Research on the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of sports intangible cultural heritage in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 27147 - 18
• Main Authors: Mo, Bochu, Zhang, Xinjie, Chen, Wanyi, Zhou, Rundong, Zhang, Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 25.07.2025; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 704/172/4081; 704/844/685; Agglomeration; Bays; China; Cores; Cultural heritage; Culture; Digital preservation; Distribution patterns; Economic development; Geographic Information Systems; Geography; Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; Hong Kong; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Impact mechanism; Influencing factors; Macau; Martial arts; Modernization; Multiculturalism & pluralism; multidisciplinary; Regions; Resource allocation; Rivers; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Social organization; Socioeconomic factors; Spatial Analysis; Spatial and temporal pattern; Spatial distribution; Sports; Sports intangible cultural heritage; Synergy theory; Urbanization; Hong Kong; Macau; China; Hong Kong China; Beijing China; Macao; Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; Spatial and temporal pattern; Influencing factors; Sports intangible cultural heritage; Synergy theory; Impact mechanism
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-10734-3

Sports Intangible Cultural Heritage (SICH) serves as both a vital testament to the shared cultural roots of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and a treasured resource for fostering a collaborative, culturally enriched Bay Area. Combining field surveys and GIS spatial analysis, and adopting the methods of the nearest neighbor index, geographic concentration index, imbalance index, kernel density estimation and geographical detectors, the study aims to analyze the characteristics of the spatial distribution of the 264 SICH projects in the GBA, and to explore the main factors affecting their distribution. The findings reveal that the spatial distribution of SICH in the GBA is highly concentrated, with obvious aggregation characteristics. The overall characteristics are “dense in the west, sparse in the east”, forming the distribution pattern of “two cores, three belts”. The “two cores” refers to the formation of a large-scale high-density agglomeration area with southwestern Guangzhou and northeastern Foshan as the core, and another small-scale high-density agglomeration area with southern Hong Kong as the core and expanding from south to north. The “three belts” refers to the formation of three areas of agglomeration density in central Guangzhou-northeastern Jiangmen, western Guangzhou-eastern Zhuhai and Dongguan-Hong Kong. The spatial distribution of the four different types of SICH varies considerably, with significant variations in density. The spatial distribution pattern of SICH in the GBA is mainly influenced by socioeconomic and history and culture, with population, social organization, urbanization level, economic development level, and policy support being the dominant factors, and the influence of physical geography being less strong. The role of influencing factors after interaction is generally strengthened, among which the interaction between urbanization level and social organization is the most obvious. The distribution pattern of SICH in the GBA is subject to the synergy effect of multiple factors. From the perspective of synergy theory, the internal mechanism of its spatial distribution is explained from the logic framework of “synergistic dynamic—synergistic structure—synergistic relationship”. Finally, the study proposes suggestions for the synergistic development of SICH in the GBA in terms of promoting cross-regional cooperation, securing government support, enhancing resource allocation and digital dissemination.