Spatiotemporal dynamics and driving factors of ancient pagoda remains in Lingnan: a case study of Guangdong Province, China

Ancient pagodas in Guangdong Province are an important cultural heritage yet lack systematic spatiotemporal analysis. This study integrates GIS spatial analysis and Geodetector to examine their distribution, evolution and driving factors. The number of ancient pagodas in Guangdong increased from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, with a functional shift from religious to Feng Shui occurring in the Song-Yuan period, and Feng Shui pagodas dominating over 80% in the Ming-Qing dynasties. Spatially, three high-density clusters are identified: the Guangzhou-Foshan area, the Shaoguan area and the Meizhou-Chaoshan area, which align with the Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew cultural regions. The distribution centroid migrated northward, then southward, and finally eastward. Among the primary drivers, the interaction between distance to rivers and altitude yields the highest explanatory power at 0.587. This study provides the first quantitative framework for understanding Guangdong’s ancient pagodas and offers scientific guidance for heritage conservation.