Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Variation and Influencing Factors of Rural Land Dependence from the Perspective of Human-Land Relationship

Face the issues of rural youth outflow, increase of aging population, and rural decline, this research explored the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors of the rural human-land relationship using the quantification index of rural land dependence. The research defines the concept of rural land dependence and constructs an evaluation index system for rural land dependence. By using the entropy weight method, the research quantitatively measures the high and low levels of rural land dependence in 30 provincial administrative units in China from 2006 to 2020. Besides, the GIS spatial analysis and geodetector are used to explore and analyze the spatial-temporal pattern and influencing factors of China’s land dependence. The results show that: (1) Temporal evolution: Since 2006, the level of rural land dependence in China has shown a decreasing trend, with economic dependence > population dependence > spatial dependence in terms of partial dependence differences. (2) Spatial pattern: During the study period, there are regional differences in the spatial distribution of rural land dependence in China, with a “high in the southwest and low in the eastern coastal areas” characteristic. The distribution of high-dependence areas has changed from being concentrated to being dispersed, while the distribution of low-dependence areas has changed from being dispersed to being concentrated. (3) Influencing factors analysis: From 2006 to 2018, the number of large agricultural employees is the main influencing factor of land dependence. With the decrease of population dependence and the increase of spatial dependence indexes, as well as the influence of the social environment, the area of rural areas and the total area of the region became the main influencing factor of land dependence from 2018 to 2020. The results can provide scientific basis for deepening the research on rural land use efficiency, and also provide decision support for promoting rural sustainable development and achieving common prosperity.