Rural Transformation Development Research Articles

Rural transformation development: spatiotemporal evolution and mechanisms in the Garze-Ngawa-Liangshan region, Southwest China

ABSTRACT Rural transformation development (RTD) is crucial for achieving sustainable development in poverty-stricken rural areas. The Garze-Ngawa-Liangshan (GNL) region, an impoverished minority area in Southwest China, has undergone significant RTD in recent decades. This study establishes a comprehensive evaluation index model encompassing economy, population, land use and land cover, society, and ecology to explore the spatiotemporal variations of RTD and the differences in the transformation mechanisms in the GNL region. The results reveal that RTD in the GNL region exhibited notable spatiotemporal variation from 2000 to 2019. Despite considerable heterogeneity in spatial distribution, regional disparities in RTD have decreased, partly due to policy implementation. Importantly, the speed and magnitude of RTD, often overlooked in previous studies, are critical indicators for assessing its reasonableness. The ecological environment is particularly significant for RTD assessment, especially in China’s ecologically fragile mountainous rural areas. Our findings suggest that promoting balanced regional development is essential in poverty-stricken areas. This study provides valuable theoretical references for planners and policymakers in implementing rural revitalization strategies.

Method for identifying rural PLES and its applications

The quantitative identification of rural land functions serves as a basis for rural land planning, coordinated spatial development, and control capacity improvement and is significant for rural transformation and sustainable development. This paper constructs an analysis framework to identify and evaluate “production-living-ecological” space (PLES) in rural areas of central and western China. On the Loess Plateau, which was taken as the study area, a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis was completed to determine framework indicators and their thresholds. Resource and environmental carrying capacity and land suitability were measured through GIS spatial analysis under different land functional orientations. This sought to recognize production space (PS), living space (LS), and ecological space (ES) in rural areas, reveal their distribution patterns on the Loess Plateau, and determine alternative areas for future land use. The results indicate that the PS and LS of the Loess Plateau rural land show a relatively low resource and environmental carrying capacity but vary significantly in different functional regions. The space distribution of PS and LS with higher carrying capacity shows obvious consistency. Although the Loess Plateau has vast sustainable land for development, the intensity of development should be carefully controlled. Additionally, significant regional differences remain in rural PLES, so reasonable future rural land planning should be formulated according to the PLES pattern. This study provides a scientific basis for promoting coordinated development of Loess Plateau rural areas and implementing a rural revitalization strategy. It is also a reference for identifying PLES and its coordinated spatial development in rural central and western China.

Research on "Publicness" in Public Art under the Perspective of Co-construction Concept

In the early stages of the reform and opening-up, the concept of co-construction gradually entered the public consciousness. China began to emphasize community development, community participation, and grassroots governance. Over time, China has increasingly emphasized multi-party participation, democratic decision-making, and collaborative construction in urban renewal, community governance, rural transformation, and cultural development. This emphasis on social participation and collaborative construction has gradually embedded the concept of co-construction, filled with a spirit of humanistic care, into the hearts of the people. This paper aims to delve into the "publicness" in public art under the perspective of the co-construction concept. By introducing relevant concepts such as co-construction, the paper clarifies the core concept of "publicness" under the co-construction perspective. It thoroughly analyzes the inseparable relationship between the co-construction concept and publicness in public art, elaborating on how the co-construction concept influences and guides the practice of public art design.

Agricultural non-point source pollution and rural transformation in a plain river network: Insights from Jiaxing city, China

Recently, agricultural non-point source pollution (ANPSP) has gained increasing attention in China. However, using a uniform paradigm to analyze ANPSP in all regions is difficult, considering their geographical, economic, and policy differences. In this study, we adopted the inventory analysis method to estimate the ANPSP of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province as a representative region of the plain river network area from 2001 to 2020 and analyzed it in the framework of policies and rural transformation development (RTD). The ANPSP showed an overall decreasing trend over 20 years. Compared to 2001, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) decreased by 33.93%, 25.77%, and 43.94%, respectively, in 2020. COD accounted for the largest annual average (67.02%), whereas TP contributed the most to the equivalent emissions (50.9%). The highest contribution of TN, TP, and COD, which fluctuated and decreased over the past 20 years, originated from livestock and poultry farming. However, the contribution of TN and TP from aquaculture increased. The overall trend of RTD and ANPSP showed an inverted “U” shape with time, and the evolution of both showed similar stage characteristics. With the gradual stabilization of RTD, ANPSP successively went through three stages: high-level stabilization (2001–2009), rapid-decreasing (2010–2014), and low-level stabilization (2015–2020). Additionally, the relationships between pollution loads from different agricultural sources and indicators of different dimensions of RTD varied. These findings provide a reference for the governance and planning of ANPSP in the plain river network area and a new perspective for investigating the relationship between rural development and the environment.

Rural Transformation Development and Its Influencing Factors in China’s Poverty-Stricken Areas: A Case Study of Yanshan-Taihang Mountains

Rural China has undergone a rapid transformation in the past few decades, especially the poverty-stricken areas, making a historic leap from inadequate subsistence to full well-off status. Based on rural regional system theory, this study analyzes the connotation of rural transformation development (RTD), explores the spatio-temporal patterns of RTD in the Yanshan-Taihang Mountainous, and diagnoses its influencing factors using a geographically and temporally weighted regression model. The results show that RTD is a dynamic process of qualitative changes in rural regional systems based on the accumulation of quantitative changes of elements, and the key to its measurement lies in analyzing the coupling coordination degree between quantitative changes of elements. From 2000 to 2020, the rapid development of urban population share, non-agricultural industry share, construction land share and NDVI in the Yanshan-Taihang Mountains contributed to a leap in RTD status, and the proportion of counties in a coupling coordination state increased from 24.24% to 96.97%. Spatially, the RTD level in the Taihang Mountains was significantly superior to that in the Yanshan Mountains. Average years of schooling, road density, per capita GDP and urban–rural dual structure were the main influencing factors of RTD, of which the first three were positive factors and the last one presented a negative correlation. To promote RTD to a higher level, it is an urgent matter to boost the high-quality development of county economy and rural education, improve public transportation infrastructure and innovate the policy system.

Spatial Distribution Characteristics and Driving Factors of Rural Revitalization Model Villages in the Yangtze River Delta

The scientific promotion of rural revitalization is an important issue in the context of global poverty reduction and sustainable development. For China, the largest developing country in the world, the construction of rural revitalization model villages has become an important measure to achieve agricultural and rural modernization and the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. Research on the rural revitalization model villages in China can provide guidance for the rural transformation development in other developing countries. In this paper, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) was used as the study area, and the spatial differentiation characteristics and driving factors of 1621 rural revitalization model villages were analyzed using ArcGIS software and the geographical detector method. The results are as follows: (1) The multiscale spatial distributions of rural revitalization model villages in the YRD showed a weak agglomeration and disequilibrium characteristic. Anhui Province has the highest imbalanced distribution of model villages among different provinces in the YRD. (2) The model villages are the most densely distributed along the Yangtze River. Extending to the north and south from areas along the Yangtze River, the distribution of the model villages is first sparse then dense. Model villages agglomerate mainly along rivers and lakes, areas close to traffic arteries and the middle areas of suburban. (3) The spatial differentiation of rural revitalization model villages is the result of the combined effect of multiple factors, and the driving factors also showed significant spatial heterogeneity. The most important driving factors of the spatial differentiation of the model villages of the YRD, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui are social development and government intervention, transportation accessibility and economic development, resource endowment and natural conditions, and transportation accessibility and government intervention, respectively. This study has practical significance for optimizing the spatial pattern of rural revitalization model villages in the YRD and facilitating high-quality rural revitalization.

DIRECT REVENUE ALLOCATION TO NIGERIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: A MEANS TO NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The issue of revenue allocation remains very volatile, crucial and constitutes a major source of political and governmental tension in Nigeria. It has become a subject of hot debate because of the political nature of the exercise. This paper examines the revenue allocation system in Nigeria vis-à-vis the functional and institutional relevance of local government in national development. The paper strongly advocates for a direct revenue allocation to Nigerian local governments; it also identifies roles/functions capable of playing by local governments in national development; and showcases the operational and tactical roles of local government in enhancing national development. Typology of this research work is basically descriptive. Its research method is qualitative. Data for the study came primarily from secondary sources such as textbooks, journals articles, lecture notes, newspapers and academic research projects. This paper reveals the following facts: grassroots’ development is a forerunner of national development; basic social services are mostly needed at grassroots level; local governments afford citizens the opportunities for political participation, political socialization and political education; and local governments are capable of solving the perpetual problems of rural-urban migration, rural transformation and development. This paper assertively concludes that direct allocation of funds to local governments will facilitate promotion of grassroots’ democracy, promotion of economic development, good governance, political accountability, agricultural growth and development, transparency, local freedom, accessibility to local needs, responsiveness to local wishes and initiatives, rural transformation and overall national development.

Analytical framework for integrating resources, morphology, and function of rural system resilience—An empirical study of 386 villages

In the current complex and changeable external environment, the sustainable development of rural areas is the key to global economic and social transformation. Introducing the concept of resilience will help to tap the villages' internal potential and inject new vitality into realizing high-quality rural development. This study analyzes the rural system resilience (RRS) mechanism. It then constructs a village-scale resilience evaluation framework based on three dimensions: resources, morphology, and function. The combination of empirical research and field surveys verifies the feasibility of the analytical framework. This study constructed an analytical framework, used the catastrophe progression method and geo-detector to evaluate the RRS of 386 villages in Suining County, Jiangsu Province, and put forward a regional guidance scheme for RRS promotion based on factor characteristics. There are three key results and conclusions. First, the study combined system theory and adaptive circulation theory to analyze the connotations and mechanisms of RRS. Second, the empirical case study results show that the spatial differentiation of resilience in different dimensions is quite significant. For example, the overall resilience index is higher in the southern regions than in the northern regions of Suining County, and the polarization is obvious. Third, the study combined the dominant factors and their characteristics to construct a two-level rural zoning scheme to provide rural development strategies for different villages. The results can provide a potential approach to rural transformation development for cultivating resilient rural settlements and provide policy reference for rural land management and spatial planning.

Spatial–Temporal Characteristics and Driving Mechanisms of Land–Use Transition from the Perspective of Urban–Rural Transformation Development: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta

Urban–rural transformation development is the key to resolving the imbalance in the dual structure of urban and rural areas. However, the transformation of the urban–rural relationship will also affect the structure and spatial distribution of land use. This paper measured the spatial–temporal characteristics of land–use transition in the Yangtze River Delta from 1990 to 2018 by using a geo–information Tupu method and explored the driving mechanism of land–use transition under the background of urban–rural transformation development by using a spatial regression analysis method. The results showed the following: (1) The transition from cultivated land to urban construction land, from rural residential land to cultivated land, and from rural residential land to urban construction land were the three main types of land–use transition in the Yangtze River Delta during urban–rural transformation development. (2) The transition from cultivated land to urban construction land was always the most important type of land–use transition. It expanded from the central area to the surrounding cities. The transition of rural residential land to cultivated land and urban construction land began to increase significantly after the year 2010, which was the urban–rural integration development period. (3) The urban–rural land–use transition was driven by government policies, industrial restructuring, population urbanization and migration. During the urban–rural integration development period, secondary industry and tertiary industry were the main driving factors of the transition from cultivated land to urban construction land. The number of policies, the primary industry, the total population, and the urbanization rate were the main driving factors of the transition from rural residential land to cultivated land. Primary industry, secondary industry, and tertiary industry were the main driving factors of the transition from rural residential land to urban construction land. Finally, the study provided some suggestions for policy, industry, and population driving forces.

The Rise of Rural Industrialization in China with Special Reference to Non-agricultural Development: A Case Study from Guangxi

In recent years, rural transformation has gradually become the focus of scholars and Governments in the context of global sustainable development; it is of great significance to achieve urban-rural integration and coordinated development through studying the spatial-temporal characteristics and driving mechanism of rural transformation development. The ultimate purpose of our study, which is part of an ongoing major research agenda at the Qinzhou Development Institute within the Bei Bu Gulf University is to better understand the origins of, and trends in, the expansion of rural Industrialization. We focused on south-west China – a region much influenced by the Belt and Road initiative. We reviewed the existing literature on rural industrialization and attempted to explore the advantage of rural over urban industries based on the results of case studies in China (mainly pertaining to the coastal zones of the Yangtze and Pearl river deltas). We examined the crucial characteristics of rural enterprises and entrepreneurs based on micro-level evidence from Guangxi and neigbouring provinces.

Spatial–Temporal Differentiation and the Driving Mechanism of Rural Transformation Development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Rural transformation development is an important part of rural revitalization, and the study of spatial–temporal differentiation characteristics and the driving mechanism of rural transformation development can provide a decision-making reference for formulating rural revitalization programs according to local conditions. Taking the Yangtze River Economic Belt as the research case, we constructed an evaluation system of rural transformation development in the dimension of “population, land and industry”, and the entropy TOPSIS method, spatial autocorrelation model and geographic detector model were used to reveal spatial-temporal differentiation and the driving mechanism of rural transformation development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 1978 to 2018. The results showed that (1) rural transformation development has been significantly unbalanced in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and rural transformation development showed a weak distribution. Moreover, in terms of dimensions, the land use transformation level > population development transformation level > industrial development transformation level. (2) On the global, rural transformation development presented a spatial distribution trend of club convergence. On the local, the H(High)–H(High) type was mainly distributed in Shanghai City and the southern part of Jiangsu Province, and it evolved to Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Ningbo and Wanjiang City Belt; the L(Low)–L(Low) type was mainly concentrated in the western part of Sichuan Province and in the southwest of Yunnan Province. (3) Natural conditions, economic social development, traffic accessibility, policies and systems were the leading factors affecting rural transformation development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The influences of economic social development and traffic accessibility on rural transformation development were increasing, and policy factors had an important guiding effect on rural transformation development, and the influence of natural conditions on rural transformation development has weakened. This study can provide a practical reference for rural transformation and rural revitalization in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Multifunctional rural development in China: Pattern, process and mechanism

Multifunctional rural development provides a powerful entrée into understanding sustainable rural transformation development against the context of rapid socio-economic growth with cascading effects on human-land relations. This paper attempts to summarize the stage characteristics of the multifunctional rural development and categorize China's rural areas by using both multi-factor comprehensive evaluation method and spatial analysis. Rural areas in China were encapsulated as four functional types-agricultural production function, economic development function, social security function, and ecological conservation function, and it was divided into 4 categories and 16 subcategories. The results indicated that the rural multifunctionality index presents obvious spatial heterogeneity during 2000–2015. Both the agricultural production function and social security function have shown an obvious increase, while the economic development function has much room for improvement. Recognizing the interaction between multiple functions is of great significance for implementation of strong multifunctionality pathways. The evolution of multifunctional rural is driven by both policy-oriented and market-induced forces. The results provide evidence for the cognition that multifunctionality is spatially complex, and contribute to the geography of multifunctionality.

A Corpus Analysis of Rural Representations in English-language News Media in China

China, the world's most populous country, has a sizable rural population. From this point of view, rural China's focus can serve as a lens into global rural issues and poverty. This article employs corpus analysis to examine media representations of 'rural' in China Daily newspapers from 2001 to 2021, focusing on rural areas. Findings show that the rural social system in the twenty-first century is more diverse and complex than in the previous century. Economic development is the most frequently discussed factor in rural transformation development (RTD). Additionally, unlike the idyllic life described in previous studies, the Chinese news media are relatively objective and forthright about negative development issues.

The study on influencing factors of rural transformation development and their spatial differentiation of effects: Take Shaanxi province as an example

The study on influencing factors of rural transformation development and their spatial differentiation of effects: Take Shaanxi province as an example

Tourism-led Commodification of Place and Rural Transformation Development: A Case Study of Xixinan Village, Huangshan, China

Rural commodification with rural transformation development is a potential research agenda for rural geography. Based on semi-structured interviews in five times fieldwork in Xixinan Village, Huangshan, China, this article examines how the township government as an actor with entrepreneurialism promotes the commodification of place in rural areas and its impact on rural transformation development. It was found that the township government has drawn economic returns from different subjects of tourism entrepreneurs, tourists, and lifestyle immigrants by the efforts of commodifying real estate, creative tourism experience, and nature. Rural transformation development is accompanied by rural commodification, showing rural gentrification, expansion of employment opportunities for women, and the readjustment of the social structure of the family in the demographic structure. Rural tourism and rural creative industries have developed, complementing the single agricultural structure, constituting a mutual intersection and integration among these three industries. Regarding social and cultural values, rural commodification promoted the awareness of place in protecting ancient buildings and indigenous culture, but it also brought a sense of deprivation for community and contested rurality among different groups. The development state of rural transformation is constantly changing, and the new challenges arising from it to the rural revitalization of China, in this case, are also identified. The contribution of this article is to expand the analytical dimension of the commodification of place in rural areas and examine the state entrepreneurism associated with it. It also contributes to improving the understanding of the current development state of rural transformation in China.

Non-point source pollution in response to rural transformation development: A comprehensive analysis of China's traditional farming area

Controlling non-point source pollution (NPSP) has been viewed as a priority for realizing rural sustainability. Substantial literature has examined the effects of economic growth or urbanization on NPSP, while little work has been undertaken to investigate how rural transformation development (RTD) influence NPSP, and how differences in the process itself affect the impact that RTD has on such emissions. To fill these gaps, this paper empirically and comprehensively investigates the multiple effects of RTD on NPSP, by addressing three different dimensions of the RTD process-namely, regional urbanization, agricultural modernization, and land use transition. Longitudinal trends analysis of NPSP loads over the long-term (1990–2017) using the approach of inventory analysis was conducted to overcome the difficulty in gathering pollution monitoring data. Our results suggest that RTD generally presents an inverted “U” shaped relationship with NPSP, and differentiated evolution trajectories exist between different dimensions of RTD and different components and sources of NPSP. The turning points of total phosphor (TP) and planting industry-induced NPSP emission appear later than others. Land use transition and agricultural modernization process have significantly positive relations with the emissions from the planting industry. Furthermore, the evolution of NPSP is highly coupled with the shifts in national strategies, agricultural policies, and environmental regulations. These findings provide insights into the human-environment relation, suggesting that reasonable countermeasures should be formulated corresponding to the development stage of RTD.

Optimization of Rural Settlement Distributions Based On the Ecological Security Pattern: A Case Study of Da’an City in Jilin Province of China

Following the trends of Chinese rural transformation development, and the sustainable development goals for resources and environment, reasonable arranging the potential development space and the ecological space, so as to optimize the distributions of rural settlement would be the key challenge for rural areas in ecologically fragile regions. From the perspective of maintaining regional ecological security, this paper takes Da’an City, a typical ecological fragile region in Jilin Province, as the case area, constructing the comprehensive ecological security pattern (ESP) on basis of landscape ecology, and applying the landscape pattern indexes to quantitative analysis the spatial distribution characteristics of rural settlements. Then, different optimization directions and management strategies are put forward for rural settlements in each secure zone under the comprehensive ESP. The experimental results showed that 1) the area of the low security zone, the general security zone, the moderate security zone and the extreme security zone was 1570.18 km2, 1463.36 km2, 1215.80 km2 and 629.77 km2, representing 32.18%, 29.99%, 24.92% and 12.91% of the total area of the target area, respectively. 2) The rural settlements in Da’an City were characterized by a high degree of fragmentation with a large number of small-scale patches. 3) The area of rural settlements in the ecological relocation zone, the in situ remediation zone, the limited development zone and the key development zone was 22.80 km2, 42.31 km2, 36.28 km2 and 19.40 km2, accounting for 18.88%, 35.03%, 30.04% and 16.06% of the total area of rural settlements, respectively. Then, different measures were proposed for settlements in different optimization zones in order to scientifically plan important ecological space, production space and living space in rural areas. This paper aims to provide fundamental support for rural settlements based on redistribution from the perspective of landscape ecology and provide insights for rural planning and rural habitat environmental improvement.

Land use transition and rural spatial governance: Mechanism, framework and perspectives

The pattern for utilization of rural space is closely related to rural transformation development (RTD). The problem of rural space utilization is an important manifestation of the uncoordinated relationship between land use patterns and rural development status during a transformation period. Considering the rural space utilization issue, this article seeks to analyze the interaction mechanisms between land use transition (LUT) and rural spatial governance and then build a rural spatial governance analysis framework based on LUT. Also, the paper explores the internal relationship between rural spatial governance and rural vitalization and discusses the research prospective of the interaction. The study found that: (1) Rural space utilization has systemic problems such as limited development space, ill-defined ownership and poor organization, which have become important obstacles for rural development. (2) The uncoordinated relationship between LUT and RTD is an important reason for the dilemma surrounding rural space utilization. (3) The LUT provides a basis for determining the timing of rural spatial governance, specifying spatial governance objectives, and clarifying rural spatial governance methods. (4) The construction of a comprehensive analysis framework of “matter-ownership-organization” of rural space based on the LUT has created conditions for the orderly promotion of rural spatial governance. (5) Rural spatial governance which facilitates the integration of urban-rural development is an important foundation for rural vitalization. (6) Interaction analysis of LUT, RTD and rural spatial governance is conducive to facilitating research on the operational mechanism of rural regional systems and to expanding the research field of rural geography.

Coupling coordination analysis of rural production-living-ecological space in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

Abstract Rural spaces are multifunctional, often containing production, living and ecological functions. Optimizing the production-living-ecological space has become one of the cores of China’s ecological civilization and sustainable development strategy. Research of the coupling coordination relationships among rural production, living and ecological functions is of immense significance for sustainable rural development during urban–rural transformation development. In this study, an evaluation index system was established to calculate and characterize rural production-living-ecological functions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region. Besides, this paper explored the spatio-temporal characteristics of both the coupling and coordinating relationship of the rural three fundamental functions from 2000 to 2015 in the study area, using a coupling coordination degree model (CCDM). Results showed that the spatio-temporal differences of the coupling coordination degree of rural production-living-ecological function were significant in the BTH region. The overall spatial pattern was characterized by “high in the northwest and low in the southeast” distribution and the entirety presented the evolution law of coupled and coordinated development from low level to high level over time. Moreover, rural production-living, living-ecological and production-ecological functions present marked differences in spatio-temporal pattern. In the future, the differentiated rural sustainable development strategy should be formulated and implemented based on the rules of spatio-temporal pattern differentiation of the rural production-living- ecological functions. This research will provide a decision-making reference for promoting the coordinated development among rural production-living-ecological functions and implementing the rural revitalization strategy to achieve the goal of rural sustainability.

Effects of rural–urban migration on agricultural transformation: A case of Yucheng City, China

Abstract As an important representation of the evolution of the rural human–land relationship in the process of urban–rural transformation development, labor migration between rural and urban areas has become the core impetus for agricultural transformation in China's traditional farming areas. An in-depth analysis of the internal mechanism of the evolution of agricultural production patterns driven by rural–urban migration at different phases helps to find solutions for ensuring the sustainable development of the countryside. This paper analyzes the relationship between rural–urban migration and the evolution of the rural human–land relationship, then introduces the city power and the rural power in the push–pull theory, and finally establishes an interactive analysis framework for rural–urban migration and agricultural transformation. The results demonstrate that the part-time rural labor and the frequent rural–urban migration in Yucheng City are the normal conditions for the labor to participate in agricultural production; and the low registered population urbanization rate and the return of the elderly labor have become the main features of the rural–urban migration in the new era. Furthermore, the state of rural–urban migration in Yangqiao Village has become the impetus of the farmland use transition and homestead use change at the village level; the arrangement fragmentation of agricultural production and the change in traditional agriculture production modes are the important factors affecting agricultural transformation in Yangqiao Village. In the context of rural vitalization, agricultural transformation in traditional farming areas needs to pay more attention to the future livelihood systems of small peasants. It is important to promote rural transformation to create more employment opportunities based on local conditions and attract rural migrants to return to start businesses in the countryside.