Spatio-temporal Evolutionary Characteristics Of Urban-rural Integration In East China From The Perspective Of Digital Economy And Analysis Of Influencing Factors

After more than 40 years of reform and opening up,China has become the second largest economy in the world.However,along with the rapid economic growth,problems in infrastructure allocation,public service construction and labor income distribution between urban and rural areas have become increasingly prominent.The digital economy,as a new driving force for China’s innovative growth,not only allows traditional technologies in rural areas to be digitally updated and iterated from all aspects,but also allows science and technology to become an important tool for promoting urban-rural integration,so it plays an important role in building new urban-rural relationships and promoting rapid development of urban-rural integration.In order to explore how the digital economy promotes the complementary and integrated development of urban and rural areas,it is important to analyze the characteristics of digital economy and urban-rural integration in East China and its influencing factors,and to gain an in-depth understanding of the changing laws of digital economy and urban-rural integration in East China,which is of great practical significance to build and improve the governance system of urban-rural integration.On the basis of systematically sorting out the driving factors and spatial and temporal effects of digital economy and urban-rural integration,this paper constructs an evaluation index system of digital economy development from three aspects of information development,Internet development and digital transaction development,as well as an evaluation index system of urban-rural integration from four aspects of economic integration,social integration,cultural integration and ecological integration,and adopts the improved CRITIC method to measure the development of digital economy and urban-rural integration between 2013 and 2021.The spatially-weighted regression model is used to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of the factors influencing urban-rural integration in East China.The study finds that:(1)the development level of digital economy in East China as a whole shows a year-on-year growth trend,with Shanghai,Jiangsu and Zhejiang showing a clear trend of "leading" compared with other regions;there are obvious spatial differences and uneven development of digital economy in East China,and the "core-edge" structure of the high value and low value areas of digital economy development.The "core-edge" structure is prominent,showing the dynamic evolution characteristics of spreading outward with the central part of East China as the core.(2)The level of urban-rural integration development in East China generally shows a growing trend,but the trend is not significant,with Shanghai,Shandong and Jiangsu showing obvious "leading" advantages over other regions.During the measurement period,the spatial distribution pattern of East China is "top-heavy",and the low-level integration area tends to decrease while the high-level integration area continues to increase.(3)The influence of digital economy on urban-rural integration in East China is significant under the factor difference.From the comparison of each influencing factor,the development of information technology,Internet development and digital transaction development all show obvious positive promotion effect on urban-rural integration,among which the Internet development has a particularly significant effect on urban-rural integration.Therefore,it is suggested that the government should make use of the driving effect of digital economy on the basis of their respective geographical advantages according to local conditions.(4)The spatial heterogeneity of factors influencing urban-rural integration in East China is obvious.2013,2017 and 2021,informatization development,Internet development and digital transaction development all appear to positively promote urban-rural integration,and in comparison of the three factors,informatization development plays the largest role,digital transaction contribution is the second and Internet development is the smallest.East China has positive significant in all three years,indicating that the development of urban-rural integration in East China relies heavily on the digital economy during 2013-2021.In terms of the heterogeneity of the impact of each variable on urban-rural integration,the high value areas of the regression coefficient of information development are mainly located in Fujian,Zhejiang and Shandong,the high value areas of the regression coefficient of Internet development are mainly located in Fujian,Shandong and Jiangxi,and the high value areas of the regression coefficient of digital transaction development are mainly located in Shandong,Jiangxi and Fujian,indicating that the digital economy has a decisive role in the development of urban-rural integration in Shandong,Fujian and Jiangxi.