9 pages, via online journal, The conversion of population and land from rural to urban areas has been widely explored; however, the spatial change in rural settlements and its relations to population changes involved in urbanization have been ignored. This paper aims to reveal the underlying human-land relationship from the perspective of rural settlement urbanization (RSU). Based on identifying the spatiotemporal characteristics of RSU in Wuhan city circle from 2009 to 2016, we analyzed the human-land relations using a combination of a dynamic coupling model and a decoupling model. The results showed that a total area of 27.77 km2 (accounting for 0.81% of the level in 2009) of rural settlements was converted to urban construction land from 2009 to 2016. Although the rural population decreased by 32.21%, the overall size of rural settlements increased by 104.62 km2, and 37 counties had a low-level coordination between population urbanization and RSU. Only 2 counties emerged with high-level coordination in this process. Additionally, the changes in rural settlements and rural population showed a strong negative decoupling; that is, the population decreased while the area of rural settlements increased. Combining the decoupling results with the coupling analysis, eight human-land relationship patterns in rural settlement urbanization were identified, and “strong negative decoupling–low-level coupling” was the main pattern observed in counties, which summarized the human-land relations in most RSU and should be given priorities in improving rural human-land relationships. The question of how to promote harmonious human-land relationships lies at the core of promoting balanced urban-rural development. This research could provide a decision-making basis for formulating a sustainable development strategy for urban-rural integration.
Cox, Graham (author), Lowe, Philip (author), Winter, Michael (author), and Cox, Winter: University of Bath, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bath, UK; Lowe: Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning, University College London, London, UK
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1985
Published:
USA: Elmsford, NY : Pergamon.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 84 Document Number: C05210
12 pages, via online journal, This paper charts two exploratory practices of rural transformation in the Yangtze River Delta that began around 2008, aimed at revitalising villages and exploring new urban-rural interrelationships while simultaneously expanding the knowledge base on possible development opportunities, risks and existing diversities in rural China. Using a comparative case study, the study shows that both practices promoted a redefinition of urban-rural relationships, a reconnection of rural networks, and the introduction of alternative spatial intervention methods. However, they also led to the intrusion of certain social values which were alien to the local population and resulted in the further exclusion of rural residents. By revealing the substantial changes and analysing the interactions of actors involved in the practices according to actor-network theory, this paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the new initiatives and thus allows for a more rigorous understanding of how emerging bottom-up and top-down initiatives affect rural transformation. The paper argues that the inclusion of the locals primarily in the form of land-leasing contracts and a limited number of job opportunities are far from sufficient to stimulate sustainable development processes and to address the major social challenges facing rural areas. It further identifies 23 key factors distilled from the empirical evidence that closely related to rural sustainable development and proposed to constitute a checklist for assessing the sustainability of emerging rural practices. The practical insights from the study thus enrich the theory of sustainability with regard to rural development by expanding the scope and dimension.
