Analysis on the Evolution of Rural Settlement Pattern and Its Influencing Factors in China from 1995 to 2015

Jieyong Wang,Yu Zhang

doi:10.3390/land10111137

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, China has experienced rapid industrialization and urbanization. As cities have expanded rapidly, the spatial patterns of rural settlements also changed significantly. This study uses land use data from satellite imagery interpretation, socioeconomic statistics, and field survey data, together with techniques including landscape pattern analysis, kernel density estimation, and spatial measurement models, to analyze the evolving spatial patterns of rural settlements influencing factors in China from 1995 to 2015. The results indicate the following: First, China’s rural settlements experienced significant changes in the period 1995–2015, as 88.92% of Prefectural-level administrative district units saw an increase in rural settlement area, with total settlement size increasing by 1.35 million hectares, and settlement area sprawl index values can be summarized as “high in the west and low in the east”. Second, in the two-decade study period, the population agglomeration capacity of rural settlements in China continuously weakened, and the shape and structure of rural settlement became more complex and irregular. The scale and scope of the disappearance of rural settlement areas in the northeast and southeast regions was relatively drastic, and the kernel density value of settlements dropped significantly. Third, the increase in rural settlement land area is concentrated in low-altitude and low-slope areas, with a significant tendency to be near water and roads. Fourth, social and economic factors, such as per capita net income of rural residents, the proportion of the population employed in agriculture, the size and structure of the permanent rural population, local fiscal revenue, and urbanization level, are the main factors that cause changes of rural settlement patterns. The results of this study can serve as a reference for promoting regional rural sustainable development policies and advancing rural spatial governance and comprehensive revitalization.

Highlights

Since industrialization began, urbanization has altered urban spaces, but it has profoundly affected rural settlements land [1]
This study considers that rural settlements are the living places of various forms of human beings in rural areas, including all villages and a small number of industrial enterprises and commercial service facilities
Between 1995 and 2015, the land area of rural settlements in China trended higher. Their total area increased by 1,353,800 hectares, accounting for 9.77% of the total rural settlement area

Summary

Introduction

Urbanization has altered urban spaces, but it has profoundly affected rural settlements land [1]. A rural settlement is a population of a certain size that is engaged in work related to agriculture production, and it is the phenomenon, form, and process of people gathering in a specific geographical space. The spatio-temporal evolution of rural settlements can be viewed as reflective of the manland relationship in rural space during the process of rapid urbanization, as it reflects the relationship between human activities and the surrounding environment under different productivity conditions [2,3,4]. Settlement evolution is a concentrated expression of economic and social development, and it reflects the activities of the rural population and their distribution in geographic spatial units during a certain period of time [5,6]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion