Spatial Differentiation and Driving Force Detection of Rural Settlements in the Yangtze River Delta Region
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The development of rural areas is an important research topic around the globe and an example of China definitely attracts the attention. Please let me share some of my observations regarding the revision recommendations for the study.
Firstly, i advise proofreading the text as some of the sentences seem to be translated into English. Starting from the title: "...Driving Force Detection of Rural Settlements...". Or "Urban sprawl and rural recession pose intricate and serious challenges as a significant multitude of rural workers relocates to cities". The verbs are missing. Or "...covering a variety of terrains such as mountains, basins, basins, and plains" - the word basins is repeated. Another example is "At present, most of the research on rural residential areas focuses on the spatial units of administrative regions and natural types, lacks the research results of the spatial units of economically developed regions, and ignores the particularity of the spatial arrangement of rural housing areas in economically developed regions.". Both times we see economically developed regions, whereas logic suggests the second time it should be economically underdeveloped (lagging) regions. Otherwise, what did you mean? Another example is "The rural settlements gradually urbanization after forming a certain population size and land use scale." - gradually urbanize would suit here better.
Secondly, could you please indicate the source of "per capita GDP" available per county? What are the dates for the data being used? How many counties were included/excluded from the study?
Thirdly, some finding need further discussion. E.g. "The distribution of high-density rural settlements in the Yangtze River Delta region is primarily concentrated in non-plain areas, whereas low-density areas are primarily distributed in regions with better economic development.". Usually, it is vice versa. Besides further you found that "In general, due to the flat terrain, the northern region has a wider range of human activities, and the rural settlements are more fragmented and complex, which requires layout and spatial optimization.".
"Also, it stimulates another part of rural settlements to be swallowed by cities and towns, further boosting the formation of low-density rural areas." - Do you mean urban sprawl or migration?
Finally, some results are not directly correlated to the study. For example, "The development level of adjacent rural settlements in policy, capital, and technology is consistent, forming a high-value agglomeration patch of rural settlements in the Yangtze River Delta region." - i do not recall indicators of policy, capital, and technology. Try to avoid speculating on the possible outcomes and correlations not actually studied in this paper.
Also, discussion on the development of settlements requires evaluation of a development process. This means measuring data over some period of time. Consider doing that in your study.
I advise proofreading the text as some of the sentences seem to be translated into English. Starting from the title: "...Driving Force Detection of Rural Settlements...". Or "Urban sprawl and rural recession pose intricate and serious challenges as a significant multitude of rural workers relocates to cities". The verbs are missing. Or "...covering a variety of terrains such as mountains, basins, basins, and plains" - the word basins is repeated.
Another example is "At present, most of the research on rural residential areas focuses on the spatial units of administrative regions and natural types, lacks the research results of the spatial units of economically developed regions, and ignores the particularity of the spatial arrangement of rural housing areas in economically developed regions.". Both times we see economically developed regions, whereas logic suggests the second time it should be economically underdeveloped (lagging) regions. Otherwise, what did you mean? Another example is "The rural settlements gradually urbanization after forming a certain population size and land use scale." - gradually urbanize would suit here better.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Spatial Differentiation and Driving Force Detection of Rural Settlements in the Yangtze River Delta Region" examines settlement issues and aims to understand the spatial characteristics of rural residential areas in economically developed regions and to address the shortcomings of previous studies. However, the authors do not specify what the shortcomings of the existing studies are and how they are addressed.
The research methods are based on various GIS with the use of widely used programs.
Data analysis is based on indices, with interpretation of the results by comparing the geographic features of the region, the level of urbanization, and other data, which are summarized in 2.1 and in Figure 1, which is not very informative. The following is summarized in Figure 2. Driving factors for the spatial differentiation of rural settlements. In what units were these indicators measured (X1-X10)? What is the level of urbanization (X4), how was it determined, and on what basis was it graded into seven parts?
Section 3 Results 208.
The authors use the settlement density indicator instead of the most common one, population density. What is the advantage of this approach?
Settlement typology is one of the common and well researched factors, for what purpose is it necessary to determine it by the number of break points of the territory boundary, is this enough for typological studies?
Section 4: Discussion 374.
Contains a listing of known factors determining the structure of settlement: the influence of natural conditions, topography, etc. The factor of the location of cities and rural settlements determines the structure of the formation of social, medical, educational services is the main in urban planning practice.
The conclusions are an enumeration of the results. They do not reflect: scientific importance and advantages of the use of the geographical detector on the basis of optimal parameters to explain the influence of various factors on the spatial variation of rural settlements in comparison with traditional methods, and there is no assessment of the reliability of the results.
The results obtained are of interest only for a narrow circle of specialists involved in the study of this region. It is impossible to verify and reproduce the results.
Taking into account the publications in the Land Journal, reflecting a wide range of research on this issue: Special Issue "Regional Sustainable Development of Yangtze River Delta, China," (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/special_issues/Yangtze_River), which were not included in the list of sources, it is recommended to reject the publication of the manuscript.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Even though the method used in the study is not new, the application of Geographical Detector Analysis to the analysis of rural residential location-scale morphology in the Yangtze River Delta region adds value to the findings, making them more attractive to readers.
- However, the article lacks adequate references in some areas, such as the statement that "multi-functional agriculture is not the policy (CAP) but rather a measure." This lack of references can weaken the credibility of the study.
- Furthermore, the quality of the English language used in the article can be improved. Some sentences are too long and difficult to read, and some typos must be corrected.
- The article would benefit from a figure showing the land use map to represent the data analysed visually.
- Moreover, the "natural fracture point classification method" mentioned in the article is not straightforward, and a citation would be helpful. It is unclear whether this refers to the natural break method, and further clarification is needed to avoid confusion.
- Another issue that needs to be addressed is the lack of spatial patterns of rural settlements presented in the study. Although the study analyses the spatial differentiation characteristics of rural residential, the paper fails to represent their spatial patterns clearly. A map or other visual representation of the spatial patterns would help readers understand the findings better and provide a more comprehensive study analysis.
Sentences are sometimes too long and wordy. It makes the manuscript difficult to read, such as from lines 62 to 66. There are typos here and there, which must be corrected. For instance, line 58 (basins, basins) or line 126 (index should be predicated in plural).
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
ЧЧЧЧЧМResponses to the comments and additions made to the manuscript improved its content to the point of recommending the manuscript for publication in the journal.
