Research On The Evolution Of Hollowing Out Of Field Towns In Northern Sichuan And Planning And Design Response Strategies

The field town is the transition zone between urban and rural areas,and is also the most closely linked area between urban and rural areas,undertaking various functions to serve the surrounding countryside,and is the centre of the unit that serves as the basic life of rural residents,and the field town,like the countryside,also appears hollowed out.Sichuan is one of the major labour exporting provinces in China,and the problem of hollowing out is serious.The hollowing out of field towns in northern Sichuan,a region typically characterised by a small amount of land and a large population,is therefore a valuable study.Using the North Sichuan Administration and other definitions of the northern Sichuan region as a reference,Guangyuan,Nanchong,Bazhong and part of Mianyang were selected as the northern Sichuan regions for the study.Sixteen sample field towns in the northern Sichuan region were selected as research objects and investigated through field site research,interview surveys and data collection,using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods for analysis.The data were collated and analysed to study the evolution of the hollowing out process and the current problems and characteristics of the field towns in northern Sichuan,as well as to construct a system of hollowing out influence factors indicators,and to carry out factor intensity analysis,spatial difference analysis and interaction analysis,and to propose planning strategies to deal with the hollowing out of the field towns based on the analysis results.It starts with the concepts related to hollowing and field towns,and clarifies the definition of the concepts of hollowing and field towns.Push-pull theory,urban-rural integration theory and agricultural modernisation are taken as the theoretical basis to fully understand the problem of hollowing out.And analyse the relevant studies and cases at home and abroad,the research on rural hollowing is divided into four main aspects: the concept of rural hollowing,the spatial form and evolution process of rural hollowing,the influencing factors of rural hollowing,and the governance of rural hollowing.In addition,the existing studies on hollowing out are mainly based on three scales of research: national,regional and county,with very few scales of research on field towns,which are an important part of the countryside.Inspired by this,this paper takes this scale of field towns as the research object and draws on relevant studies on rural hollowing to conduct hollowing research.The current problem of hollowing out and the evolution of hollowing out in the field towns in northern Sichuan are studied.The current situation of hollowing out in the field towns is analysed into five hollowing out phenomena: hollowing out of spatial forms,hollowing out of population,hollowing out of industry,hollowing out of facilities and hollowing out of cultural ideas,and the comprehensive hollowing out rate is calculated by using the hollowing out rate of buildings and the hollowing out rate of population,and it is concluded that only one sample is below 30%,the rest are above 30%,and two are over The conclusion of 50% indicates a high degree of hollowing in the northern part of Sichuan.The analysis of the ageing rate of the demographic imbalance also found that the town ageing rate > the county ageing rate > the urban ageing rate,indicating a prominent ageing of the townships.An analysis of the evolution of the hollowing out of spatial patterns,population and facilities,the evolution yields that all 16 field towns have been expanding outwards over the decade,and that the direction of expansion of the field towns has been mainly along the topography and road direction.The evolution of the hollowing out of the population over the past ten years was also analysed,and it was found that most of the towns were on an upward trend.The evolution of each town is analysed in terms of the resident population and age structure of each town in the seventh and sixth centuries,and it is concluded that the majority of the resident population is declining,the ageing rate is increasing and the proportion of young children is decreasing.The evolution of the hollowing out of facilities is then analysed in terms of the change in the number of pupils and teachers in each of the town’s schools,with the conclusion that pupils are declining and educational facilities are hollowing out.Finally,an analysis of the evolution of health centres,which are an important service,shows that they are not hollowing out,but the gap between them and hospitals is still large.Based on the urban-rural duality theory and the push-pull theory,the internal driving forces affecting the hollowing out of field towns were analysed and 16 influencing factors were selected under the four dimensions of location conditions,economic development,resource endowment and public facilities,and finally 12 influencing factors were selected after a multiple covariance test.The geographical probe was used to detect and analyse the intensity of the impact factors,the spatial variation of the impact factors and the interaction of the impact factors,and it was concluded that education and medical care are the main factors of the hollowing out of field towns in northern Sichuan.Based on the four concepts of people-oriented,site-specific,urban-rural integration and responding to the trend,it is divided into five hollowing-out phenomena: spatial form,population,industry,facilities and cultural thought,and proposes targeted planning strategies to cope with them.Strategies for the hollowing out of spatial form: revitalising the stock of construction land,controlling the direction and boundaries of spatial growth;improving planning and construction management capabilities.Strategies for the hollowing out of population: moving in farmers,using idle,low-utility land for resettlement;providing entrepreneurial policy support for citizens going to their hometowns and farmers returning to their hometowns;dynamic merging of towns according to the town standards of population.Strategies for industrial hollowing out: optimise the industrial structure and achieve integrated development of three industries with the countryside;explore local characteristics and develop special industries.Strategies for the hollowing out of facilities: optimise and upgrade all types of facilities;reconfigure the town and village system and allocate resources rationally;update the retirement model.Strategies for the hollowing out of cultural ideas:upgrading and improving cultural activity venues to support cultural activities;building cultural spaces to increase the sense of belonging and identity.