Analysis of farmers’ satisfaction towards concentrated rural settlement development after the Wenchuan earthquake

Abstract

The development of a concentrated rural settlement (CRS) is an effective method to achieve sustainable development and resilience. Several successful CRS cases have been reported after the Wenchuan earthquake. Existing studies mainly investigated the process of CRS reconstruction right after the Wenchuan earthquake on 12 May 2018. However, only a few studies have investigated the feelings of farmers towards CRS at the micro level in a medium term after the reconstruction. Thus, whether CRS benefits farmers and what improvements can be made with the settlement remain unknown, which further present barriers for enhancing sustainability. This research develops a comprehensive assessment model using the entropy weight method to measure the farmers’ satisfaction toward CRS after the Wenchuan earthquake. The degree of satisfaction of farmers from four villages was assessed with this model. Thorough discussions were conducted to analyze the factors with most and lest satisfaction, and further explore the reasons of farmers’ satisfaction. Findings of this study can support local governments to improve CRS for sustainable development in long term.