J.Geogr.Sci.2023,33(3):655-680DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2100-3©2023SciencePressSpringer-VerlagSocio-economicrootsofhumansettlementlayoutinthemarginalzoneoftheChangtangPlateauuninhabitedarea:AcomparativestudyofthreetypicalcountiesZHANGHaipeng1,2,*LIUWeidong1,2,LIUZhigao1,2,CHENGHan1,LIUHanchu31.KeyLaboratoryofRegionalSustainableDevelopmentModeling,InstituteofGeographicSciencesandNat-uralResourcesResearch,CAS,Beijing100101,China;2.CollegeofResourcesandEnvironment,UniversityofChineseAcademyofSciences,Beijing100049,China;3.InstitutesofScienceandDevelopment,CAS,Beijing100190,ChinaAbstract:HumanactivitiesinthemarginalzoneoftheChangtangPlateau(CTP)uninhabitedareaareimportantresearchtopicsinChinaandglobally.Basedonthecore-peripherytheoryofgeography,thispaperselectedthreecountiesinthemarginalzoneoftheCTPuninhabitedareawithsignificanttransitionalphysicalgeographyfeaturesandsocio-economicconditionsascaseareas.WeusedthedatasetofsettlementpatchesidentifiedbyvisualinterpretationinGoogleEarthPro,combiningthemwithfieldsurveydatatostudytheevolutionofhumansettlementsontheCTP,thecharacteristicsofsettlementlayout,andtheirsocio-economicroots.Thestudyfoundthat:(1)SincethedemocraticreforminTibet,theproductionmodeofherdersontheCTPhastransitionedfromfour-seasonnomadicherdingtocold-seasonsed-entarygrazing,warm-seasonrotationalgrazing,andthentoacombinationofsedentarygrazingandforagesupplementation.Instructuralchangesofgrassrootsorganizations,vil-lageboundarieswereclarified,grazingrangeswerefixed,andsettlementsystemswereformed.(2)Onalargescale,thesettlementlayoutontheCTPshowedacertaindegreeofagglomerationinlocalareas,butthesettlements’spatialagglomerationdecreasedastheobservationscaledecreased.Thesettlementsizestructurematchedthetypicalrank-sizeruleofruralsettlements.(3)ThesettlementlayoutoftheCTPshowedsignificanttrafficlinesanddominantlocationorientation.Theseorientationcharacteristicsrevealed“core-periphery”regionaldifferences.Changesinproductionconditions,suchasartificia...
