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

Abstract

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.

The Evolution of the Interactive Relationship between Urbanization and Land-Use Transition: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta

“…The response of urbanization to land-use transition is related to the environmental effects of land-use transition, and the evolution of the spatial structure and the function of land-use. With the acceleration of urbanization, dramatic land-use transition in a region will inevitably lead to regional economic, social, and environmental changes [30][31][32][33][34][35]42]. Urbanization is an integrated process that encompasses higher stages of development in economic, ecological and social dimensions.…”

“…A review of related research on urbanization and land-use transition in recent years shows that current studies mainly focus on the role of urbanization in certain dimensions of land-use, such as land-use structure [25,26], land-use efficiency [27] and land-use intensity [28,29]. The effects of land-use transition mainly include the socioeconomic effect [30][31][32] and the eco-environmental effect [33][34][35]. However, few studies start from a systems theory perspective to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the two-way interaction and the mechanism between the urbanization system and the land-use transition system.…”

“…However, few studies start from a systems theory perspective to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the two-way interaction and the mechanism between the urbanization system and the land-use transition system. Most studies only focus on the one-way impact of urbanization on land-use transition [23], or the impact of land-use transition [30][31][32][33][34][35]. The results of the study of Hualou Long and Yi Qu show that there is mutual feedback between land-use transition and land management, but this study does not address the interrelationships between land-use transition and urbanization [36].…”

Endogenous Driving Forces in Ecology-Production-Living Space Changes at Micro-Scale: A Mountain Town Example in Inland China

“…As the carrier of rural social life, rural space has also experienced dramatic restructuring in this process [10]. Therefore, land use transition research provides an important window for exploring the current state of rural development [11]. There is a close relationship between rural land use transition and rural development, and when the land use situation in the countryside does not match the rural development situation, it will cause the countryside to fall into a declining mode [2].…”

Land-Use Transition of Tourist Villages in the Metropolitan Suburbs and Its Driving Forces: A Case Study of She Village in Nanjing City, China

“…Today, land-use transition has become an important aspect to study rural transformation, thanks to deepened exploration in geography, land-use morphology, and other relevant disciplines. On one hand, the current theoretical research on land-use transition at a village scale largely focuses on the coupling relationship between land-use transition and rural transformation [13] and rural economy [14], on the relationship between land-use transition and rural revitalization [15] and rural spatial governance [16], and also on analysis framework of land-use transition in certain regions [17], etc. On the other hand, empirical research mainly includes the evolution and mechanism of spatial differentiation and reconstruction [3,18,19], the landuse change of typical villages [20][21][22], and transformation of land-use function [23][24][25].…”