Abstract
Rural decline characterized by population loss, aging, and land abandonment, has become a dilemma for sustainable development. The spatial optimization of rural settlements is considered a valuable solution for stimulating rural vitality. Rural development has different stages and trajectories, which have been overlooked in the spatial optimization process for a long time. To address this gap, this study developed a rural development index considering population, land, economy, agricultural development, and residential environment to quantitatively classify the villages in Datong County into 5 development types based on time scale changes, namely, growth type (GT), maturity type (MT), thriving transformation type (TT), phased retrogressive type (PR), and decline type (DT). We found that the differentiated development of villages results from a combination of demographic, socioeconomic, and geographical environments. The villages in GT, MT and TT have population advantages, higher income, diversified industries and good infrastructure, or location advantages. Through the above analysis, the spatial optimization of rural settlements and differentiated policy recommendations are proposed based on the stages and characteristics of rural development, which provide valuable references for the transformation of declining villages and the promotion of urban-rural integration.
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