Rural Restructuring Effects in Mountainous Sichuan: Case Study of Three Villages.

Ding Fan; Nor Zarifah Maliki; Siwei  Yu

Ding Fan Universiti Sains Malaysia
Nor Zarifah Maliki Universiti Sains Malaysia
Siwei Yu Le Shan Normal University

Keywords: Village Restructuring, Suburban Mountain, Ethnic Village, Western Sichuan

Abstract

Rural restructuring is a dynamic and complicated process of geographical rearrangement, functional coordination, and self-renewal in rural regions that is influenced by various circumstances. This study intends to investigate the features and driving forces of rural restructuring in several types of mountain villages in western Sichuan province, China, an area with unique natural conditions, cultural landscapes, industries, and social structures. Based on field surveys and data analysis, we chose three typical villages as case studies: Tao Yuan, a suburban mountain village with non-agricultural growth; Bai Xiang, an ethnic village with innovative business models; and Jiang Ba, a distant ethnic village with traditional agriculture. We used the landscape index technique to study the geographical features, the entropy TOPSIS approach to assess the rural quality level, and from 2016 to 2021, the rural restructuring intensity measurement will be used to assess the restructuring intensity of each village. The findings revealed that: (1) Tao Yuan's economic, social, and spatial restructuring was accelerated by urban radiation energy and reached a stable stage of development; (2) Bai Xiang's social restructuring was guided by macro policies, but its economic and spatial restructuring was relatively slow and remained in a developing stage;(3) Jiang Ba's material space restructuring was supported by local government, but its economic and social restructuring was insignificant and remained in a developing stage. The study found that rural restructuring in mountainous areas had specific regional and staged features that were impacted by various elements such as natural environment, cultural landscape, industrial structure, social organization, policy system, and so on. The study also presented some implications and recommendations for rural development and building in hilly locations.

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