The Social Economy as a Factor of Economic Development and Resilience of Population in Rural Areas. A Study of Mediating Effects in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)

Social Capital, Crop Specialization and Rural Industry Development—Taking the Grape Industry in Ningling County of China as an Example

Village-level social capital is an important factor to promote rural revitalization, but it is often ignored by existing researches. Based on the field investigation on 357 grape industry villages in Ningling County of Henan Province, decomposed village social capital into three dimensions (social network, social norm and social trust), this paper aims to discuss how village social capital influences rural industry development by promoting crop specialization. Results showed that the social network affects the transmission of grape planting information and technology. The richer the social network, the faster the diffusion of grape planting and the faster the realization of crop specialization. However, different types of social network play different roles. Social norms affect whether villages participate in grape production decisions. Proper risk awareness and efficient and reliable social organization services can help village farmers participate in grape planting and improve the level of crop specialization. Social trust affects the scale and duration of grape planting in a village; that is, the higher the level of social trusts, the higher the degree of crop specialization. In short, social capital can effectively promote the rapid cultivation of superior crops, enhance the specialization level of agricultural production and drive the coordinated development of upstream and downstream industries, thereby promoting the development of rural industries. This study emphasizes that, in the process of rural revitalization, developing countries should consider the social environments of different regions, fully mobilize the power of local social capital and develop reasonable and feasible technology popularization, adoption and implementation programs.

Research on the Spatial-Temporal Differentiation and Path Analysis of China’s Provincial Regions’ High-Quality Economic Development

High-quality economic development is an important approach for achieving sustainable economic development, and it is an essential condition for coordinated development between economic systems and ecosystems. This paper starts from five key points, namely, “innovation, coordination, opening-up, sharing and greenness”, to construct an evaluation system for the index of high-quality economic development, using the AHP and EVM methods to measure the level of high-quality economic development of 30 regions in China from 2004 to 2019. It uses the kernel density estimation model (hereinafter referred to briefly as KDE) and clustering method to analyze time evolution trends and spatial variation characteristics. Moreover, the LSE model is adopted to explore and analyze the factors influencing high-quality economic development in different regions. Additionally, the driving forces of China’s high-quality economic development are analyzed by means of path analysis combined with the average value of each index. The results show the following: (1) The high-quality economic development of 30 regions in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Tibet) is spatially clustered, with obviously different development levels, characterized by the eastern region being better developed than the central and western regions. (2) With the passage of time, the polarization of China’s 30 regions has been alleviated, but they are still facing challenging development situations; (3) The factors affecting the high-quality economic development of these 30 regions in China can be divided into four types: three-factors, four-factors-I, four-factors-II and five-factors. Contributing regional factors show different distribution characteristics. The above conclusion provides a reference and scientific basis for the government to formulate policies of high-quality economic development and to solve problems facing coordinated sustainable development among regional societies, their economies and the environment.

Ageing Urban Population Prognostic between 2020 and 2050 in Transylvania Region (Romania)

Population ageing represents a dramatic scenario and a progressive process inducing major changes in the dynamics of the population and especially in the age structure. The ageing population process is a phenomenon relevant to define not only demographic but also social, cultural, and territorial transformations in relation to the urban settlements. In this article, we present a case study regarding the ageing process persistent in urban areas from the counties of the Transylvania region. The present study emphasizing the evolution of the older adults age group between 2015 and 2019, drawing a forecast model for the prognosis period 2020–2050. The tendencies of the population decline process are revealed by the outcomes of the ageing index, outlining some long-term effects of population ageing over the years. The study of this phenomenon reveals an important framework at the regional level of Transylvania and points out the means to determine its existence in other regions or countries, since it affects the urban population evolution and its dynamics.