Research on the Construction of a County-Level Urban-Rural Equivalent Comprehensive Evaluation System Under the Community Theory

Traditional evaluation systems in the current process of urban–rural integration are guided by the goal of “equalization.” They predominantly focus on material facilities and services while neglecting both the integration of socio-cultural dimensions and the disparities between urban and rural areas. Consequently, they are ill-equipped to systematically assess or facilitate the formation of urban–rural communities. To address this gap, this study, grounded in community theory, constructs a county-level comprehensive evaluation framework for urban–rural equivalence that integrates the three dimensions of “material, service, and social” spheres, encompassing material infrastructure, socioeconomic services, and cultural identity. This framework consists of three dimensions, seven criteria, and twenty-one indicators, which are operationalized through statistical data, questionnaire surveys, and field investigations. An empirical application to Xiapu County, Fujian Province, yields a composite urban–rural equivalence index of 0.8184, indicating a moderate level of equivalence, with relatively balanced development across the three dimensions. Furthermore, diagnostic analysis reveals that the key bottlenecks constraining progress toward a higher level of equivalence are not absolute resource shortages but rather the organizational efficiency of spatial linkages, the grassroots-level transmission capacity of public services, and deficiencies in social identity and public participation. Accordingly, differentiated planning response pathways are proposed from the three perspectives of territorial community, governance community, and relational community. By constructing a multidimensional comprehensive evaluation framework, this study advances urban–rural equivalence assessment from mere “disparity description” toward “mechanism diagnosis,” thereby offering a more systematic and operationally feasible evaluation tool and strategic reference for county-level urban–rural integration.