Characteristics and Influencing Factors on the Hollowing of Traditional Villages-Taking 2645 Villages from the Chinese Traditional Village Catalogue (Batch 5) as an Example

Evaluation and obstacle analysis of sustainable development in small towns based on multi-source big data: A case study of 782 top small towns in China

Evaluating the sustainable development level and obstacle factors of small towns is an important guarantee for implementing China's new-type urbanization and rural revitalization strategies, and is also a key path to promoting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11). Traditional evaluation methods (such as Analytic Hierarchy Process, AHP, and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution, TOPSIS) mainly calculate the comprehensive score of each indicator through weighting. These methods have limitations in handling multidimensional data and system nonlinearity, and they cannot fully reveal the complex relationships and interactions within the sustainability systems of small towns. In contrast, the evaluation model combining Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Catastrophe Progression Method (CPM) used in this study can better handle multidimensional data and system nonlinear relationships, reducing subjectivity in evaluation and improving the accuracy and reliability of the assessment results. The specific research process is as follows: First, based on the United Nations SDG11 framework, using multi-source big data, a theoretical framework and evaluation index system for the sustainable development of small towns suitable for the Chinese context were established. The impact of county-level factors on the sustainable development of small towns was also considered, and an entropy weight-grey correlation model was used to measure these impacts, resulting in a town-level dataset incorporating county-level influences. Secondly, the sustainability levels of 782 top small towns in China were evaluated using the comprehensive evaluation model based on PCA-CPM Model. Finally, an improved diagnostic model was used to identify obstacles influencing the sustainable development of small towns. The main findings include: 52.69% of the small towns have a sustainable development score exceeding 0.7255, indicating that the overall performance of small towns is at a medium to high development level. The development of small towns exhibits significant differences across regions and types, which are closely linked to county-level effects. Economic and social factors are the main obstacles to the sustainable development of small towns, and the impact of these obstacles intensifies from the eastern to the central, western, and northeastern regions. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers and scholars, promoting a deeper understanding of the sustainable development of small towns.

Spatial differentiation and geographical similarity of traditional villages--Take the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin as examples

The preservation and advancement of Traditional Villages are intricately linked to the perpetuation of cultural heritage. However, existing research on the spatial disparities among Traditional Villages has yet to consider the impact of cultural factors. Moreover, the geographical similarities shared by Traditional Villages have not been thoroughly examined. Therefore, this study takes the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin, both pivotal in the genesis of Chinese culture, as case studies. We employ an Optimal Parameter-based GeoDetector alongside the Spatially Constrained Multivariate Clustering method to delve into the factors influencing the spatial differentiation and geographical similarities of Traditional Villages within these two significant river basins. Subsequently, we offer recommendations for fostering the sustainable preservation and development of Traditional Villages in these regions. The results indicate that the Rural Residents Per Capita Disposable Income has the greatest impact on the spatial differentiation of Traditional Villages in the Yellow River Basin, while the Density of National Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritors has the most significant influence in the Yangtze River Basin. The interaction effects of the driving factors are more powerful, with a q-value of 0.9544 for the interplay between the Density of National Cultural Protection Units and the Tourism Income in the Yellow River Basin and a value of 0.9099 for the interaction between the Density of National Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritors and the Transportation in the Yangtze River Basin. Regarding geographical similarity, the Traditional Villages in the Yellow River Basin are divided into three major clusters, while those in the Yangtze River Basin are divided into two.

Analysis on the geographical pattern and driving force of traditional villages based on GIS and Geodetector: a case study of Guizhou, China

Traditional villages have received widespread attention from all walks of life based on important carriers of Chinese rural culture. The mutual superposition of natural and cultural factors may exacerbate the evolution of traditional village geographical patterns. To understand such relationships and effects, factors and degrees influencing traditional villages need to be determined. Here, we analysed the data of 724 traditional villages in Guizhou recognised by relevant national ministries and commissions in China using average nearest neighbour analysis, Tyson polygon analysis, nuclear density analysis and Geodector. The geographic pattern feature revealed that traditional villages, in general, are highly clustered regionally and have significant edge effects on administrative units. Different substrate environments result in significant spatial heterogeneity in village spatial density, clustering, surface undulation, sun exposure, and waterfront. The geographic pattern of traditional villages is mostly affected by the closest distance to river valleys, the types and number of intangible cultural heritage resources in the county, river gorge density, edge effect index, degree of county ethnic language use, and proportion of paddy fields to the regional area; and their combined effects influence and control the community structure. The results highlight the impact of nature and culture on the distribution of traditional villages, which helps traditional village conservation and scientific exploration of human-land relationship issues in the mountainous areas of Southwest China.

Mode selection of post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction of traditional villages using dependency analytic process: taking Xiluo-Buzi village in the 2022 M6.8 Luding earthquake as an example

Introduction

Traditional villages are precious historical and cultural heritage sites. The selection of post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction (PERR) mode directly affects the village cultural heritage protection and the development direction of post-disaster reconstruction. A scientific and comprehensive feasibility evaluation for selecting the PERR mode of traditional villages can provide sufficient evidence for the recovery efforts in earthquake-stricken villages.

Method

The author summarizes three PERR modes and constructs an evaluation index system for the selection of PERR modes of traditional villages. Based on the interrelationship of the indicators, the author has preliminarily established the Dependency Analytic Process (DAP), Based on this method, a model of traditional village PERR mode selection is constructed, and an empirical analysis is carried out in the case of the earthquake-stricken area of Xieluo-buzi Village in 2022 M6.8 Luding earthquake, to discuss the selection of PERR modes of traditional villages.

Results

The authors have explored the application of the DAP in the selection of PERR modes for traditional villages and verified the effectiveness of the method. Since a large amount of actual research work is required to conduct an assessment, it is believed that with the widespread applications of the DAP, its superiority and practicality will be further demonstrated.

Conclusion

The protection of traditional villages is a dynamic protection process, in which the will of the indigenous people is respected, the social network of the indigenous people is maintained, and the fair rights of the indigenous people to participate in the implementation of the project and to enjoy the preferential policies and resource benefits are guaranteed, as they are the real main body of the heritage protection, so that the traditional village ethnic heritage can be inherited and developed permanently in the protection. DAP is applicable to the comprehensive evaluation of multiple factors, particularly in situations where the importance of the indicators is difficult to be distinguished from each other. This is a new method to determine the weight vector, which has a broad application prospect.

The association between personal social capital and health-related quality of life among Chinese older people: A cross-sectional study

Background

Lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) can result in adverse effects on the health of older people. This study aims to explore the relationship between personal social capital (PSC) and HRQoL among Chinese elderly people from rural-and-urban perspective.

Materials and methods

4,802 samples were included from China's health-related quality of life Survey for Older Adults 2018 (CHRQLS-OA 2018). The PSC, including bonding and bridging social capital (BOC and BRC), was measured by the Chinese version of the Personal Social Capital Scale (PSCS-16). The HRQoL was evaluated by the European Five Dimensions Questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L). Linear and Tobit regression models were conducted to examine the relationship between PSC and HRQoL.

Results

The BOC and BRC of rural older people were significantly lower than those of urban older people. Pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression were the most significant health problems affecting the older samples. In the five dimensions, the proportion of rural older people with problems was higher than that of urban older people. Among rural older people, BOC was significantly related to self-rated health and EQ-5D utility index (p < 0.05); while BRC was insignificantly associated with self-rated health (p > 0.05) but related to EQ-5D utility index (p < 0.05). Both BOC and BRC were significantly correlated with self-rated health and EQ-5D utility index (p < 0.05) among urban older people.

Conclusion

Our study reveals older people's worrying PSC and HRQoL status. The relationship between PSC and HRQoL suggested that more social support and care of intimates should be encouraged to increase the PSC of older people, especially rural older people.

Impacts of Policy-Driven Transformation in the Livelihoods of Fishermen on Agricultural Landscape Patterns: A Case Study of a Fishing Village, Island of Poyang Lake

The agricultural landscape patterns of fishing village have undergone visible transformations in recent decades. Scholars pay less attention to fishermen with diverse livelihoods. Therefore, it is necessary to sort out the changing characteristics of fishermen’ livelihoods and agricultural landscape patterns under different policy periods. We use in-depth interviews, remote sensing technology, and mathematical analysis to systematically study the changes in fishermen’s livelihoods and in agricultural landscape patterns in a typical fishing village. The results show that policy have profoundly affected fishermen’ livelihoods. Livelihood transformation have altered local land use practices, which had a direct impact on agricultural landscape patterns. The livelihood of fishermen has changed from diverse to single, and their cropping structure were gradually becoming simpler and more specialised. After grazing ban and comprehensive fishing ban, many fishermen migrated to towns and cities, it accelerated the loss of population in the fishing village, which caused the amount of abandoned land increasingly. Left-behind fishermen became rice farmers by contracting abandoned paddy fields. The expanses of abandoned land and bamboo woodland had increased, which caused agricultural landscape patterns gradually becoming fragmented, heterogeneous and complex.

Supporting Design to Develop Rural Revitalization through Investigating Village Microclimate Environments: A Case Study of Typical Villages in Northwest China

China has the largest number of villages in the world, and research on rural microclimate will contribute to global climate knowledge. A three-by-three grid method was developed to explore village microclimates through field measurement and ENVI-met simulation. A regression model was used to explore the mechanistic relationship between microclimate and spatial morphology, and predicted mean vote (PMV) was selected to evaluate outdoor thermal comfort. The results showed that ENVI-met was able to evaluate village microclimate, as Pearson’s correlation coefficient was greater than 0.8 and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was from 2.16% to 3.79%. Moreover, the air temperature of west–east road was slightly higher than that of south–north, especially in the morning. The height-to-width ratio (H/W) was the most significant factor to affect air temperature compared to percentage of building coverage (PBC) and wind speed. In addition, H/W and air temperature had a relatively strong negative correlation when H/W was between 0.52 and 0.93. PMV indicated that the downwind edge area of prevailing wind in villages was relatively comfortable. This study provides data support and a reference for optimizing village land use, mediating the living environment, and promoting rural revitalization.

Research on Hollow Village Governance Based on Action Network: Mode, Mechanism and Countermeasures—Comparison of Different Patterns in Plain Agricultural Areas of China

With the large-scale development of urbanization in the world, phenomena such as the unbalanced allocation of various elements of the rural regional system, as well as the decline of the economic and social structure and functions in the process of urban and rural economic and social transformation and development in China, have endangered the healthy development of rural areas. The “hollowing” of rural areas is becoming more and more intense, and the governance of hollow villages has become a key link to stimulating the vitality of rural development and realizing the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. Taking a typical hollow village in Fangsi Town, Yucheng City, Shandong Province, China as an example, through the recognition method of hollow villages mode, the study adopted the in-depth interviews and questionnaires to obtain governance of hollow villages. Moreover, this study uses the actor–network theory to discuss the governance model mechanism and policy response of hollow villages, extract the applicable conditions of different hollow village governance modes, and provide the promotion of the hollow village governance mechanism. Our findings show that: (1) the governance modes of hollow villages are diverse. Under certain geographical conditions, the governance of hollow villages shows the relocation and merger–urban–rural integration mode, village integration-scale operation mode, village intensive-idle land revitalization mode, and original site optimization–sightseeing tourism development mode, along with other types. In the process of promotion and use, appropriate adjustments should be made in combination with differences and changes in system conditions, and the accurate governance of villages should be carried out. (2) The governance process of hollow villages is dynamic. The governance of hollow villages represents a heterogeneous network of actors led by key actors, which mainly realizes changes in the rural material space. With the change of development goals of the hollow village, the network of actors has been readjusted around the new OPP, and the role of the actors has changed, correspondingly showing a transition from the governance of the hollow village to the optimized development, thus further realizing the transformation of the hollow village.