Rural-urban Transformation Research Articles

Investigation of Spatial Coupling Coordination Development: Identifying Land System States from the Adaptation-Conflict Perspective.

With the advancement of global urbanization, ecosystem conservation and sustainable land development have become major issues. In this context, the uncoordinated and imbalanced development of the land-centered human-environment system requires urgent attention, especially in rust belt cities that pose critical challenges to regional land system sustainability. Therefore, taking Changchun City from 1990 to 2020 as an example, we identified and evaluated the ecosystem service (ES) balance and land use conflict from the perspectives of internal support and external development pressure. Based on the land system adaptation and conflict results, a coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) was constructed to investigate the spatio-temporal characteristics of land system development. The results indicated that there was an obvious downward trend in the regional ES balance, while areas with higher ES balance were mainly distributed in the eastern ecologically sound areas, and southern built-up areas presented deficient ES balance levels (i.e., demand exceeding supply), with a significant expansion trend from 1990 to 2020. Land use conflict was especially prominent in areas experiencing rapid rural-urban transformation, and the hot spots expanded noticeably. The spatio-temporal differences in the coupling coordination degree of ES balance and land use conflict were significant, whereas the land system of the study area has always been dominated by a balanced development pattern throughout the research period, except for the urban center, which tended to be in a stage of uncoordinated development, with the ES balance blocked. These findings suggest that it is necessary to coordinate urban and adjacent regions through regionally integrated efforts to alleviate the ES imbalance. This research can provide a scientific reference for analyzing regional land system states, coordinating the sustainable spatial development of ecosystems, and implementing revitalization strategies to achieve win-win land system goals.

Impact of urbanization on gas-phase pollutant concentrations: a regional-scale, model-based analysis of the contributing factors

Abstract. Urbanization or rural–urban transformation (RUT) represents one of the most important anthropogenic modifications of land use. To account for the impact of such process on air quality, multiple aspects of how this transformation impacts the air have to be accounted for. Here we present a regional-scale numerical model (regional climate models RegCM and WRF coupled to chemistry transport model CAMx) study for present-day conditions (2015–2016) focusing on a range of central European cities and quantify the individual and combined impact of four potential contributors. Apart from the two most studied impacts, i.e., urban emissions and the urban canopy meteorological forcing (UCMF, i.e., the impact of modified meteorological conditions), we also focus on two less studied contributors to the RUT impact on air quality: the impact of modified dry deposition due to transformed land use and the impact of modified biogenic emissions due to urbanization-induced vegetation modifications and changes in meteorological conditions affecting these emissions. To quantify each of these RUT contributors, we performed a cascade of simulations with CAMx driven with both RegCM and WRF wherein each effect was added one by one while we focused on gas-phase key pollutants: nitrogen, sulfur dioxide (NO2 and SO2), and ozone (O3). The validation of the results using surface observations showed an acceptable match between the modeled and observed annual cycles of monthly pollutant concentrations for NO2 and O3, while some discrepancies in the shape of the annual cycle were identified for some of the cities for SO2, pointing to incorrect representation of the annual emission cycle in the emissions model used. The diurnal cycle of ozone was reasonably captured by the model. We showed with an ensemble of 19 central European cities that the strongest contributors to the impact of RUT on urban air quality are the urban emissions themselves, resulting in increased concentrations for nitrogen (by 5–7 ppbv on average) and sulfur dioxide (by about 0.5–1 ppbv) as well as decreases for ozone (by about 2 ppbv). The other strongest contributor is the urban canopy meteorological forcing, resulting in decreases in primary pollutants (by about 2 ppbv for NO2 and 0.2 ppbv for SO2) and increases in ozone (by about 2 ppbv). Our results showed that they have to be accounted for simultaneously as the impact of urban emissions without considering UCMF can lead to overestimation of the emission impact. Additionally, we quantified two weaker contributors: the effect of modified land use on dry deposition and the effect of modified biogenic emissions. Due to modified dry deposition, summer (winter) NO2 increases (decreases) by 0.05 (0.02) ppbv, while there is almost no average effect for SO2 in summer and a 0.04 ppbv decrease in winter is modeled. The impact on ozone is much stronger and reaches a 1.5 ppbv increase on average. Due to modified biogenic emissions, a negligible effect on SO2 and winter NO2 is modeled, while for summer NO2, an increase by about 0.01 ppbv is calculated. For ozone, we found a much larger decreases of 0.5–1 ppbv. In summary, when analyzing the overall impact of urbanization on air pollution for ozone, the four contributors have the same order of magnitude and none of them should be neglected. For NO2 and SO2, the contributions of land-use-induced modifications of dry deposition and modified biogenic emissions have a smaller effect by at least 1 order of magnitude, and the error will thus be small if they are neglected.

Heterogeneity in agricultural households and transition paths in southern Tibet

Smallholder livelihoods in agricultural areas in Tibet Autonomous Region, China (Tibet for short) have traditionally been based on subsistence mixed crop-livestock systems. Like many parts of China and the developing world, rural Tibet is undergoing rapid change in agricultural development, boosted by links with the off-farm sector. However, the agricultural transition process in Tibet has not been linear, is affected by policies particular to the region, and varies significantly for different categories of rural actors. This paper analyses heterogeneity of household types in agricultural areas of southern Tibet and how household structures and characteristics result in different agricultural development pathways. Data is drawn from a stratified random survey of 144 households in three townships in southern Tibet and analysed through three methods: cluster analysis, bio-economic modelling, and analysis of household perceptions and attitudes to change. The analysis allows for the identification of three key household types — semi-subsistence, pluriactive and semi-commercial — organised along a continuum of intensification, commercialisation, specialisation and productivity. The study demonstrates the diversity of household farming systems in Tibet which in turn highlights the need for disaggregated analysis and tailored development policies and strategies. However, the analysis also reveals commonalities in development paths between groups, where all farm types are more interested in pursuing income and livelihood goals through an increase in productivity than through an increase in scale. Farmers in all systems choose to retain agriculture as a base from which to pursue livelihood strategies, especially through off-farm activities. Accounting for this household heterogeneity is important on several levels. First, it provides more granular detail on the process of development in rural areas of Tibet that have been very difficult to access in English literature especially in recent years. Second, the characteristics of the case study in agricultural areas of Tibet — especially the mixed agricultural-pastoral systems, high levels of seasonality, heavy state investment and increased integration with the other regions of China — may contribute to the broader agricultural development study. Third, policymakers in the central and local governments may be interested in how the household heterogeneity may affect — or be affected by — policies to increase agricultural productivity, intensify systems, change the composition of crop-livestock systems, promote rural-urban transformation and pursue environmental objectives, especially grassland degradation.

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.

How and When Factors of Agricultural Contribution Influence Urbanization: A Historical Analysis of Tibet

Agriculture Powers Urbanization. How and when agriculture influences urbanization in underdeveloped regions remain poorly understood from an agricultural contribution perspective, specifically the food contribution (FDC), raw materials contribution (MLC), labor contribution (LRC), and market contribution (MTC). This study investigated this issue in the context of Tibet. A Granger causality test (GCT), the impulse response function (IRF), and variance decomposition (VD) were used. The GCT results demonstrated that agricultural contribution factors (ACFs), Granger-cause urbanization, and the IRF and VD results demonstrated that the influences of ACFs on urbanization were various and asynchronous. Both MTC and LRC quickly and positively respond to urbanization; however, LRC currently influences urbanization, whereas MTC influences urbanization currently and in the future. Both MLC and FDC negatively and slowly respond to urbanization; however, MLC currently influences urbanization, whereas FDC will influence urbanization in the future. This study’s findings depict changing trajectories of the role of ACFs in urbanization, elucidating urban–rural transformation.

Small town urbanization and project experimentation in Pangandaran Region, Indonesia

This article contributes to the debate of small centre urbanization and positions it amidst three emerging challenges: urban-rural transformation, economic experimentation, and disaster risk mitigation. To examine the entanglement of the three forces, we analysed the expansion of the Pangandaran urban area – a small urbanizing area in West Java. This expansion occurred as part of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project, in the form of a regional infrastructure plan including railway, airport, and harbour development to accommodate tourism flux. This study uses discursive and qualitative approaches to rural-urban transformation with data gathered through document analysis, mapping, and FGDs with local stakeholders. The results show that although urbanization was a complex process with promises of extensive infrastructure developments and national projects, little attention has been paid to the internal urban structure, utilities, and increasing vulnerability to natural disasters in Pangandaran. The study also addresses how urban theories and policies should deal with the complexities of small urban areas in Indonesia.

The Spatial–Temporal Changes of the Coupling Relationship among Agricultural Labor Force, Agricultural Economy, and Farmland in Chongqing

Agricultural labor force, agricultural economy, and farmland use are momentous components of sustainable development in rural areas, as well as essential causes of drastic changes in the urban–rural transformation. This paper studies the spatial–temporal characteristics of the labor–farmland–economy coupling structure from 2000 to 2018 in rural areas of Chongqing using spatial analysis technology. The study has four main results. First and foremost, not only has the average annual rate of the agricultural labor force in Chongqing reduced by 3.73%, but the reduction rates in Jiangbei District, Dadukou District, Nan’an District, Shapingba District, and Yubei District have exceeded 15%. Then, the average annual rate of the agricultural economy has increased by 9.32%, but it has been in a downward trend in Dadukou District, Jiangbei District, and Shapingba Districts. Furthermore, the average annual decline rate of farmland area is 0.34% with larger reduction occurring in the nine of the central urban districts, Chengkou County and Wushan County. Ultimately, there have been 33 districts and counties with the temporal–spatial characteristics of labor–farmland–economy coupling above primary coordination, which includes 16 districts and counties reaching a high coordination. This provides theoretical and methodical supports for the coordinated development of human and land industries in different regions.

Maintenance and development of agro-forestry-pastoral system from the perspective of biodiversity—Taking Zhagana in Diebu County as an example

The issue of sustainable development has a growing impact on rural revitalization and rural planning, which is also the focus of long-term attention in urban-rural transformation. Based on comprehensive analysis of field investigation data in Zhagana area, quantitative data of related factors between resources of various life forms and hidden dangers of rural ecological sustainable development, this paper takes Zhagana in alpine pastoral area as the research object and regards biodiversity and long-term demands for rural sustainable development as the breakthrough point, extracting the ecological advantages associated with the local unique agro-forestry-pastoral system, and exploring the strategic system of maintaining and developing agro-forestry-pastoral system in alpine pastoral area. Additionally, starting from the biodiversity that is highly integrated with the natural environment in rural areas, the construction includes early warning and implementation of rural agro-forestry-pastoral system, detection and later maintenance of rural agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry restoration, and maintenance and remediation of rural ecological sustainable development so as to explore the optimization ways of sustainable development of rural ecology in alpine pastoral areas with low cost, high efficiency, income generation and suitable operation, and conduct public intervention based on natural solutions for rural sustainable development.

How to reconcile land use conflicts in mega urban agglomeration? A scenario-based study in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China

With the development of global urbanization, land use conflicts have become one of the major issues hindering sustainable land use and human-environment coordination in urbanized areas. In this context, reconciliation of land use conflicts requires urgent attention. By taking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) urban agglomeration as a case study area, the spatial comprehensive conflict index (SCCI) was constructed to identify and evaluate land use conflicts. Besides, the impacts of rapid urbanization and terrain restriction on land use conflicts were also explored using the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model and terrain index, respectively. Then, the Dyna-CLUE model was adopted to simulate land use conflicts under three adaptive scenarios in 2030. Results show that: (1) During 2000–2015, land use conflicts in the BTH region demonstrated an overall mitigating trend, and their spatial patterns remained relatively stable, characterized by significant cluster and belt agglomeration. (2) Land use conflicts were significantly intensified in areas experiencing rapid urban-rural transformation and terrain transition, and two typical conflict zones were identified, i.e. the urban-rural interface of the Beijing-Tianjin region and the terrain transition area located in the Taihang Mountains, Yan Mountains and Bashang Plateau. (3) In 2030, land use conflicts in the BTH region manifest overall mitigation under the ecological security (ES) scenario, while demonstrating an intensifying trend under the business as usual (BAU) scenario and cropland protection (CP) scenario. Based on simulation results, land use spatial optimization modes at county level for the BTH region were formulated. In face of increasingly prominent land use conflicts globally, this study will provide a scientific reference for policymaking in pursuit of sustainable land use management for the BTH region and urban agglomerations in other parts of the world.

Return migration and in situ urbanization of migrant sending areas: Insights from a survey of seven provinces in China

Based on a survey in seven provinces and drawing on previous evidence of in situ urbanization in the coastal areas, this paper examines the implications of return migration for in situ urbanization of migrants' sending areas in China. It shows that returnees can act as catalysts for in situ urbanization by bringing back entrepreneurship, accrued human, financial, social, cultural and technological capital to facilitate rural-urban socioeconomic transformation of their home areas. The results of logistic regressions further confirm that returnees' individual characteristics and migration occupations significantly increase their probability of engaging in non-agricultural occupations post return. However, they seem to have little impact on returnees' likelihood of working in local urban areas. The results suggest that even though return migrants have exhibited somewhat positive impacts on the development of their home areas, their role is rather limited in promoting in situ rural-urban transformation. A weak industrial base at the origin has been identified as a major barrier for rural-urban transformation, which suggests that strategic measures to strengthen industrial capacity in those migrant sending areas should take place in order to fully unleash return migrants' potential in stimulating in situ urbanization of their home areas.

Agricultural Land Use Change in Chongqing and the Policy Rationale behind It: A Multiscale Perspective

Agricultural land resources have been the central issue for the Chinese government in its attempts to secure food and agricultural sustainability. Yet strict land use control does not protect the agricultural land from erosion by urban expansion. Identifying the specific patterns and mechanisms of the agricultural land conversion, thus, is critical for land management and related decision making. Based on the annual nominal 30 m land use/land cover datasets (called CLUD-A), this study goes below the national/regional level to examine agricultural land conversion in Chongqing from a multiscale perspective. At the metropolis and its subdivision’s scales, the volume of the conversion area has been generally increasing, from 122.40 km2 in 1980–1990, 162.26 km2 in 1990–2000, and 706.14 km2 in 2000–2010, to 684.83 km2 in 2010–2015. Such a conversion in the main city area and its surroundings far outweighed that in the rural outskirts, as 68.9% (1990–2000), 92.2% (2000–2010), and 82.7% (2010–2015) of the conversion happened in the former. Moreover, values of Gini coefficients and coefficient of variation (CV) based on the county/district scale (Gini [0.46, 0.64], CV [0.69, 0.99] throughout the four periods) are much lower than those based on the town/village scale (Gini [0.88, 0.94], CV [3.18, 4.47] throughout the four periods), suggesting the uneven extent of spatial distribution of the agricultural land conversion trickles down along with the downscale of administration: the lower the administrative level, the more severe the unbalance. The policy rationale behind this transition is also discussed. This research argues for tangible approaches to a sustainable rural-urban transformation.

Boomtown Urbanization and Rural-Urban Transformation in Mining and Conflict Regions in Angola, the DRC and Zambia

Starting from temporary settlements turning into permanent urban centers, this paper discusses the transformations taking place through the process of so-called ‘boomtown’ urbanization in Central and Southern Africa. Based on data collected in Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the paper identifies the different conditions for migration and settlement and the complex socio-economic, spatial, as well as political transformations produced by the fast growth and expansion of boomtowns. Different historical and contemporary processes shape boomtown urbanization in Africa, from colonial territorial governance to large- and small-scale mining or dynamics of violence and forced displacement. As centers of attraction, opportunities, diversified livelihoods and cultures for aspiring urbanities, boomtowns represent an interesting site from which to investigate rural-urban transformation in a context of resource extraction and conflict/post conflict governance. They equally represent potential catalyzing sites for growth, development and stability, hence deserving not only more academic but also policy attention. Based on the authors’ long-term field experience in the countries under study, the analysis draws on ethnographic fieldwork data collected through observations as well as interviews and focus group discussions with key actors involved in the everyday shaping of boomtown urbanism. The findings point to discernible patterns of boomtown consolidation across these adjacent countries, which are a result of combinations of types of migration, migrants’ agency and the governance structures, with clear implications for urban policy for both makeshift and consolidating towns.

How land transfer affects agricultural land use efficiency: Evidence from China’s agricultural sector

In recent years, China's agricultural land has decreased year by year. In order to alleviate the shortage of land and improve the efficiency of land use, the state has successively issued a number of relevant policies to encourage the transfer of agricultural land management rights. In this context, based on the data of 30 provinces from 2000 to 2017, this paper uses the global data envelopment method to establish indicators to evaluate the agricultural land efficiency, and uses the PSM method to construct a counterfactual framework to analyze the impact of the land transfer on agricultural land efficiency. This paper draws the following conclusions: 1) the national average value of land use efficiency is low, only 0.288, showing a decreasing trend from the east to the central and west. 2) The provinces that transfer land in are more efficient in land use than the ones with land transfer out, which further illustrates the seriousness of agricultural land tension in China. Also, this result testifies that increasing agricultural arable land can bring about a scale effect, which increases the output of unit land, while the outflow of land reduces the income of agricultural workers. This means that the land transfer in recent years is actually at the expense of agricultural operator’s interests. At last, this paper put some policy implications from the perspective of the land-use system reform, urban-rural transformation, and rural revitalization in China.

Spatio-temporal patterns of urban-rural transformation and optimal decision-making in China

Spatio-temporal patterns of urban-rural transformation and optimal decision-making in China

China’s Rural–Urban Transformation: New Forms of Inclusion and Exclusion

China’s urbanisation drive has been unprecedented in scale. It has also produced some paradoxical outcomes and led to multiple interconnections between the rural and the urban spheres. These interconnections are the central focus of this special issue. Thus, preference is given to the term “rural–urban transformation” instead of simply “urbanisation.” The main argument advanced here is that we always need to consider the rural aspects and repercussions alongside the urban side of this dual process. This introduction first highlights some of these antinomies to set the stage for the discussion. Next, it explains how they relate to changing mechanisms of inclusion/exclusion. It is proposed that a theoretical approach of functional differentiation can help us sort out the various ways inclusions and exclusions are being produced and combined. Finally, the introduction presents an overview of the articles collected in this special issue and how they relate to the aforementioned topics.

Fast and uncoordinated suburbanization of Vilnius in the context of depopulation in Lithuania

Abstract Like many other Central and Eastern European countries Lithuania has been experiencing significant socio-spatial transformations since the 1990s. One of the most prominent of these transformations is associated with the residential suburbanization of its major cities. The suburbs are the only areas in Lithuania where the population has been growing in recent decades, while the country has lost almost one quarter of its population. Although, extensive urban growth is a common feature for all large Lithuanian cities, it is more noticeable in Vilnius. Due to its historical and geographical context, Vilnius, and the region surrounding it, is in an area where rural-urban transformation also means transformation of the social, ethnic, and political landscape. The aim of this article is to obtain more insight into the recent process of the fast, but weakly controlled, residential suburbanization of Vilnius. The focus is on understanding the scale of suburbanization and its impact on the social and physical environment. In this study, we use quantitative data on population and residential constructions as well as presenting some visual material. Our results show that the new suburban-style settlements are spatially dispersed. New residential areas have emerged within the city limits, along its administrative boundary as well as in the most peripheral parts of the Vilnius metropolitan region. In terms of the morphology and physiognomy, a great suburban diversity exists in and around Vilnius, and different building styles are mixed creating a rather chaotic landscape, with little interference from urban planners and no clear vision for the future.

China’s rural revitalization and development: Theory, technology and management

The urban-rural transformation from dichotomy to integration is a gradual process. Like rural areas in many countries, Chinese rural society is experiencing a decline in all spheres due to depopulation, aging, lack of economic opportunity, and so on. Aiming at solving the serious rural issues, China proposed the implementation of a rural revitalization strategy and the promotion of an integrated urban-rural development for the first time in 2017. This proposal marks the transformation of the urban-rural relationship, and the integrated urban-rural development reflects a significant conceptual change. Researches on issues of rural decline are urgently needed to determine the most effective method for rural revitalization and development from the perspective of the urban-rural dynamics. In this context, this paper focuses on studying the theory, technology and management of rural revitalization and development. We construct a theoretical framework for urban-rural integration based on population-land-industry-right between the urban and rural systems, regarding land engineering for land capacity building as the technical support and the rural land system reform and reconstruction as the policy support for management. This research will provide theoretical support for the implementation of China’s rural revitalization strategy.

Urban-rural spatial transformation process and influences from the perspective of land use: A case study of the Pearl River Delta Region

The process of rapid urbanization results in the flow and agglomeration of regional production factors, which leads to the transformation of the urban-rural territorial system and changes the spatial patterns of urban and rural areas. On the basis of the dynamic changes about urban and rural construction land, this research focuses on the processes, influencing factors, and driving mechanisms motivating the urban-rural transformation in the Pearl River Delta Region. Vector data of urban construction land use in 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2017, natural elements, socioeconomic data, geostatistical analysis method, and logistic regression model were all utilized to identify the characteristics of the processes and influencing factors. The driving mechanisms of spatial evolution in urban-rural transformation from regional growth, market development, and government controls were also explained according to analytics. The results reveal the following: (1) The spatial agglomeration of urban-rural transformation was highlighted, and a stable “A” regional spatial structure was formed around Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhuhai, Shenzhen, and Dongguan. (2) The urban-rural transformation changed from a high-intensity expansion mode in the core region to a low-intensity expansion mode in the core periphery region. (3) The urban-rural transformation in the east coast of the Pearl River Delta was better than that in the west coast, and the transformation pace of the Pearl River estuary was faster than that of the periphery region. (4) The urban-rural transformation was affected by natural conditions and socioeconomic development, of which traffic location was the most significant factor. (5) The urban-rural spatial variation originated from the combined effects of regional growth forces, market driving forces, and government control forces.

Has the monetary resettlement compensation policy hindered the two-way flow of resources between urban and rural areas?

The reasonable two-way flow of resources between urban and rural areas underlies the processes of urban-rural transformation and rural revitalization in China. The monetary resettlement compensation policy has been formulated to promote this two-way flow through market-oriented measures. This study extends the Theory of Planned Behavior by enhancing the variable of monetary resettlement compensation factor to analyze the behavioral tendencies of house purchase intention of relocated households in Zhejiang Province, China. An empirical analysis through PLS-SEM was conducted on the results obtained from 271 survey responses, and eight hypotheses were verified using SmartPLS 3. The results demonstrate that the monetary resettlement compensation policy may facilitate relocated households’ purchase of houses in urban areas, which is indicative of compensation flowing back from the rural to urban areas through the house purchase behavior. Furthermore, a study on the possible gap between relocated households’ purchase intention and their actual purchase behavior shows that the intention is aligned with actual action. The monetary resettlement compensation policy has thus failed and even hindered the achievement of a reasonable two-way flow of resources between urban and rural areas.

Social entrepreneurship and impact investment in rural–urban transformation: An orientation to systemic social innovation and symposium findings

Migrations from rural to urban areas do not occur equitably. Food, economic, and health systems are strained by this global rural–urban transformation. Climate change exacerbates agricultural shifts and biodiversity loss. The fields of social entrepreneurship and social innovation address these systemic inequities by re-envisioning challenges as opportunities for positive change. Innovative finance models (e.g. blended-financing, public–private partnerships) emerge in support of such initiatives. Despite this transformative potential, social innovators face significant challenges when mobilizing resources, and when moving beyond niche endeavors to scale impacts that facilitate systemic change. This article engages in a sensemaking exercise: we review literature on social entrepreneurship and innovative finance, and report outcomes from a participatory symposium in China with a variety of ecosystem stakeholders. The results presented in this paper help clarify the space and offer next steps for theorists, social entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations, development agencies, policymakers and investors.