Search Results (24)

Since the onset of global industrialization, rural planning has evolved significantly in developed countries, establishing a comprehensive framework for sustainable development. However, China’s rural areas, rooted in longstanding agrarian traditions, face distinct challenges amid rapid urbanization and globalization, including land degradation, ecological degradation, and rural depopulation. This study examines the progression of rural planning in China, with a focus on Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11): “Sustainable Cities and Communities”. Employing a bibliometric approach, we analyzed the literature from the Web of Science database, concentrating on influential publications, collaborative patterns among research institutions, and emerging research themes. Findings reveal that Chinese rural planning research has expanded rapidly since 2004, characterized by interdisciplinary and cross-institutional collaborations. High-impact studies emphasize the transformation of rural settlements, land utilization, and urban–rural dynamics, reflecting an ongoing shift toward sustainable rural revitalization. Co-citation analysis identifies emerging themes such as resilience in rural development, land consolidation, and rural governance under environmental constraints. This study offers theoretical and empirical insights critical to advancing rural planning practices in China, proposing a framework for integrating sustainability into policy and guiding future research to optimize spatial layouts, preserve ecological resources, and support rural transformation aligned with China’s socioeconomic objectives. Full article

Land consolidation is a pivotal element in rural settlement planning globally and specifically in Turkey. Evaluating the efficacy of land consolidation initiatives and incorporating diverse approaches in distinct countries and regions are imperative. This assessment becomes particularly crucial in charting the course for future land consolidation endeavors, wherein an understanding of farmers’ knowledge levels and perspectives significantly enhances success rates. This research focuses on evaluating land consolidation studies conducted in 2011 in three settlements—Alhan, Çulhan, and Dereköy—located in the Yenipazar district of Aydın province, Turkey. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews with 296 enterprise owners chosen through the stratified random sampling method across the three villages. The analysis utilized CHAID (Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection) analysis, a decision tree model, to comprehensively evaluate the interview results. The findings derived from this study offer crucial insights into the regional farmers’ perspectives on land consolidation projects, contributing valuable data to the academic discourse on rural development and settlement planning. It has been revealed that farmers’ education level, land holdings, and age have significant effects on their views on land consolidation projects. It has also been determined that the positive perspectives of farmers in the region on land consolidation projects continue to be positive after the project is completed. Moreover, more than half of the farmers who participated in the survey reported that their living standards have changed positively. Full article

The rice–crayfish co-culture system, a representative of Agri-aqua food systems, has emerged worldwide as an effective strategy for enhancing agricultural land use efficiency and boosting sustainability, particularly in China and Southeast Asia. Despite its widespread adoption in China’s Jianghan Plain, the exact spatiotemporal dynamics and factors influencing this practice in this region are yet to be clarified. Therefore, understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics and influencing factors of the rice–crayfish fields (RCFs) is crucial for promoting the rice–crayfish co-culture system, and optimizing land use policies. In this study, we identified the spatial distribution of RCF using Sentinel-2 images and land use spatiotemporal data to analyze its spatiotemporal dynamics during the period of 2016–2020. Additionally, we used the Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression model to explore the key factors influencing RCF’s spatiotemporal changes. Our findings reveal that (1). the RCF area in Jianghan Plain expanded from 1216.04 km² to 2429.76 km² between 2016 and 2020, marking a 99.81% increase. (2). RCF in Jianghan Plain evolved toward a more contiguous and clustered spatial pattern, suggesting a clear industrial agglomeration in this area. (3). The expansion of the RCFs was majorly influenced by its landscape and local agricultural conditions. Significantly, the Aggregation and Landscape Shape Indexes positively impacted this expansion, whereas proximity to rural areas and towns had a negative impact. This study provides a solid foundation for promoting the rice–crayfish co-culture system and sustainably developing related industries. To ensure the sustainable development of rice–crayfish co-culture industries in Jianghan Plain, we recommend that local governments optimize the spatial layout of rural settlements, improve transportation infrastructure, and enhance regional agricultural water sources and irrigation system construction, all in line with the national strategy of rural revitalization and village planning. Additionally, promoting the concentration and contiguity of RCF through land consolidation can achieve efficient development of these industries. Full article

In China’s pursuit of modernization, the government has introduced the rural revitalization strategy to combat rural decline, foster balanced urban–rural development, and reduce the urban–rural gap. Rural human settlements, as key components of this strategy, play a vital role. This paper examines the types and characteristics of human–earth relationships within rural settlements, emphasizing their significance. Using national land use and population census data, we analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of rural settlements at the county level, investigating landscape pattern changes, assessing the degree of coupling coordination between rural population and settlements, categorizing relationship types and features, and estimating the potential for remediation. Our findings reveal a growing trend in the scale of rural human settlements, particularly sourced from arable land, with significant expansions observed in the North China Plain and Northeast Plain, indicating potential for farmland reclamation and village consolidation. Landscape patterns of rural human settlements exhibit increased fragmentation, complex shapes, and aggregation. We categorize the utilization of rural human settlements into two types, each with four distinct features: human–land coordination is observed in regions characterized by either a higher rural population and larger rural settlement areas, or lower rural population and smaller rural settlement areas. Human–land trade-offs are evident in areas where there is either a higher rural population and smaller rural settlement areas, or lower rural population and larger rural settlement areas. This provides valuable insights for the Chinese government’s context-specific implementation of the rural revitalization strategy. It also serves as an experiential reference for the governance of rural human settlements in other developing countries. Full article

Rural settlement consolidation (RSC) is an important tool for improving rural habitat environments, and the potential evaluation of RSC is the premise for rural settlement planning. This paper identified the potential sources of RSC in different reconstruction modes and built an influencing factor system for RSC. We analyzed the spatial differentiation patterns of the theoretical potential and the realistic potential, and we identified the factors influencing the potential realization based on an empirical investigation in China. Influenced by multiple constraints, the potential transition from theoretical to realistic was spatially differentiated and showed a spatial agglomeration at the village level. Rural depopulation had a direct impact on the theoretical potential of RSC, while the distance to the downtown, rural population, per capita GDP, and production and living conditions played an important role in the realistic potential. Particularly, rural settlement basic conditions, rural population, and arable land resources profoundly affected farmer exit willingness and the potential transition from theoretical to realistic. Four optimization paths for rural settlement reconstruction linking to land use policies were proposed, which could provide valuable information for rural settlement planning in socioeconomic transformation regions. Full article

This research addresses the characteristics of soft soil subgrades treated by soilbags filled with excavated clayey soil. We evaluated of the strength and deformation modulus of soilbags containing excavated soil using unconfined compression tests. In addition, the drainage consolidation characteristics of soilbag-treated subgrades were investigated via model consolidation tests. Furthermore, a practical application included the construction of a 100 m-long rural road subgrade with these soilbags. The field test and numerical simulation results included the surface settlement and pore water pressure during and after construction to validate the effectiveness of the soilbag treatment for soft soil subgrade. The results show that the soilbags significantly enhanced both the strength and deformation modulus of the soft soil, which met the design requirements after the soilbag treatment. The drainage attributes of the soilbag treatment were also found to support the consolidation process of the soft soil subgrade effectively. Notably, the pore water pressure diminished rapidly during the construction interval, which is beneficial to reducing the post-construction settlement. The settlement uniformity of the subgrade is good verification of the superiority of the soilbag-treated subgrades. Full article

China’s distinct rural revitalization process has attracted global attention due to its impressive speed, massive scale, and policy interventions. A relatively limited amount of research has been conducted on how rural transition characteristics and policy mechanisms are interrelated at the micro level. To fill this research gap, following the main research thread of dividing rural development stages, revealing transition characteristics and exploring policy mechanisms, this paper utilizes a participatory rural appraisal, a landscape metrics analysis, and in-depth interviews to analyze the spatial transition laws of Dayu Village. First, the results show that the village experienced three stages from 1990 to 2020: strict homestead control, village relocation, and land consolidation. Second, the village exhibits multidimensional transition characteristics. With a reduced rural settlement area, regular patch formation, and a dense interior subdivision of rural houses, the land use layout changed from homogeneous to multiple nests. As the industrial structure became more diversified, the villagers’ livelihoods became more differentiated. Inflows of tourists and migrants changed the population structure, causing social relations to become defamiliarized. Moreover, mechanism research finds that policy can promote rural settlement transition by allocating land resources and regulating village behavior. The policy’s scope expanded from a single settlement to the whole village, optimizing external forces, with village behavior effects acting as an internal force. The degree of matching between policy formulation and villagers’ needs is the key to promoting the transition of rural settlements. This research deepens the understanding of the transition laws of suburban villages in megacities in developing countries at the micro scale and provides a reference for land policies in similar villages. Full article

Since the inception of China’s reform and opening-up policy, the rapidly advancing process of urbanization and the primacy accorded to urban development policies have imparted increasingly profound ramifications on rural domains. Nonetheless, antecedent research has predominantly fixated on urban sprawl, overlooking the spatial metamorphosis of rural settlements and the prospective developmental trajectories within the policy paradigm. Consequently, this inquiry endeavors to scrutinize the evolution of the spatial configuration of rural settlements in She County from the advent of reform and opening-up (1980–2020) utilizing remote sensing data. In tandem, through scenario delineation and the utilization of the CLUE-S model, it aspires to prognosticate the evolving trends in the spatial arrangements of rural settlements in She County by 2035. The empirical findings divulge that (1) The temporal progression of rural settlement spatial configurations in She County over the preceding four decades can be delineated into two discernible phases. From 1980 to 2000, alterations in the number, extent, and spatial morphological attributes of rural settlements remained circumscribed. While the count of rural settlements registered a diminution (by 3), the aggregate extent experienced a marginal augmentation (by 8.45%), concomitant with a gradual gravitation towards regular boundaries, manifesting a stochastic distribution throughout the investigation expanse. Conversely, from 2000 to 2020, the quantity and extent of rural settlements in She County underwent a precipitous augmentation (92 and 36.37%, respectively), characterized by irregular peripheries. (2) The CLUE-S model achieved an overall precision of 0.929, underscoring its applicability in emulating fluctuations in rural settlements. (3) Within the new-type urbanization scenario, the cumulative expanse of rural settlements witnessed a decline of 35.36% compared to the natural development scenario, marked by substantial conversions into grassland and urban land usage. Furthermore, orchestrated planning and directive measures have propelled the consolidation of rural settlements in She County, engendering a more equitable and standardized layout. Under the aegis of the ecological conservation scenario, the total rural settlement area recorded a 0.38% reduction vis-à-vis the natural development scenario, primarily entailing competitive coexistence with arable land, grassland, and urban land usage in spatial terms. Full article

The spatial restructuring of rural settlements is conducive to the realization of rural transition and development. This study constructed a “point-line-surface” framework for the spatial reconstruction of the homestead in a typical mountain village and used the weighted Voronoi diagram and buffer analysis method to analyze. The results are as follows. (1) The development capacity of rural homesteads in Longfeng Village was divided into three levels: high, medium, and low. Among them, the high-level homesteads clustered in the north and south of the village in the form of a “T” and a long strip, respectively; the medium-level homesteads are mostly aggregated in the middle of the village; the low-level homesteads are mainly distributed along the Fenghuang Mountain. (2) The layout of homesteads in Longfeng Village was axis-oriented, which is manifested by the number and scale being in a gradient-decreasing pattern with the main road axis as the centerline. (3) According to the principle of “maximum” development capacity of the homestead, nine reconstruction units are divided. By calculating the location entropy, it is found that the dominant functions of each reconstruction unit mainly include supporting life services, operational production, ecological agricultural production, and traditional agricultural production, and there are obvious differences in the development patterns of homesteads in different functional units. (4) Based on the “point-line-surface” characteristics of the homestead, four reconstruction modes, namely, modern community type, field and garden integration type, road-pointing type, and traditional residential type, are summarized, and the reconstruction strategies are proposed accordingly. The “point-line-surface” framework of rural settlements is of practical significance and theoretical value, which can provide a decision-making reference for the optimization and reorganization of residential land space in villages of the same type in mountain areas. Moreover, the integrated and innovative framework proposed in the paper has also international significance, thanks to the possibility of replicating the research strategy and methodological approach in other contexts. Full article

Settlement structure is the most essential aspect of rural landscapes and habitations in China. The process of merging rural settlements has given rise to tensions in spatial-social structures, posing significant risks to rural sustainability. However, little research has been undertaken to analyze potential resolutions for the challenges of sustainable development in the context. Based on the technological mediation theory, we used participant observation and interviews to investigate the effects of the photovoltaic system on spatial-social structures, governance patterns, and rural sustainability. By focusing on a representative merger project area situated in Shandong Province, our research revealed that the photovoltaic system improved spatial, social, and governance sustainability in rural areas rather than only the environmental aspect. In the spatial dimension, the photovoltaic system reconstructed domestic spaces and activated scenarios conducive to public life. In the social dimension, it fostered the eradication of disparities in identity and facilitated the reintegration of social networks. In the governance dimension, a large-scale governance pattern supported by mutual interest, collective trust, and the integrated system was developed to successfully resolve emerging problems and ultimately promoted the sustainability of the community–village region. The findings highlight the efficacy of employing technological design as a means to resolve resettlement dilemmas, which could shed light on the elimination of conflicts arising from the interplay between urbanization and sustainability of rural areas. Full article

Discrimination and limited access to healthcare services in remote areas can affect vaccination coverage. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate vaccination coverage for children living in quilombola communities and rural settlements in the central region of Brazil during their first year of life and to analyze the factors associated with incomplete vaccination. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on children born between 2015 and 2017. The percentage of children who received all vaccines recommended by the National Immunization Program in Brazil by 11 months and 29 days was used to calculate immunization coverage. Children who received the following vaccines were considered as having a complete basic vaccination schedule: one dose of BCG; three doses of Hepatitis B, of Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (DPT), of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and of Poliovirus (Polio); two doses of Rotavirus, of 10-valent pneumococcal (PCV10), and of Serogroup C meningococcal conjugate (MenC); and one dose of Yellow Fever (YF). Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and other doses recommended at or after 12 months were not included. Consolidated logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with incomplete vaccination coverage. Overall vaccination coverage was 52.8% (95% CI: 45.5–59.9%) and ranged from 70.4% for the Yellow Fever vaccine to 78.3% for the Rotavirus vaccine, with no significant differences between the quilombola and settler groups. Notably, the likelihood of incomplete general vaccination coverage was higher among children who did not receive a visit from a healthcare professional. Urgent strategies are required to achieve and ensure health equity for this unique and traditionally distinct group with low vaccination coverage. Full article

Taking the supplement of the quantity and quality of cultivated land in rural settlements as the departure point, this paper discusses the spatial and temporal integration reconstruction method of rural settlements. The disorderly expansion of residential areas in Pinggu District, Beijing, China has led to the erosion of high-quality cultivated land in the region and the advantages of mountain resources have not been fully utilized in this area. Therefore, Pinggu District was selected as the research area. Using the spatial analysis function in GIS, this paper uses the comprehensive correction method of the per capita construction land standard and the neighborhood substitution method to analyze the quantitative potential of rural settlements to supplement cultivated land and the qualitative grade of cultivated land after arrangement. A combination of exclusion matrices are employed to identify the spatial and temporal arrangements of rural settlements. The research shows that the effective cultivated land area of rural settlements in Pinggu District is 514.24 ha, and the coefficient of increasing cultivated land is 9.25%. Rural residential areas in the district are divided into priority sorting area, key sorting area, moderate sorting area, and restricted sorting area; they account for 18.13%, 21.10%, 20.85%, and 39.93% of the total area, respectively. According to the regional characteristics and dominant factor of the different consolidation areas, corresponding consolidation goals, models, and engineering measures are proposed to enrich the theory and approach to village planning and to provide a reference for practitioners engaged in regional rural land consolidation. The innovation of this study is putting forward the consolidation objectives, models and engineering measures based on the regional characteristics and leading factors of different land consolidation areas. This study has reference significance for the formulation and implementation of regional rural settlements consolidation planning and the policy of increasing and decreasing urban and rural construction land. Full article

Interdisciplinary narrative studies are of great importance in several disciplines, especially in the humanities and social sciences. Cultural tourism and its sub-disciplines, including the complex issue of ‘literary tourism’, is an interdisciplinary field of investigation, positioned in between geography and urban–rural studies. In Iran, this form of tourism has been neglected so far—with no distinction between urban and rural areas—despite a particularly rich literary heritage. The present study recognizes the challenge of literary tourism in Iran, delineating some possible actions to develop it as a future engine of economic growth, especially in rural districts. As a contribution to a refined comprehension of literary tourism development paths, a content analysis was run collecting views and textual data on literary tourism in Iran. The empirical results of this study indicate that the mentioned challenges can be classified into several main dimensions and a broader set of sub-themes. The possible actions responding to such challenges can be classified into more dimensions and a vast number of sub-themes. Actions reducing territorial disparities and fueling entrepreneurship in local communities are appropriate to stimulate the emergence (and, possibly, consolidation) of literary tourism districts in Iran, giving an original contribution to sustainable development especially—but not exclusively—in rural settlements. Full article

China’s rural areas face population loss and expanded residential land in the context of rapid urbanization. The increasing hollowing of villages leads to extensive land use, making it necessary to optimize and consolidate rural settlements immediately. Therefore, how to choose an appropriate development model for rural settlements is at issue. This article builds a theoretical development model for rural settlements based on their primary development conditions and spatial patterns. It determines the development model according to the classification matrix formed by interweaving different elements in each dimension. Finally, it demonstrates the model through a case study on Pingyin County, China. The empirical findings for Pingyin County are as follows. (1) The scale of rural settlements increased from 2010 to 2020, and the agglomeration and spatial correlation intensified, but they tended to be irregular. (2) The various elements of the development foundation showed apparent spatial differentiation, and the spatial distribution of rural settlements at different levels presented a core–edge structure. (3) The development of rural settlements was reduced to six models: in-situ urbanization, satellite urbanization, competitive-industry-driven, characteristic-tourism-driven, modern-agriculture-driven, and village relocation. Finally, the article proposes different development paths for different development models. Full article

Starting from temporary settlements turning into permanent urban centers, this paper discusses the transformations taking place through the process of so-called ‘boomtown’ urbanization in Central and Southern Africa. Based on data collected in Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the paper identifies the different conditions for migration and settlement and the complex socio-economic, spatial, as well as political transformations produced by the fast growth and expansion of boomtowns. Different historical and contemporary processes shape boomtown urbanization in Africa, from colonial territorial governance to large- and small-scale mining or dynamics of violence and forced displacement. As centers of attraction, opportunities, diversified livelihoods and cultures for aspiring urbanities, boomtowns represent an interesting site from which to investigate rural-urban transformation in a context of resource extraction and conflict/post conflict governance. They equally represent potential catalyzing sites for growth, development and stability, hence deserving not only more academic but also policy attention. Based on the authors’ long-term field experience in the countries under study, the analysis draws on ethnographic fieldwork data collected through observations as well as interviews and focus group discussions with key actors involved in the everyday shaping of boomtown urbanism. The findings point to discernible patterns of boomtown consolidation across these adjacent countries, which are a result of combinations of types of migration, migrants’ agency and the governance structures, with clear implications for urban policy for both makeshift and consolidating towns. Full article