Study On The Spatial Differentiation And Its Influent Factors Of Rural Function

As a result of the fast-growing pace of industrial development and of the steady advancement of urbanization of China,several issues becoming increasingly prominent,such as the coupling between increasing population and decreasing available land,the fragility of the environment,and the remarkable differences in regional social and economic development.Consequently,rural areas are faced with multiple simultaneous functional demands.The Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration is the core area of economic development of the Hunan province.As a result of the process of economic development,a large part of cultivated land,the strong labor force,the farming culture,and the rural landscape are rapidly disappearing.The traditional functions of rural areas,such as agricultural production,rural landscape and rural culture,have gradually weakened or are even lost,while at the same time new functions are gradually emerging,such as rural leisure and sightseeing.In this context,it is of great significance to study the development of the functions of rural areas.This study evaluated the functions of the rural areas of 23 counties and urban areas located in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration.Using MapGIS,ArcGIS and GeoDa software,and applying the entropy method,the multi factor analysis and the spatial auto correlation analysis,an evaluation index system and an evaluation model of rural functions have been constructed.The regional differentiation characteristics,the function types,the influencing factors and the development strategies of rural functions are discussed.The result of this study show that:(1)Rural functions have an obvious regional differentiation across the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration.The high-values of economic development are mainly located in the central area of the urban agglomeration,while the low-value areas are mainly located in the peripheries of counties and cities,the function has also a strong agglomeration effect.This confirms the general law of decreasing land value from center to periphery and from north to south.The grain production function presents an opposite spatial pattern,with decreasing values from peripheries to city centers.As to the social security function,the Furong,Yuhua and Kaifu areas have high and sub-high value.This result is strong consistent with the spatial distribution of the economic development function.The high-value area of ecotourism function is scattered across the Furong district,the Yuelu district,the Chaling county and the city of Shaoshan,while the low-value area is located in the central part of the region.(2)There are several combinations of rural functions in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration,showing diversified characteristics.These include 4 functional types,i.e.,“strong comprehensive”,“comprehensive”,“single-dominant” and “weak-comprehensive”.The characteristics of spatial distribution of these functional types are consistent with the spatial pattern of distribution of the rural functions.This study found that there are 5 types of “strong comprehensive”,5 types of “comprehensive”,12 types of “single-dominant” and 1 “weak-comprehensive” type,accounting for 22%,22%,52% and 4% respectively.It is worth nothing that the “single-dominant” type occupied a dominant position.This study shows that the majority of the functional types of regional units are “single-dominant”,and that the dominant function of regions is not obvious.In the future,the development of rural functions in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration should optimize the “comprehensive” type,improve the “weak-comprehensive” type,and improve and upgrade the “single-dominant” function and multifunctional types.To accurately distinguish and definite regional functional types,and to promote the economic development and the integration of urban and rural areas.(3)The development of rural functions in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration is the result of the comprehensive effects of regional natural and social-economic factors.These factors have several influences on the various functional types in different regional units,such as the degree of action,the mode of action,the intensity of action and the direction of action,thereby contributing to the shaping of a complex picture of the situation.The main positive factors of the economic development function and of the social security function are: economic condition;road density;urbanization;population structure;fiscal expenditure;public transportation and foreign investment.These factors have significant influence on the rural function of the Furong,Kaifu,Yuhua and Tianxin Districts and of the Changsha county.The cultivated land and the agricultural mechanization level are the positive factors influencing the grain production function,this is particularly evident in the cities of Ningxiang and Xiangxiang.Finally,the main factor influencing the ecotourism function is woodland cover,which promotes the ecotourism function of the Yanling county.(4)Based on the fundamental characteristics and laws of development of the regional units in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration,the future development of rural functions should aim to strengthen the economic function,improve the regional grain production capacity,accelerate the equalization of basic public services,improve the environment and expand rural tourism.This should reflect the spatial distribution of the economic development,grain production,social security and ecotourism dominant functions.To this end,the land supply development policy,the overall economic development,the support of the government,the population policy and the construction of rural infrastructure should be fostered.