Land use transition and rural spatial governance: Mechanism, framework and perspectives

The pattern for utilization of rural space is closely related to rural transformation development(RTD). The problem of rural space utilization is an important manifestation of the uncoordinated relationship between land use patterns and rural development status during a transformation period. Considering the rural space utilization issue, this article seeks to analyze the interaction mechanisms between land use transition(LUT) and rural spatial governance and then build a rural spatial governance analysis framework based on LUT. Also, the paper explores the internal relationship between rural spatial governance and rural vitalization and discusses the research prospective of the interaction. The study found that:(1) Rural space utilization has systemic problems such as limited development space, ill-defined ownership and poor organization, which have become important obstacles for rural development.(2) The uncoordinated relationship between LUT and RTD is an important reason for the dilemma surrounding rural space utilization.(3) The LUT provides a basis for determining the timing of rural spatial governance, specifying spatial governance objectives, and clarifying rural spatial governance methods.(4) The construction of a comprehensive analysis framework of "matter-ownership-organization" of rural space based on the LUT has created conditions for the orderly promotion of rural spatial governance.(5) Rural spatial governance which facilitates the integration of urban-rural development is an important foundation for rural vitalization.(6) Interaction analysis of LUT, RTD and rural spatial governance is conducive to facilitating research on the operational mechanism of rural regional systems and to expanding the research field of rural geography.