Complex Network-Based Research on the Resilience of Rural Settlements in Sanshui Watershed

Abstract

In the context of farmland afforestation and urbanization, it is necessary for the small watershed rural settlements in the hilly–gully Loess Plateau to coordinate spatiotemporal changes and take the path of resilience development. In the case of the Sanshui Watershed, this paper investigates the rural settlement systems based on complex networks, and develops a research framework of “spatial simulation–resilience evaluation–spatial planning”. The results include the evolution trends of settlement space from present to future, as well as its spatial resilience in static and dynamic states. In this study, a total of six central villages and six types of rural development are finalized, and the study area possesses a prolonged spatiotemporal resilience when 29 villages remain, thus forming an ideal spatial pattern of “rural corridor zones + characteristic towns”. The findings of this study can represent guidance for resilience development in small watershed villages and provide a basis for guiding the regional urban–rural integration, village layout, as well as resource allocation and construction.