, and regular engineering maintenance must be conducted. Concurrently, Zhangguying Town has installed universally adaptable landslide monitoring equipment at geological hazard prone areas for real-time monitoring and early warning. At the planning level, the comprehensive disaster prevention and mitigation planning within the Zhangguying Town territorial spatial master plan identifies low, medium, and high geological hazard risk zones for targeted protection.

4.1.2. Meteorological Disasters

In response to the increasing frequency of extreme climate events in recent years and the trend toward concentrated summer precipitation, regional mountain torrent risks have significantly escalated. In 2024, Yueyang County initiated the “Dadong River Mountain Torrent Flood Control Project,” implementing systematic remediation measures including bank slope stabilization, dredging and obstacle removal, structural modification, and information system construction. The project is designed to withstand a 10-year flood event, covering a total river course length of 7.8 km, encompassing key catchment areas within Zhangguying Town. Regarding facility construction, a rainfall monitoring station has been installed along the Weixi River in Zhangguying Village to monitor real-time rainfall variations during heavy precipitation events.

4.1.3. Fire Hazards

The distinctive structural and morphological characteristics of Zhangguying Town’s ancient architectural complex dictate that the fire response system must prioritize the protection of this complex. In terms of fire prevention facility configuration, Zhangguying Village has retained traditional facilities such as fire lanes, fire ponds, fire water tanks, and artificial stream channels, while supplementing them with modern facilities including automatic fire alarm systems, emergency lighting, evacuation signage, electrical fire monitoring, and fire broadcasting and communication systems, thereby establishing a comprehensive monitoring network. Additionally, a micro fire station has been established within Zhangguying Village to enable immediate response in the event of a fire outbreak. Concurrently, a fire station equipped with fire trucks is located at the Zhangguying scenic area exit (the town center), capable of achieving a 5-min fire emergency response within the town proper (

Table 2. Fire Prevention Facilities in Zhangguying Town.

Traditional Facilities	Fire Alley	Fire Water Pool	Fire Water Vat	Man-Made Stream Channel
Modern Facilities	Fire Hydrant	24-Hour Fire Supervision Room	Mini Fire Station	Fire Station

Source Digital Museum of Traditional Chinese Villages, photographed by the Research Team.

). In terms of organizational management, Zhangguying Town government has implemented responsibility decentralization, adopting a five-level responsibility chain of “town–village–group–site–household,” with clearly defined responsibilities, and maintains both full-time and volunteer fire brigades that conduct annual fire drills. Regarding fire prevention education, fire prevention bulletin boards are installed throughout the town proper and streets, grassroots cadres conduct annual household visits for fire prevention outreach, and the “Fire Prevention Convention” is posted at multiple locations within the ancient architectural complex. It is worth noting that existing fire drills are primarily oriented toward local residents and business operators, and have not yet incorporated tourist groups into the routine drill and evacuation guidance system, leaving a response gap during tourist-dense periods. Field investigations reveal that although the “Fire Prevention Convention” and evacuation signage are posted within the ancient complex, these signs are predominantly text-based, lack multilingual translations and multi-sensory warning design, making it difficult for tourists to quickly recognize and respond in emergency situations. Furthermore, there is a significant disparity in disaster prevention awareness and response capabilities between tourists and local residents. Local residents, having experienced the 12 August 2017 flood disaster, possess intuitive awareness of disaster risks and have acquired basic emergency skills through years of fire prevention publicity. In contrast, tourists generally lack understanding of local disaster types, warning signals, and evacuation routes, and their attention during holidays is primarily focused on sightseeing experiences, resulting in weak perception of potential disaster risks. This creates a misaligned pattern wherein “local residents have experience but inadequate facilities, while tourists have facilities but weak awareness”.

4.1.4. Earthquake

Zhangguying Town is fortified against earthquakes according to Grade VI basic seismic intensity. Public green spaces, squares, and school playgrounds are designated as earthquake evacuation shelters. Among these, emergency earthquake evacuation shelters provide a minimum effective shelter area of 1.0 m² per capita, while fixed earthquake evacuation shelters provide a minimum effective shelter area of 2.0 m² per capita. Provincial Highway S206, along with county roads Y083, Y196, and the Yuetian–Zhangguying Highway, are designated as primary emergency evacuation routes.

4.2. Development Dilemmas of Comprehensive Disaster Prevention in Zhangguying Town

Through a micro-level evaluation and reflection on the utilization efficiency of existing emergency evacuation spaces in Zhangguying Town, this study identifies the following problems in the current disaster prevention planning:

(1)

Predominant focus on single-hazard protection, neglecting the risk superposition effects arising from disaster chains. The disaster prevention planning in Zhangguying Town remains centered on the layout of single-hazard protection facilities, exhibiting limitations such as low facility utilization efficiency, rigid planning transmission, and passive post-disaster emergency response. For instance, within the “heavy rainfall–mountain torrents–geological hazards” disaster chain, the occurrence of geological hazards exhibits a certain time lag relative to rainfall. During heavy rainfall events, proactive measures such as real-time monitoring of slope deformation and identification of potential debris flow material sources within the watershed are necessary to enhance preventive protection. Moreover, there is a lack of synergistic linkage mechanisms among protection facilities for different hazard types. For instance, rainfall monitoring data are not integrated in real time into the geological hazard early warning platform, reducing the timeliness of chain-response actions. Furthermore, natural disasters and anthropogenic factors often produce superposition effects: during peak seasons, tourist vehicles are densely parked along the town’s main roads, with some sections encroaching on emergency access routes; temporary structures such as awnings and advertising signs installed by street-front shops to meet tourism demand can easily become secondary hazard sources during high winds or heavy rain; and the increased domestic waste and cooking fume emissions resulting from tourist congregations further exacerbate the risk of drainage pipe blockages.

(2)

Excessive emphasis on large-scale construction of disaster prevention facilities, with insufficient in-depth analysis of disaster formation mechanisms. In response to the continuously increasing flood risk in recent years, Yueyang County constructed the Dadong River Mountain Torrent Flood Control Project to dredge flood discharge channels within the county, which has improved stormwater drainage capacity in Zhangguying Town to some extent. However, this approach fails to fundamentally solve the waterlogging problem in the town proper, leaving both the historic architectural complex and the newly developed area exposed to flood erosion risks. It is necessary to analyze the actual construction conditions and hydrological pathways of the town proper, thoroughly investigate the formation mechanisms of flood disasters in Zhangguying Town, and enhance stormwater drainage efficiency. As demonstrated by the ArcGIS analysis and spatial overlay presented earlier, the core bottleneck of drainage in the town area lies in the insufficient conveyance capacity of the covered culvert, which is precisely located at a critical confluence node—rather than being a capacity issue of downstream flood discharge channels. This mechanistic understanding has not yet been translated into specific engineering retrofit measures.

(3)

Structural deficiencies in evacuation channels within complex settlements, with insufficient research on pedestrian evacuation routes from residential spaces to emergency shelters. Zhangguying Town has planned a two-level evacuation shelter system comprising emergency shelters and fixed shelters, along with a primary level of emergency evacuation routes. Among these, the planned evacuation routes are relatively high-level, relying on highways, and essentially function as rescue evacuation channels primarily ensuring the passage of rescue and evacuation vehicles between emergency shelters and fixed shelters. However, insufficient attention has been paid to mapping pedestrian evacuation routes from residential spaces to emergency shelters. Particularly within Zhangguying Village, the ancient Dawu architectural complex features complex building morphology with interconnected structures and numerous alleyways. In the event of a disaster, the selection of evacuation routes significantly impacts evacuation efficiency. According to survey data, the average width of major alleyways within the ancient complex is only 0.8 m, with multiple bottleneck sections below 0.5 m in width and blockage points caused by miscellaneous item stacking. These micro-scale obstacles will severely impede evacuation speeds during disasters. During peak seasons, the one-way pedestrian flow density along the core tourist routes within the ancient complex can reach several thousand person-times per day, further reducing the actual passage capacity of these routes. Evacuation paths that are viable on regular days may become ineffective under holiday conditions, necessitating the establishment of differentiated evacuation route management schemes for regular days and peak seasons separately.

5. Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Planning Strategies for Zhangguying Town in the Context of Urban-Rural Cultural and Tourism Integration

Based on the foregoing analysis of disaster influencing factors and the current state of disaster prevention in Zhangguying Town, it can be observed that the town has established a relatively comprehensive disaster prevention foundation with support from multiple stakeholders, including the government, local communities, and cultural heritage protection authorities. However, there remains room for improvement in disaster prevention research concerning cascading disasters, micro-scale disaster prevention measures, and evacuation channel systems. Simultaneously, strategy formulation must be differentiated according to distinct functional zones—namely, the core historic architectural protection area, the newly developed town area, the main tourist routes, and tourist assembly plazas—as well as different operational scenarios, including normal days, holiday peak periods, and disaster warning modes. Accordingly, the following three targeted comprehensive disaster prevention planning strategies are proposed, aiming to achieve the dual objectives of enhancing disaster prevention effectiveness and preserving historical and cultural heritage.

5.1. Strengthening the Preventive Capacity of Cascading Disaster Measures

Disaster prevention planning for Zhangguying Town must transcend the single-hazard response framework and systematically account for the compound disaster risks arising from the superposition and coupling of multiple hazards. To this end, implementation is pursued at three levels: synergistic monitoring and early warning, zone-based facility deployment, and full-cycle response mechanisms.

(1)

Establish a chain-integrated monitoring and early warning system. Priority should be given to establishing a real-time data-sharing platform that integrates rainfall monitoring and geological hazard monitoring data, with joint early warning thresholds defined to enable a transition from “individual single-hazard responses” to “chain-integrated collaborative early warning.” When hourly rainfall exceeds 50 mm and the slope displacement rate exceeds 2 mm/d, a geological hazard warning shall be automatically triggered, accompanied by the simultaneous activation of broadcast evacuation within the historic architectural complex.

(2)

Deploy chain-disaster prevention facilities by functional zone. In the core historic architectural protection area, slope displacement monitors shall be installed upstream of the ancient architectural complex, linked with the rainfall monitoring station along the Weixi River. Additionally, water level gauges and emergency drainage pumps shall be added within each courtyard to ensure that manual auxiliary drainage can be activated when water accumulation exceeds 0.3 m. In the newly developed town area, priority shall be given to ensuring unobstructed drainage channels. Grates shall be installed at the entrance of the covered culvert at the cross-shaped intersection to intercept debris, with regular cleaning scheduled. Liquid level monitors shall be installed at key nodes of the underground pipe network, automatically sending early warning signals to upstream pumping stations when the water level reaches 80% of the designed capacity. Along the main tourist route (from the scenic area exit to the cross-shaped intersection), emergency supply boxes shall be placed every 100 m on both sides of the route, serving as “front-end response points” for chain disasters to ensure that tourists can access basic self-rescue tools immediately upon disaster occurrence.

(3)

For the flood–geological hazard chain, a response mechanism of “pre-disaster prevention, during-disaster response, and post-disaster recovery” should be established. Prior to disasters, engineering protection at geological hazard prone areas should be strengthened, key flood discharge channels should be widened and dredged, and real-time monitoring systems for rainfall and geological dynamics should be established, supplemented by manual inspections to form a dual early warning system. During disasters, a joint command mechanism for cascading disasters should be established to monitor real-time rainfall and changes at geological hazard sites, and phased evacuation plans should be developed for residents in different areas to reduce congestion on single evacuation routes. Following disasters, drainage and structural maintenance of ancient buildings affected by flood inundation should be prioritized to prevent secondary damage to heritage structures from accumulated water, and dedicated emergency repair funds and teams should be established.

5.2. Developing Micro-Scale Disaster Prevention Renewal Strategies

At the present stage, when renovating old streets and alleys and upgrading public facilities in towns, basic disaster prevention functions such as drainage and fire prevention should be integrated to achieve integrated protection and disaster prevention renovation. In the process of formulating comprehensive disaster prevention planning, local factors including natural topography, building density, cultural heritage value, and hydrological system characteristics should be incorporated into disaster cause analysis, forming “precise profiling” disaster prevention strategies. For Zhangguying Town, micro-scale disaster prevention retrofitting measures are specified by functional zone as follows:

(1)

For the core historic architectural protection area, fire prevention shall be the primary focus. A full-coverage retrofitting program of “metal conduit for electrical wiring + leakage protection devices” shall be implemented. Priority shall be given to upgrading the public electrical circuits of the three major architectural clusters—Dangdamen, Wangjiaduan, and Shangxinwu—followed by progressive upgrades to the household service lines of individual residences. Smart smoke detectors shall be installed in key courtyards (e.g., assembly halls, ancestral halls, and other places where people gather) to enable early fire detection. Micro-retrofitting shall be carried out at 12 width-bottleneck sections, involving the removal of unauthorized partitions and the reorganization of miscellaneous item stacking, with priority given to opening lateral connecting passages that link main alleyways to external arterial roads.

(2)

For the core historic architectural protection area, flood prevention shall be the primary focus. Traditional drainage ditches within the ancient architectural complex shall be restored and dredged, and the fire ponds (yanhuo tang) shall be desilted to restore their flood detention capacity. The external wall bases of ancient buildings along the Weixi River side shall be treated with waterproof coating to reduce the erosion of wall foundations caused by flood inundation.

(3)

For the newly developed town area, flood prevention shall be the primary focus. The internal diameter of the covered culvert from the scenic area exit section shall be expanded from 0.6 m to 1.2 m, and two additional surface drainage open channels shall be constructed at the town’s cross-shaped intersection to divert flow southward to the drainage canal. In newly developed contiguous areas, permeable pavement and rain gardens shall be promoted, with the impervious surface ratio in new development zones controlled below 30%.

(4)

For the main tourist routes and tourist congregation areas, multilingual disaster prevention signage systems shall be installed at high-density tourist nodes such as the scenic area entrance, the Hundred-Step Three Bridges, and the Panxi Corridor. Emergency broadcast speakers shall be placed every 200 m along the main tourist routes, connected to the town-level emergency command platform.

5.3. Establishing a “Point-Line” Coordinated Multi-Scale Structural Disaster Prevention Spatial System

A full-chain articulation of “building interior—emergency escape routes—emergency shelters—rescue evacuation routes—fixed shelters” shall be established to form a multi-scale structural disaster prevention spatial framework featuring “point-line” synergy. To this end, implementation is pursued at three levels: evacuation route optimization, shelter configuration, and tiered response protocols.

(1)

Evacuation route optimization. Based on the existing alleyway network of Zhangguying Town, pedestrian evacuation behavior analysis shall be conducted using ant colony algorithms on the Pathfinder platform [25], through which the optimal combinations of pedestrian refuge routes shall be identified. On this basis, targeted micro-retrofitting shall be carried out on the identified critical bottleneck sections (alleyway nodes with existing widths below 0.8 m), and multilingual illuminated directional signs shall be installed along the primary evacuation flow directions, forming a pedestrian escape network that is compatible with the spatial morphology of the ancient architectural complex.

(2)

Shelter configuration. For the core protection area, the plaza in front of Dangdamen, the sunning ground at Wangjiaduan, and the open space in front of Shangxinwu shall be designated as distributed evacuation assembly sub-nodes within the three clusters, ensuring 3-min walking accessibility. For the newly developed town area, the Zhangguying School playground and the new village market shall be designated as fixed shelters. For the main tourist routes, small refuge bays (with a minimum width of 1.5 m) shall be placed every 200 m along the Panxi Corridor, serving as relay points for temporary refuge and pedestrian flow diversion.

(3)

Tiered response protocols. Three-tier protocols shall be formulated according to operational scenarios: Under normal-day mode, routine inspections and facility maintenance shall be conducted, with weekly checks of evacuation route accessibility, monthly testing of fire protection facility functionality, and quarterly household visits for resident disaster prevention education. Under holiday peak mode, additional evacuation guides shall be deployed at key nodes within the ancient architectural complex, backup shelters shall be activated, and one-way pedestrian flow control shall be implemented. Real-time pedestrian flow monitoring shall be conducted through the scenic area ticketing system and infrared counting devices at major attraction entrances. When the instantaneous pedestrian flow within the ancient architectural complex exceeds 2000 persons, or when a single alleyway exceeds 150 persons per 100 m, flow-restriction broadcasts shall be automatically triggered and a phased release mechanism shall be initiated. Under disaster warning mode, upon receipt of early warnings for heavy rainfall, flash floods, or geological hazards, the chain-disaster emergency command center shall be activated with 24-h joint duty staffing. When the warning level reaches orange or above, zoned and phased evacuation shall be organized following the principle of “tourists first, then residents; low-lying areas first, then high ground,” with simultaneous activation of emergency material supply points to ensure that food, drinking water, and medical supplies can sustain 48 h of support.

6. Conclusions and Discussion

In the context of urban-rural cultural tourism integration, cultural heritage towns—bearing the dual missions of historical and cultural preservation and economic development—exhibit significantly higher complexity and difficulty in disaster prevention planning compared to ordinary towns. Their disaster prevention efforts must not only safeguard the lives and property of residents but also prevent irreversible damage to historic buildings during disasters. Compared to general historic villages and towns, tourism-oriented cultural heritage towns face additional vulnerability factors, including high tourist concentration, seasonal population fluctuations, and human-disaster coupling risks.

Taking Zhangguying Town in Yueyang County, Hunan Province, as a case study, this research systematically identified disaster risk characteristics in terms of natural environment, settlement space, and human engineering activities through field investigations, interviews, and GIS-based hydrological modeling. The study revealed the disaster prevention dilemmas faced by the town and proposed three overarching strategies: (1) enhancing the preventive capacity of chain-disaster measures and establishing a multi-hazard collaborative response system; (2) developing micro-scale disaster prevention retrofitting strategies to precisely optimize fire prevention and flood control facilities; and (3) establishing a multi-scale disaster prevention spatial framework featuring “point-line” synergy. At the implementation level, this paper further refined the three strategies into a three-dimensional action system differentiated by functional zones and operational scenarios, specifying distinct action priorities and quantitative indicators for each zone under different scenarios, thereby enhancing the operability of the strategies.

The integrated application of these strategies effectively supports the sustainable development of cultural tourism-oriented characteristic towns from a disaster prevention perspective, by reducing disaster risks, preserving cultural heritage, and optimizing emergency response capacities. This enables the town area to withstand the impacts of natural disasters while maintaining the integrity of its historical and cultural values and socio-economic functions, offering valuable references for the disaster prevention planning of similar towns. It should be noted, however, that the strategy formulation in this study is based on the current situation analysis and planning recommendations of a single case town. The actual effectiveness of the strategic framework requires further validation, primarily in four aspects: the evacuation route design needs to be verified for evacuation efficiency through simulation modeling; the implementation of micro-scale retrofitting measures is subject to cultural relic protection approval constraints; the operational performance of the disaster prevention spatial framework under 50-year and 100-year extreme rainfall events requires testing through multi-scenario hydrological simulations; and the cross-departmental coordination effectiveness of the tiered response protocols needs to be validated through field drills. Future research can be advanced in the following three directions: (1) conducting disaster risk assessment and resilience measurement based on multi-scenario simulations incorporating combinations of different rainfall intensities, tourist densities, and response times; (2) developing a dynamic evaluation and planning update mechanism that simultaneously addresses cultural preservation, community participation, and disaster prevention function optimization; and (3) exploring a quantitative indicator system for disaster resilience applicable to tourism-oriented cultural heritage characteristic towns, providing tools for horizontal comparison and classification of similar towns.