Unpacking the ‘supply-utilization-demand’ interplay: Keys to multifunctional sustainability in rural China

Abstract

Sustainable rural development is predicated on a delicate balance between rural territorial functions and ecological constraints. While various functions can catalyze economic growth in rural settings, aligning them with inherent ecological variables is essential. An exhaustive analysis of Beijing’s Pinggu District elucidated specific supply-demand thresholds and evaluated the adaptability of current utilization within these boundaries, culminating in a novel optimization strategy. Notably, while locals place significant emphasis on production functions, the area’s topography and soil characteristics present palpable challenges to achieving these goals. We discovered that ‘shackle type’ predominantly characterize individual rural territorial functions, while ‘diversified weak function optimization type’ define multifunctional aspects, showcasing varied development paths and uncovering potential strategies for sustainable improvement. This study contributes a groundbreaking perspective to sustainable rural development, offering key insights and strategic recommendations for policy formulation.

Keywords

Sustainable rural development / Rural territorial function / Adaptability / Supply-demand thresholds / Optimization strategy

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Yanbo Qu: Writing – original draft, Project administration, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization. Lingyun Zhan: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Visualization, Investigation, Conceptualization. Qingqing Zhang: Writing – review & editing, Project administration. Meijing Wu: Software, Methodology.

Declaration of competing interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the funding of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 42077434, 41771560), and the Taishan Scholar Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. 2023).

Supplementary materials

Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.geosus.2024.04.006.

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