Objective This study constructs a village livability evaluation system for Gangu County, aiming to provide a decision-making basis for local governments to promote rural revitalization. Methods Thirteen evaluation indicators were selected: geological hazards, elevation, slope, aspect, river network water availability index (RNWAI), building density, building structure, village area, village population, transportation acce-ssibility, cropland grade, per capita cropland area, and per capita garden land area. The AHP-EWM method was used to determine indicator weights. Using ArcGIS as the platform and village plots as evaluation units, DEM data and various survey data were employed to obtain graded values of each indicator for evaluation units. A county-level livability evaluation database was constructed, and the comprehensive livability index for each village plot was calculated and classified into five categories: extremely livable, highly livable, moderately livable, lowly livable, and non-livable villages. Results The total village area in Gangu County is 8 479.65 hm2, with extremely livable villages covering 1 961.51 hm2, highly livable villages 2 487.31 hm2, moderately livable villages 2 637.38 hm2, low livable villages 1 244.85 hm2, and non-livable villages 148.60 hm2, accounting for 23.13%, 29.34%, 31.10%, 14.68%, and 1.75% of the total village area, respectively. The distribution of village livability exhibited a gradual decreasing trend from the two-river plain areas toward the northern and southern mountainous areas and a decline with increasing elevation gradients, and a reduction with greater distance from rivers and roads. Non-livable villages were predominantly distributed in zones prone to geological hazards and scattered in small villages in remote mountainous areas. Conclusion Differential strategies are proposed, including the complete relocation and consolidation of non-livable villages in the county, clustering and upgrading of lowly, moderately, and highly livable villages, high-quality development of extremely livable villages, protection and development of distinctive villages, and integrated development of suburban villages. The adopted indicator system and the AHP-EWM combined weighting method effectively improve the quality of evaluation results.
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