Exploring the effects of rural human settlement on rural development: Evidence from Xianju County in Zhejiang Province, China

Abstract

While boosting rural development, improvements in rural human settlements have become universal choices in many countries throughout the world. However, few studies have been devoted to in-depth exploration of the effects of rural human settlements on rural development. To fill in the research gap, this study firstly established a mechanism framework of the effects of human settlements on rural development, and proposed a hypothetical structural equation model of variables’ interaction. The framework and model were further applied to a case study in a typical rural county in China with by using 370 household survey data. The results indicated that the effects of rural human settlements on rural development were a layer-by-layer processes with dynamic changes. The implementations of rural human settlement improvement projects can firstly stimulate qualitative changes of the three core factors in rural regional systems (namely population, land, and industry). The changes further bring a series of effects, such as scale effects, health promotion effects, factor mobility effects, and the like, thereby facilitating sustainable rural development. The results also confirmed that the overall impact of rural human settlements on rural development was dimensionally heterogeneous. The effects of the five aspects of human settlements exhibit an order of infrastructure conditions > natural environment conditions > public service levels > housing conditions > human social amenities. In general, this paper deepen the understanding of the drivers of high-quality rural development, and the results obtained in this investigation not only offer some new insights for rural planners and policymakers for better understanding the relationships between human settlements and rural development, but also provide scientific and useful guidance for beautiful countryside construction and rural revitalization.