The spatial pattern of population-land-industry coupling coordinated development and its influencing factor detection in rural China

Exploring the coupling coordinated level of rural population-land-industry (PLI) and its underlying driving mechanism contributes to the scientific decision-making on rural sustainable development. This study assessed the coupling coordinated level of PLI based on an improved evaluation index system and then revealed the regional differentiation and driving mechanism in China’s rural areas in 2020. The results showed that the rural PLI coupling coordinated degree was 0.4694, and thus was in the stage of approximate incoordination. In addition, China’s rural PLI coupling coordinated degree formed a spatially heterogeneous pattern with high levels in the northeast, eastern and central regions, and the intragroup difference contributed more than 80% to the total difference. The rural PLI coupling coordinated level was influenced by the combined effects of rural kernel and peripheral systems, but the rural kernel system mostly determined the differentiation. In the future, rural areas should first exploit population quality improvement projects, land consolidation projects and industrial integration development strategies to promote benign mutual feedback of PLI. Second, driving factors should be comprehensively regulated by implementing a “one village, one product” strategy, breaking the urban-rural dual system, improving agricultural machinery subsidies policy, and promoting urban-rural integrated development.