Abstract Traditional residences are among the most important tangible cultural heritage. This paper evaluates and explores the quality of individual traditional residences and the heritage value of a complex of traditional residences in Western Hunan in China. The former indicates how well the external characteristics of the building are preserved, whilst the latter refers to the integration of use values, ecology principles and cultural features. Based on the survey of the selected 7 traditional villages, the authors have built a spatial database of these villages on the strength of GIS, RS and GPS techniques, and employed an architectural evaluation method to grade the exterior quality of individual traditional residences, followed by the construction of an evaluation indicator system and the use of entropy weight method to score the value of traditional residences, thereby systematically unveiling how indicators influence the value of traditional residences. The results reveal that well-preserved and prime-quality traditional residences are quite rare. Average-quality individual traditional residences outnumber other quality levels in all selected traditional villages. These villages differ in the value of their traditional residences, which is susceptible to both natural and cultural factors. Architectural elements play a dominant role, and the change in architectural form serves as an important criterion for determining whether the traditional residence in question has been transformed into a modern building. The value of traditional rural residences is mainly reflected in the authenticity of the architectural form and the building material, which are crucial to the intact pass-down of their unique architectural styles.

中文翻译：

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湘西传统村落古民居的遗产价值：空间格局及影响因素

摘要 传统民居是最重要的物质文化遗产之一。本文对湘西地区个别传统民居的质量和传统民居综合体的遗产价值进行评价和探讨。前者是指建筑的外部特征保存得有多好，后者是指使用价值、生态原则和文化特征的融合。笔者在对选定的7个传统村落进行调查的基础上，利用GIS、RS和GPS技术建立了这些村落的空间数据库，并采用建筑评价方法对个别传统民居的外观质量进行分级，然后构建评价指标体系，利用熵权法对传统住宅的价值进行打分，从而系统地揭示指标对传统住宅价值的影响。结果表明，保存完好、质量上乘的传统民居十分罕见。在所有选定的传统村庄中，平均质量的个人传统住宅数量超过其他质量水平。这些村庄的传统住宅价值不同，这容易受到自然和文化因素的影响。建筑元素起主导作用，建筑形式的变化是判断传统住宅是否已转变为现代建筑的重要标准。