International rural space diversification based on knowledge mapping analysis using CiteSpace

Agriculture and rural development in China have entered a new stage with the rapid globalization, urbanization, and the shift in consumer demand. A new style of consumption is forming the value of rural diversification. In order to promote the rural reform and modern agriculture, the rural revitalization and urban-rural integration, a Rural Revitalization Strategy has been released at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, particularly on a series of policies, such as the Rural Revitalization Strategy Plan (2018-2022), the active use of idle homesteads and housing bases. To revitalize countryside, the diversification of rural functions is becoming a new topic of rural space research in China. There are diversified research trends in previous studies on rural space, such as multi-functional transformation, rural revitalization, and rural space commercialization, social and cultural differentiation. However, most research interests are still focused on the new rural construction, such as hollow village, rural renovation, possibly due to the insight was confined by the urbanization process and the stage of rural development in China. The further explore is also lacking in consumption-oriented modern leisure for the rural functions. In the counter-urbanization of developed countries, the diversification rural space has become hot research directions, such as urban-rural migration, consumption of rural areas. In this paper, the combination of conventional reading method and knowledge mapping analysis in CiteSpace document analysis software was used to sort out the research context of international rural spatial diversification, and then to identify research hot spots, finally to extract the explanation of research topics. The results show that (1) international rural space has undergone a series of transitions from rural production relations, rural reconstruction, rurality to rural functions transformation, urban-rural integration, social policy changes, continuous resource management to urban-rural immigration, consumption differences, rural space reproduction, and rural gentrification. The attention and its intensity on diversification research are increasing rapidly, while the research focus and hotspots are constantly updated. The degree of diversified research attention has increased rapidly. (2) In recent years, the research results and influence of developing countries represented by China have been growing rapidly, and the overall research shows a spatial pattern of "Western Europe as the core, North America and Asia as the two wings". (3) Five topics, including rurality, rural function transformation, rural space reproduction, urban-rural immigration, rural gentrification, have dominated the current international rural spatial diversification research. Compared with international research experience, this paper proposed that the future strength can be focused on the theoretical system of rural spatial diversification in China, the process and mechanism analysis, and micro analysis, thereby to provide valuable reference for further research on rural revitalization. © 2020, Editorial Department of the Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering. All right reserved.