Sustainable rural settlements in question
Testing synergy and processes within the agricultural transition–human capital–amenities nexus in Northeast China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24237306 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bonoua Faye (0000-0003-4465-6792), Guoming Du (0009-0004-7028-8852), Rui Zhang (0000-0003-0194-5295), Yuheng Li (0000-0002-7449-511X) |
| Year | 2027 |
| Volume | 129 |
| Pages | 104479 |
| Publication date | 2027-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Rural Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0743-0167 • E-ISSN: 1873-1392 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2026.104479 |
| OpenAlex | W7223033971 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 77 |
Enhancing rural sustainability has become a prominent issue in the global academic debate, calling for a synergistic framework that integrates multiple dimensions of rural development. Therefore, this study develops the Agricultural Transition- Human Capital- Amenities (ACA) nexus model to explain how these three dimensions jointly contribute to and advance the theoretical framework of Sustainable Rural Settlement (SRS). Agricultural transition creates economic opportunities and supports human capital development, which in turn improves rural amenities and living conditions, ultimately promoting SRS. This research focuses on Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, a key region for food security that faces several challenges. It examines the contradiction between agricultural modernization and sustainable rural development using panel data from 2003 to 2022. The Coupling Coordination Degree Model (CCDM) is used to measure synergy within the ACA nexus, while Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MM-QREG) identifies the heterogeneous drivers of SRS across different levels of development. The results demonstrate a convergent yet uneven sustainability trajectory across regions, with SRS scores increasing from 2003 to 2022. Despite overall progress, persistent disparities remained, as Mudanjiang consistently outperformed Heihe throughout the study period. This convergence was primarily driven by agricultural modernization after 2012, whereas improvements in amenities and living conditions lagged, revealing structural imbalances within the ACA nexus. Quantile regression results highlight mechanization, education, and village planning as key determinants, with education's effect strengthening and planning's diminishing along sustainability gradients. Rural income exhibited only negative associations rather than causal impacts, while Granger tests indicated limited short-term causality. This highlights the necessity of incorporating place-based rural policies that should no longer be sectoral to tackle multifunctional rural challenges.
agricultural modernization · agricultural transformation · Food security · Heilongjiang · Human capital · Northeast China · Regional disparities · rural amenities · rural education · rural mechanization · rural policy · rural sustainability · village planning · Regional Development and Environment · Rural Development and Agriculture · Rural development and sustainability
Rural decline and revitalization in China
Modernity
The process and driving forces of rural hollowing in China under rapid urbanization
Testing for Granger non-causality in heterogeneous panels
A Caution Regarding Rules of Thumb for Variance Inflation Factors
Panel Cointegration
Spurious regression and residual-based tests for cointegration in panel data
A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross‐section dependence
Infrastructure That Connects/Infrastructure That Divides
Examining the impact of human capital and innovation on farm productivity in the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, South Africa
An assessment framework of amenities and its impact on population patterns in China's border cities
Urban economic resilience and human capital
Urban Sustainable Development Assessment and Early Warning Oriented to Support-Constraint Dynamic Evolution
Sustainable development assessment of city clusters based on society-water-energy-environment nexus
Dynamic Variation of Ecosystem Services Value under Land Use/Cover Change in the Black Soil Region of Northeastern China
The impact of rural human capital on household energy consumption structure
A holistic framework for evaluating and planning sustainable rural drinking water projects in sub-Saharan Africa
Identification of the human-land relationship involved in the urbanization of rural settlements in Wuhan city circle, China
Revisiting agricultural modernisation
Rurality as context for innovative responses to social challenges – The role of rural social enterprises
The end of the idyll? Post-crisis conservation and amenity migration in natural protected areas
Assessing the impact of improved agricultural technologies on household income in rural Mozambique
Sanitation and work time
Agricultural modernization and redistributive conflict
The measurement of agricultural disaster vulnerability in China and implications for land-supported agricultural resilience building
An integrated framework for measuring sustainable rural development towards the SDGs
Decoding the formation mechanisms of rural settlements expansion patterns in transitional China
Quantitative assessment of cultivated land use intensity in Heilongjiang Province, China, 2001–2015
Spatial pattern evolution of rural settlements from 1961 to 2030 in Tongzhou District, China
Thriving in turbulent times
Evolutionary process and mechanism of population hollowing out in rural villages in the farming-pastoral ecotone of Northern China
Enhancing agricultural production and environmental benefits through full mechanization
Culture-led rural revitalisation in China
What constrains impoverished rural regions
Can capable village cadres promote rural revitalization? An empirical study based on 611 village-level data from Shandong Province, China
Spatial optimization of rural settlements in ecologically fragile regions
Understanding the “conflict-coordination” theoretical model of regional land use transitions
Optimizing rural settlements in China through rural system resilience and socio-spatial kinships
Synergies and trade-offs in the food-energy-water nexus of rural households
Integrating sustainability and productivity
Rural Revitalization in China
| Highly cited | No |
|---|