Abstract
Due to rapid changes in urban and rural economic development, the Chinese landscape has been gradually transforming toward urbanization. Most Chinese rural villages face declining problems such as population loss, land use transformation, fragmentation and abandonment, resulting in big changes in the rural spatial morphology. To understand these urbanization challenges, this study established a multi-factor methodology and applied it to a case study of three selected typical villages in southern Jiangsu Province. From this analysis, the quantification of the rural spatial morphology and environmental status, from 2005 to 2016, was determined. The eight driving factors established considered the rural geological location, landform, and social economic status. To analyze the driving factors, a quantitative analysis using ArcGIS, Environment for Visualizing Images (ENVI), and Analytic Network Process (ANP) decision-making methods were used. The results revealed mechanisms between the changes to spatial morphology of rural villages in southern Jiangsu Province and their key driving factors. This study provides data support and a theoretical framework to guide future development and policy of rural villages of different types, which supports the sustainable development of Chinese rural villages.
Highlights
The rural ecosystem is a transient environment influenced by the evolution of nature and the social, economic and human activities that occur [1]
After analyzing the eight driving factors, this study applied the analytic network process as a decision-making baseline to assess the performance of the different driving factors on the rural evolution
The framework was applied to a case study with different types of villages, (1) the Yahe Village as suburb-radiation type; (2) the Taihua Village of the resource-development type; and (3) the Fangzhuang Village as integrated and independent type, providing a standard method for research results to be generally applied to other provinces and cities of China
Summary
The rural ecosystem is a transient environment influenced by the evolution of nature and the social, economic and human activities that occur [1]. The development has driven land-use changes [2,5,6,7] and rural-urban migration, influencing the rural spatial morphology [2,8]. Rural spatial morphology refers to the spatial organization amid the human-earth relationship. This considers both the tangible physical spatial form, such as geographical location, landform and the road and water systems, and the intangible social and economic form, such as village economy, culture, population, policy, etc. Combining these factors encapsulates the major driving entities that impact the evolution of rural spatial form. An assessment of these factors can reflect the overall trend of the evolution of rural spatial form
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
