How should rural development be chosen? The mechanism narration of rural regional function: A case study of Gansu Province, China

Heliyon. 2023 Oct 2;9(10):e20485. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20485. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Several major changes in China's land policy, economic system, and development strategy have contributed to the continuous transformation of rural patterns and urban-rural relations. The deepening of urban-rural interaction has led to an increasing complexity of rural territorial functions, and the importance of territorial multifunctional mechanisms in the dynamic process of rural development in China has been highlighted. However, the current choice of a rural development model lacks comprehensive thinking that combines the functional mechanisms of rural areas with the elements of the development environment. In this paper, we define and identify the functions of rural areas in Gansu Province, China, and analyze and construct a rural development model by analyzing the interaction between the mechanisms of rural regional functions and the "rural revitalization" strategy. We find that under the control of "rural revitalization," a sustainable development tool, the countryside is constantly developing into a multifunctional complex, and its development mode should be dynamically adjusted according to functional changes. Finally, we summarize the general evolutionary cycle of the multifunctional system of rural regions and attempt to extrapolate the dynamic developmental village type classification process of "rural revitalization" from the perspective of rural regional functions in China.

Keywords: Coupling mechanism; Development pattern; Gansu province; Multifunctional system; Rural region function; Rural revitalization; Spatiotemporal evolution.