The realization of Chinese path to modernization depends on the construction of a high-quality territorial space system. The essence of territorial space lies in the orderly support of human activities, with the goal of realizing the value of territorial space, and the bottom line is to ensure the security of territorial space. The territorial space system constitutes an organic whole centered on the human-nature system, formed through the interaction of various systems within a defined spatial range according to specific ordering principles. It comprises a static system grounded in natural resources and a dynamic system driven by human activities. Connectivity within the territorial space system arises from the circulation and energy flows of human and natural materials, manifesting as interlinkages among food, water, energy and ecology. This system exhibits spatiotemporal continuity, nesting between different levels and scales, and demonstrates the transience and mobility inherent to resulting flow spaces. The development and evolution of the territorial space system require support and guidance from the territorial spatial planning system, ultimately achieving enduring sustainability within the territorial space governance system. This progression facilitates the realization of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
The modernization transformation of rural areas is key to implementing the Rural Revitalization Strategy and achieving modernization transformation. However, existing research on modernization transformation has not sufficiently explored the tourism-driven mechanism. This study takes Jijiadun village, a suburban rural tourism destination, as a case study and integrates the rural regional system theory with the "people-land-industry-governance" analytical framework to systematically reveal the pathways and mechanisms of rural modernization transformation driven by tourism. The study finds that the tourism-driven modernization transformation of rural areas shows differentiated characteristics and forms a four-dimensional co-evolutionary pattern of population transformation, spatial reconstruction, industrial reshaping, and governance innovation through the evolutionary path of "element reorganization-structural adjustment-functional leap". The tourism-driven mechanism is reflected in three-fold effects: as a catalyst for industrial integration, it updates the rural production system; as a conduit for urban-rural mobility, it constructs a new type of urban-rural relationship; and as a bond for rural governance, it coordinates multiple stakeholders. The modernization transformation of rural areas has a counter-effect on tourism development, presenting a complex and dynamic evolution process of the rural regional system. This study breaks through the urban-rural dual-opposition paradigm and constructs a "tourism intervention-system response-transformation output" analytical model to explain the mechanism by which tourism triggers the modernization leap of the rural regional system, providing theoretical references and practical pathways for the transformation and development of rural areas under the Rural Revitalization Strategy.
The integration of digital technologies into tourism has not only introduced transformative opportunities for the industry but also catalyzed the emergence of new quality productive forces, ushering in a New Era characterized by advanced technology, high efficiency, and quality-driven development. Combining the characteristics of tourism and new quality productive forces, this study focuses on the concept, connotation, formation mechanism and development path of tourism new quality productive forces under the background of digital tourism integration. With the goal of pursuing high-tech, high-efficiency and high-quality in tourism industry in the integration of digital and tourism, and based on systems theory, this study has constructed a mechanism theoretical model from four dimensions: element integration, capability enhancement, system balance, and development orientation for the formation mechanism of new quality productive forces in tourism industry, covering mechanisms such as integration, digital empowerment, supply-demand coordination, and goal-oriented approaches. Through the synergistic effect of "element-ability-equilibrium-orientation", the four types of mechanisms promote the continuous formation of new quality productive forces in the tourism industry. From "technology-ecology-value" trinity perspective, three important development paths for new quality productive forces in tourism industry are proposed: digital transformation, digital ecosystem construction, and multi-objective coordination. The three paths are interdependent and mutually reinforcing, jointly promoting the high-tech, high-efficiency and high-quality development of the tourism industry, and ultimately embodying the new connotation of new quality productivity of tourism industry with service-oriented, innovation-driven, new products, new formats and new models as the carrier. Finally, management insights are provided to offer theoretical support and practical guidance for the formation and development of new quality productive forces in tourism industry from three aspects: iterative upgrades of digital services, strengthening data sharing and efficient utilization, emphasizing the cultivation and recruitment of digital talent and accelerating the strides toward building a strong tourism nation. As digital technology continues to advance rapidly and tourism consumption demands become increasingly diversified and personalized, the role of emerging productive forces in driving the transformation and upgrading of the tourism industry and achieving high-quality development will grow progressively more significant.
In recent years, agricultural heritage sites have gradually become a key focus area within academic circles. As the primary stakeholders within these areas, a comprehensive understanding of farmers' perceptions, intentions, and emotional well-being is essential for promoting the sustainable development of agricultural heritage sites and addressing livelihood-related challenges. However, the emotional state of farmers in agricultural heritage sites under tourism intervention, as well as the issue of village-level differences, remain to be further explored. Taking four administrative villages in the Ziquejie Terraces Region area as case studies, this article employs questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews. Utilizing factor analysis and nonparametric tests, it examines the overall characteristics and village-level variations in farmers' emotions under tourism intervention across three dimensions: sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security. The findings reveal that: (1) The "three senses of livelihood" among farmers in the four villages generally exhibit positive states, with scores across all dimensions falling within the high range [3.5, 5]. Significant village-level differences exist within specific sub-items of each dimension. (2) Village-level differences in happiness are manifested in two aspects: quality of life and infrastructure. (3) Village-level differences in sense of gain are primarily reflected in three aspects: employment opportunities, income levels, and cultural and sports activities. (4) Village-level variations in security are primarily reflected in cultural security, labor safety, and traffic safety. Based on these findings, a multi-stakeholder co-construction and co-governance pathway for emotional adaptation among farmers in agricultural heritage sites is proposed. This study offers new insights into understanding and addressing village-level variations in farmers' emotions within agricultural heritage sites under tourism intervention, aiming to provide references for their sustainable development.
Historic and cultural districts serve as vital carriers for the inheritance of urban and rural cultural heritage, and their sustainable renewal urgently requires deep resident participation. This study integrates value co-creation theory and sense of place theory to develop a driving model of participatory renewal: "perceived value-place attachment-value co-creation", examining how multidimensional value perceptions and place attachment shape residents' engagement mechanisms. Using structural equation modeling analysis of 338 valid questionnaires from Nanjing's Old South district, the findings reveal three critical pathways. First, residents' perceived functional value and economic value significantly enhance participation behavior and civic behavioral intentions through the full mediation of place dependence, indicating that instrumental dependence serves as a direct mechanism transforming material needs into actions. Second, perceived emotional value derived from cultural continuity exerts dual effects, directly driving both types of value co-creation intentions and also uniquely activating civic behaviors through the "place identity" pathway. This demonstrates that local emotions rooted in collective memory can bypass institutional constraints to generate spontaneous cultural stewardship. Third, community support exhibits paradoxical moderating effects: while it amplifies the economic value-place dependence linkage, excessive administrative intervention weakens emotional value's impact on place dependence, revealing tensions between institutional empowerment and grassroots cultural agency. These findings challenge traditional economic incentive paradigms by highlighting the catalytic role of cultural identity and emotional capital. Accordingly, a governance framework is proposed: (1) establishing cultural identity reproduction mechanisms through resident-led heritage interpretation, (2) implementing demand-tiered resource allocation that prioritizes functional necessities like sanitation, (3) developing adaptive community support systems that delineate administrative boundaries in cultural practices. This research contributes to urban governance literature by uncovering the psychosocial process from spatial perception to collective action, while offering practical strategies to reconcile preservation and renovation through value symbiosis.
The system of protected areas in China has been initially established, but the effectiveness of ecological protection and restoration remains limited. Conducting an evaluation of ecological protection and restoration effectiveness, identifying priority protected areas, and implementing a regional management model are crucial for regional sustainable development. This study focuses on the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, integrating multiple dimensions, including ecosystem patterns, quality, function, and social-ecological feedback, to develop a framework for evaluating ecological protection and restoration effectiveness. Furthermore, we identified key ecological areas and the spatial distribution of priority protected areas. The results showed that: Significant differences in the ecological protection and restoration effectiveness of protected areas across various indicators. Overall, from 2018 to 2022 indicators such as landscape connectivity (+2.17%), vegetation cover (+9.38%), biodiversity (+5%), soil conservation capacity (+4.91%), and carbon sequestration and oxygen release function (+4.46%) achieved an excellent level, while public satisfaction (+2.56%) reached a good level. However, indicators such as important ecological land area (-1.04%), air quality (-16.85%), water conservation capacity (-16.17%), and human footprint (+7.83%) showed a poor level. A total of 21 priority protected areas were identified in the study area, mainly distributed in the Taihu Lake Basin, Northern Zhejiang, and Northern Anhui. Based on the research results, a regional management model of "3-Core Dynamic (3CD)" was proposed, comprising zonal control, node linkage, and dynamic optimization. This study provides scientific references for regional ecological protection, restoration, and sustainable development.
Ecological migration is an important means to achieve green and high-quality development and a key subject for rural revitalization. Identifying the truth of eco-migrants' lives and their original image of happiness is a crucial prerequisite for creating an ideal living situation of "poetic dwelling" for eco-migrants and achieving the ultimate goal of rural revitalization in the New Era. By employing the survey data of 30 villages and 500 eco-migrants in Wuwei city at the northern foothills of the Qilian Mountains, the subjective sense of happiness of eco-migrants and their group differences were clarified. An Ordered Probit model was utilized to identify the obstacles and potential of happiness under multi-situation. The results show that: In Wuwei, about 55% of the respondents report feeling "happy" and they tend to be "relatively happy". There is no "Easterlin paradox" between income and happiness. The potential of economic income to enhance happiness increases slightly with the introduction of variables related to rights protection, yet decreases with the inclusion of variables of relative deprivation. The government's acceptance of recommendations, perceptions of fairness, satisfaction with public facility construction, social integration capacity, and availability of financial opportunities all significantly enhance immigrants' sense of happiness, with the government's acceptance of recommendations exerting the most significant enhancing effect. The multiplicity of livelihood risks, relative consumption, the availability of training opportunities, and attachment to the emigration area are key obstacles to enhancing immigrants' sense of happiness. Improving the livelihood level, acceptance of suggestions, and belonging sense for the new village should be the ideal solution and the final destination of improving happiness.
Based on the research samples of 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China from 2010 to 2022, this paper uses the entropy weight method, comprehensive adaptation and Spatial econometric model to conduct an empirical analysis on the temporal and spatial evolution and influencing factors of rural three-industry integration and agricultural green transformation. The results show that: (1) On the comprehensive evaluation, during the inspection period, the level of China's rural three-industry integration and agricultural green transformation is rising, but the average annual growth rate of rural three-industry integration is significantly faster than that of agricultural green transformation. In terms of spatial differentiation, the integration level of the three rural industries is bounded by the planting animal husbandry boundary, and the level of the southern area is higher than that of the northern area. The agricultural green transformation is characterized by the spatial pattern of "high in the southeast and northeast, while low in the northwest". (2) In terms of the degree of adaptation, China's rural three-industry integration and agricultural green transformation adaptation show a good development trend of steady progress, roughly experience three stages of "growth-stability-shock", but the annual average is only 0.61, still in a relatively adaptive level. In terms of regional differences, the average fitness of China's eight comprehensive economic zones is ranked as "northern coastal zones>eastern coastal zones>southwest>middle reaches of the Yangtze River>middle reaches of Yellow River>southern coastal zones>northeast>northwest". (3) In terms of influencing factors, digital penetration, economic development level, scientific and technological innovation level, and higher education level have a significant positive impact on adaptation. On this basis, the paper puts forward countermeasures and suggestions to promote the adaptive development of the two elements.
In the context of green and low-carbon agricultural development, the green transformation of arable land use is crucial to the reduction of arable land carbon emissions. The dynamic evolution relationship between the green transformation of arable land use and the carbon emission intensity of arable land in China's major grain-producing areas from 2001 to 2021 was identified by vertical and horizontal grading method, Tapio decoupling model and EKC test method. The study found that: (1) From 2001 to 2021, the overall fluctuation of green transformation level of arable land use in major grain-producing areas increased, and the carbon emission intensity of arable land showed a "U"-shaped trend. (2) There were significant differences in the decoupling state between the green transformation level of arable land use and carbon emission intensity at each stage. A few provincial-level regions showed a gradual transition from negative decoupling to an ideal state. (3) There was a nonlinear relationship between green transformation of arable land use and carbon emission intensity. During the study period, the EKC fitting curves of green transformation of arable land use and carbon emissions in eight provincial-level regions exhibited three characteristics: "positive U", "positive N" and "inverted N". Research shows that, it is essential to focus on the carbon emission reduction effect of green transformation of arable land use in the future, stabilize the decoupling trend of green transformation of arable land use and carbon emission intensity, and promote the green transformation of agriculture in major grain-producing areas.
Traditional village tourism symbiosis system is based on the symbiosis unit formed by the interdependence of elements between villages, in the symbiosis environment, with the help of a variety of interactive synergistic relationships and symbiosis modes of construction of the organic whole. It aims to integrate village tourism resources, promote village symbiosis linkage, and enhance the effect of regional tourism development. Based on the symbiosis theory, the article clarifies the three elements of the symbiosis system, such as symbiosis unit, symbiosis mode and symbiosis environment. Along the path of "tourism source-resistance surface-tourism corridor", the traditional village tourism symbiosis system is constructed. We analyze the characteristics of traditional villages' tourism resources, clarify the spatial patterns of different types of symbiotic systems, and propose a tourism development model. The results show that: (1) There are 33 symbiotic units of traditional villages in Chongqing, with large spatial differences in the value of ecological and cultural resources in different places. There are 21 high-value symbiotic units, accounting for 63.63% of the total, which are mainly distributed in the southeastern mountains where minorities gather. (2) There are 83 traditional village tourism corridors in Chongqing, and the average value of symbiotic environment maturity score is 0.068, showing the spatial pattern of "West Chongqing>Northeast Chongqing>Southeast Chongqing". (3) The symbiotic systems of traditional village tourism in Chongqing are categorized into cultural heritage type, ecological landscape type, and ecological and cultural comprehensive development type, accounting for 59.04%, 14.46%, and 26.51%, respectively. Each type of system makes full use of the interaction between natural landscape and minority culture, farming culture, etc. to enhance the development capacity of traditional village tourism and promote common prosperity. The innovative contribution of this study lies in constructing a symbiotic system for traditional village tourism based on symbiosis theory. It successfully solves the problem of isolated tourism development among traditional villages. It provides an important reference and methodology for comprehensively integrating traditional village tourism resources, constructing a new pattern of tourism development, and promoting diversified and high-quality development of traditional villages.
Agricultural productive services, as a critical solution to alleviate the "high-carbon lock-in" dilemma in smallholder-dominated agricultural systems, reshape production modes through specialized divisions of labor. However, their emission reduction potential risks are being distorted into a "solution-to-paradox" scenario as a result of policy interventions. Employing panel data from 30 Chinese provincial-level regions (2011-2022), this study systematically deciphers the mechanisms and policy intricacies of agricultural productive services in driving carbon mitigation through integrated fixed-effects, mediation-effects, and threshold regression modeling. Core revelations emerge as follows: (1) The development of agricultural productive services exerts significant inhibitory effects on agricultural carbon emissions. Specifically, a 1% improvement in the implementation level of agricultural productive services corresponds to a 0.160% reduction in agricultural carbon emissions. However, the emission reduction efficacy is subject to bidirectional moderation by aging rural labor forces and fiscal agricultural support policies. (2) The regulatory effects manifest a dynamic tension between "demographic amplification" and "subsidy suppression" and rural labor aging elevates emission reduction elasticity through intensified demand for factor substitution, whereas fiscal agricultural support exceeding the 0.1386 threshold triggers a fertilizer rebound effect under yield-centric subsidy schemes, diminishing mitigation efficiency. (3) The carbon mitigation effects of agricultural productive services exhibit tripartite heterogeneity: policy dependency, east-west efficacy disparity, and basin-specific divergence. Specifically, the emission suppression capacity intensifies remarkably following the implementation of sectoral guidance policies, verifying their institutional catalytic role. Geographically, west regions of the Hu Huanyong Line constrained by underdeveloped service markets and the Pearl River Basin plagued by carbon lock-in effects from cash crop specialization, achieved less than one-third of the decarbonization efficacy observed in the eastern regions and the Yellow River Basin. This study unveils the nonlinear "emission reduction-policy" nexus inherent to agricultural productive services, establishing theoretical foundations to resolve institutional conflicts between service efficiency enhancement and fiscal interventions while informing the construction of differentiated low-carbon agricultural policy frameworks. These insights hold significant practical value for synchronizing agricultural green transformation with rural revitalization strategies, offering a coherent pathway to reconcile ecological modernization with socioeconomic development imperatives.
The foundation and key to the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas lies in the revitalization of rural industries. Developing the crop farming carbon sink on the basis of ensuring food security is not only an innovative measure to realize the value of rural ecological products, but also expands new avenues for the revitalization of rural industries. The establishment of a long-term mechanism for realizing the value of crop farming carbon sink requires the assetization, capitalization, and fundization of carbon sink resources, thereby forming a virtuous cycle of industrialization of crop farming carbon sink. From current practice, the insufficient institutional supply of carbon sink products, industry formation, and transaction realization in the crop farming is restricting the effective transformation of carbon sink "resources-assets-capitals-funds" in the crop farming. To this end, measures such as improving investigation and monitoring, value accounting, and clarifying property rights ownership need to be taken to promote the conversion of crop farming carbon sink from resources to assets. By integrating into a unified carbon market and facilitating financing channels, we can promote the transformation of crop farming carbon sink from assets to capitals. And by optimizing market trading rules, improving ecological protection compensation and income redistribution mechanisms, and other means, we can assist in the transformation of crop farming carbon sink from capitals to funds.
In the era of digital economy, rural E-commerce development is an important initiative to promote the construction of digital countryside. Based on the urban and rural data of 151 counties in the Yangtze River Delta, this study explores the impact and mechanism of digital rural construction on urban-rural integrated development through the spatial Markov method, the Dagum Gini coefficient method, and the multi-period DID, etc. It is found that: (1) The level of urban-rural integrated development of counties in the Yangtze River Delta as a whole has significantly increased during the study period, but it is characterized by unbalanced development and the formation of a "core-edge" hierarchical spatial layout. Against the backdrop of regional integration in the Yangtze River Delta, the overall disparity in county-level urban-rural integration shows a fluctuating yet generally declining trend. Notably, after 2019, regional disparities in urban-rural integration narrow markedly. (2) The comprehensive demonstration policy of E-commerce into rural areas significantly improves the level of urban-rural integration and development of counties, and the areas that have not been included in the Taobao village construction, especially residents in remote and less developed areas are more likely to profit from E-commerce construction. (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the rural demonstration county policy contributes to "pro-poor growth", and has a stronger role in promoting urban-rural integrated development in less developed areas in terms of educational attainment, remote areas, and economically underdeveloped areas. (4) Mechanism analysis reveals that the demostration county policy in the Yangtze River Delta region facilitates urban-rural integration primarily by breaking down information barriers and enhancing entrepreneurial vitality. This effect is particularly pronounced in areas with less developed digital living environments, where such interventions contribute more significantly to integration efforts.
The exploration of homestead withdrawal can provide an important decision-making reference and theoretical support for deepening the reform of rural land system and accelerating the process of urban-rural integration and development. This paper takes Qingshui county in Gansu province as the research area, and based on the perceived value theory, combined with the hierarchical regression model, analyses the mechanism of risk perception and comprehensive satisfaction on the willingness of farmers to withdraw from homesteads by using 1025 micro-survey data, and further classifies the types of willingness of farmers to withdraw from homesteads. The results show that: (1) Risk perception negatively affects homestead withdrawal, with cognitive risk perception having the strongest effect and the facility risk perception being the weakest. (2) Comprehensive satisfaction has a negative effect on homestead withdrawal, with life satisfaction having the most significant effect and the satisfaction with public services and facilities being the weakest. (3) In the analysis of the contribution of independent variables, in terms of risk perception, the risk perception of the homestead withdrawal is the highest, and the perception of owning multiple homesteads is the lowest. In terms of comprehensive satisfaction, the water and electricity facilities receive the highest ratings, while cultural and entertainment amenities are rated the lowest. (4) Based on the two-dimensional analysis framework of 'psychological perception-emotional cognition', the willingness of farmers to withdraw from homesteads can be classified into four types: high-risk avoidance, high-satisfaction trade-off, medium-risk guidance, and low-risk drive. This paper proposes categorized governance strategies to address the characteristics of different types of farm households, aiming to provide a decision-making basis for sustainable rural land use.
Under the backdrop of ecological civilization and regional coordinated development, research on watershed settlements holds significant importance. Currently, the field of historical geography has established a localized knowledge framework for understanding the evolution of settlements in irrigation areas from the perspective of social transformation. This foundation supports the present study's value orientation, which centers on the symbiotic relationship among "water, society, people, and ecology" in irrigation area settlements conceptualized as water community. However, the evolution and spatial patterns of these settlements, rooted in the cultural core of water community, remain poorly understood. This study examines settlements of the Hetao Irrigation Area with a focus on water-related dynamics as the core research theme. It seeks to develop an explanatory model for the formation of irrigation area settlements based on the conceptual framework of water community, while analyzing their evolutionary patterns to achieve a scientific understanding of human-land relationships in these areas. The study posits that the essence of water community lies in the flexible and interactive organic structure formed by watershed irrigation settlements under specific ecological environments and productivity conditions, representing a universal developmental model for such settlements. The core value evolution trajectory of irrigation area settlements progresses from military-agricultural colonization→fragmented small-scale farming→garden-style large-scale agriculture→high-standard eco-economic agriculture across the entire irrigation area. Concurrently, the water management order of settlements shifts from the traditional "contextual production order" of irrigation-based farming to the modern "performance-based production order" of irrigated agriculture, driving the sustainable development of irrigation area settlements.
Rural hollowing reflects spatial-functional misalignment among population, land, and industry during rural restructuring. Understanding its morphology and dynamics is essential for formulating precise, geography-informed rural revitalization strategies. This study explores the Zhuhai-Bayannur transect encompassing 224 counties, with a particular emphasis on the spatial heterogeneity of rural hollowing shaped by variations in physical geography and socio-economic development. The research constructs a multidimensional assessment framework that examines rural hollowing through the lenses of population dynamics, land utilization, and industrial structure. It further delivers a systematic interpretation of the spatial differentiation and temporal progression of rural hollowing, while elucidating the principal driving mechanisms behind its formation. The research findings are as follows: (1) From 2000 to 2020, rural hollowing in the sample belt progressively intensified. Spatially, it demonstrates zonal differentiation, tiered advancement, and spatial agglomeration. (2) Rural hollowing exhibits significant gradient characteristics. The eastern region remains relatively stable, the central region has undergone rapid development, while the western region has remained persistently high. The severity of hollowing increases with elevation. Municipal districts, which began experiencing hollowing earlier, exhibit the slowest growth rate, while county-level regions, which lagged behind, show the fastest acceleration. (3) Geographically weighted regression analysis reveals that seven factors consistently and significantly influence rural hollowing, with marked spatial heterogeneity. The ratio of agricultural population to the total population and per capita net income of rural residents act as constraints on rural hollowing, while per-unit fiscal revenue exerts a predominantly positive influence. The growth in urbanization rate does not exert a sustained impact on rural hollowing. (4) Utilizing self-organizing map clustering and zonal methodologies, the sample belt is classified into seven typological regions of hollowing. Each zone displays distinct characteristics driven by disparities in natural endowments and economic development. Drawing on the findings, this paper proposes tailored governance strategies for region-specific subsystems to mitigate rural decline and underpin sustainable development and revitalization efforts.
At the end of 2020, the tough battle against poverty achieved a comprehensive victory, but the problem of poverty has not been completely resolved. The manifestation and governance situation of poverty have undergone new changes, and preventing large-scale poverty relapse has become a fundamental project for promoting modernization of agriculture, rural areas, and state governance. Based on a comprehensive review of the theoretical connotations of poverty reversion across multiple disciplines, this study employs bibliometric analysis method to investigate the research trajectory and key issues surrounding the study of poverty reversion, while also offering insights into potential avenues for future research expansion. The results show that: (1) Academic research on poverty reversion has evolved through three distinct phases: theoretical introduction and causal analysis, thematic expansion and methodological innovation, and academic deepening with an application-oriented focus. (2) Research on poverty reversion spans the entire process of "forward-looking prevention-procedural diagnosis-systematic governance". It has accumulated extensive research achievements and practical experiences, focusing on core topics such as the measurement and early-warning of poverty reversion risks, the inducing factors and processes of poverty reversion, and regional models and pathways for preventing the poverty reversion. (3) From the perspective of research outlook, future studies on poverty reversion should engage in more extensive and in-depth discussions focusing on theoretical localization, governance digitization, thematic deepening, and global perspectives, in order to better serve poverty governance practices, rural revitalization, and rural modernization strategies.
