小城镇是推动中国新型城镇化的主要载体之一,研究中国小城镇空间分布特征成为一项重要议题。采用最邻近距离、点密度等空间分析方法,探究中国小城镇空间分布格局,并从地形、人口、经济、区位等方面进行相关因素分析。主要结论包括：① 全国层面,中国小城镇呈“西北疏、东南密”的总体格局特征,形成三大团块集聚区,包括由长三角、山东半岛、京津冀等城市群组成的“弓箭”状集聚区,珠三角、湘中地区形成的“倒T字”型集聚区,以及成渝城市群地区的“圆形”状集聚区;② 小城镇沿北部主要交通干线形成的轴带与东部沿海轴、南部沿（长）江轴共同组成“π”型集聚带,与三大团块集聚区共同构成“团块+轴带”组合式空间集聚形态;③ 区域层面,中国绝大部分省市的小城镇呈均匀分布,但总体均匀程度并不高;④ 小城镇呈集聚分布的省、自治区数量不多,主要集中在内陆边境地带及四川盆地,总体地广人稀;⑤ 小城镇空间分布受自然资源环境、人口疏密、经济发展水平、区位优势度、道路交通条件等客观因素,以及政策导向主观因素的综合影响。未来,建议增强西北地区小城镇扶持政策,多培育小城镇作为发展节点,城市群周边、省会等大城市周边小城镇应注重提升发展质量,传统农区、贫困山区及边远落后地区要重视经济建设及增强道路交通可达性,促进小城镇发展以助力新型城镇化及乡村振兴战略的实施。

Small towns are regarded as an important carrier to promote China's new urbanization. Understanding the spatial characteristics of small towns in China has become an important issue. This paper explored spatial distribution pattern of small towns in China using the nearest neighbor distance, point density and other spatial analysis methods. In addition, the driving factors, including economy, population, location and natural environment, were analyzed. Our main results were summarized as follows: (1) From the perspective of the national level, spatial density of small towns in southeast China was higher than that in the northeast China. There were three clusters of small towns. The first one was the bow-shaped cluster, covering the Yangtze River Delta, Shandong Peninsula and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The second one was the inverted T-shaped cluster, covering the Pearl River Delta and central Hunan. The third one was a circle-shaped cluster, which was mainly distributed in the Chengdu-Chongqing region. (2) In addition to the clusters, small towns were mainly located along π-shaped belts, along the Lianyungang-Lanzhou Railway, the Yangtze River and the coastline. (3) From the perspective of regional level, small towns in most provincial-level units were evenly distributed. However, the gaps of spatial densities of small towns between different provinces were significant. (4) Only a few provincial-level units were characterized by the concentrated pattern of small towns, including the border provincial-level units and Sichuan province. (5) Spatial distribution of small towns was affected by multiple factors, including natural environment, population density, economic development level, location advantage, road traffic conditions and political factors. In the future, more preferential policies are suggested to enhance the development of small towns in northwest China. Small towns around urban clusters and provincial capitals should focus on improving the development quality. In the small towns located in agricultural areas, mountainous areas and remote rural areas, more attention should be paid to economic construction and enhancement of road accessibility. Our research aimed to promote development of small towns and accelerate the implementation of new urbanization and rural revitalization strategies.

城镇体系核心特征的演变,推动其研究视角由等级制的传统中心地理论向关系制的现代城市网络转变。以已有相关研究成果为基础,简要回顾克氏中心地理论在中国城镇体系研究中的理论和实证进展,通过对中心地理论固有缺陷,以及城镇体系研究逻辑变化的分析,阐明传统中心地理论在解释和解决现代城镇体系问题时的局限性;指出城市网络理论兴起的背景：交通革命带来的时空压缩导致区位论的解释失效、流空间理论的产生、全球化与生产网络的产生、制度与体制演变——中心地组织原则的转化;从企业组织、交通流、信息流三个研究视角,揭示中国城镇体系研究的网络思维端倪;通过研究主体特征的关注由中心性到节点属性、主体关系由等级从属到功能互补、时空尺度由地方到全球三个方面的对比,指出中心地与城市网络应用于城镇体系研究中的理论差异。

The systematic and organizational nature of the urban system is not naturally formed and immutable, but it is actively reconstructed and evolved along with the process of social spatial production. The evolution of the characteristics of the research object has promoted the theoretical development of the urban system research. The research perspective has changed from the hierarchical central traditional theory to the modern urban network of the relational system. Based on the integration of relevant research results, the paper first briefly reviews the theoretical and empirical progress of the Christaller center theory in China's urban system research. By analyzing the inherent defects of the central geography theory and the logical changes in the research of the urban system, the limitations of the traditional central theories in interpreting and solving the problems of the modern urban system are expounded. That is, the main deficiencies of the central theories are owing to closed systems. The hypothesis of spatial homogenization created by theory is too ideal and the perfect structural picture which is devoted to the condition of strict hypothesis is unlikely to exist in reality which leads to the lack of universality in its application and the influence of practical value. Secondly, it is pointed out that the theoretical failure of central land theory and the rise of urban network theory are reflected in the following aspects: the time and space compression brought by the traffic revolution leads to the failure of the interpretation of location theory, the generation of space of flow theory, the generation of globalization and production network, the evolution of system and the transformation of the central organization principle. Thirdly, from the three research perspectives of enterprise organization, infrastructure, and information flow, and the evaluation index system of degree-centrality and cluster structure, etc., the network thinking of China's urban system research is revealed. Finally, it is pointed out that from the level to the network, the differences between the traditional and modern urban system research and the theoretical transformation of China's urban system research are reflected in the main characteristics changing from the central to the node attributes, and the main relationship, from hierarchical subordinate to functional complementary. The analysis logic of the subject relationship is transformed from vertical, monopoly and control of research objects, scale relation to vertical and horizontal, complementary and cooperative, and complex relationship network relations; spatial scales change from the locality to the global; the foothold of the research is from the result of closed and static to the process of open and dynamic.

系统回顾西方尺度理论，尤其是尺度生产（尺度重构与尺度政治）理论，借此阐释中国城市区域治理形成的尺度逻辑。研究发现，中国城市区域包括城市群与都市区2个地理尺度；治理尺度是以行政权力为核心，形成自上而下的行政权力金字塔；治理尺度的动态重配并与地理尺度相耦合的过程是中国城市区域治理的尺度建构的本质；改革开放后，中国宏观政治经济在“去中心化-再中心化”过程中持续动态调整；中国城市区域的产生是国家空间选择性的结果，来克服以城市为基础的资本积累模式的体制危机；城市群治理以柔性尺度重构为主，都市区治理以刚性尺度重构为主；城市区域内部产生复杂的多主体间的尺度博弈。

This article aims to systematically demonstrate the evolution and development of scale theory and its features in different periods. The perspective of scale theory is then used to elaborate the formation of city-regional governance in China. A conceptual framework is proposed in this article. Four major conclusions are presented as follows. First, the geographical scale of China’s city-region consists of two modalities, namely, metropolitan area and urban agglomeration. The governing scale of China’s city-region is essentially constituted by administrative powers, all of which made up a top-down power matrix. The restructuring of governing scale oriented geographical scale of city-region is the nature of rescaling of China’s city-regional governance. This restructuring process is central to understand the rationale of China’s city regional governance. Second, the macro socioeconomic development in China has manifested as the dynamic adjustment process between decentralization and recentralization. The rise of city-regional governance in China is the outcome of state spatial selectivity oriented city-regions to overcome the crises brought by the conventional city-based accumulation regime. Third, the governance of urban agglomeration is featured by the soft rescaling. Correspondingly, the governance of metropolitan area is characterized by rigid rescaling. This rigid rescaling has embodied as the reconfiguration of various jurisdictions oriented a new administrative relation. Last but not the least, there are complicated games between multiple actors at the city-region scale. To sum up, China’s city-regional governance reflects the changing political economy of regional development in post-reform era.

区域协同发展是区域发展战略的重要目标之一,也是人文地理学研究的核心议题之一。论文基于区域协同发展和尺度理论的新进展,探讨了粤港澳大湾区区域协同发展中的尺度陷阱,包括功能定位的尺度范围、自身尺度形式选择和多尺度主体的尺度政治。论文认为,粤港澳大湾区区域协同发展涉及不同尺度的功能定位、复杂的尺度形态和多尺度的利益博弈关系,在实证分析和政策设计中,必须尊重区域协同发展的过程性和诸多矛盾的普遍性,通过对比多尺度实证分析和方案设计的结果,推动积极有效的制度和模式创新,避免落入尺度错位和尺度政治的陷阱。文章在深化区域协同发展的理论和拓展尺度陷阱的应用两方面做出了贡献。

Regional coordinated development is one of the important goals of China's regional development strategy and also the core issue of human geography research in China. Existing studies on regional coordinated development are mainly based on three theoretical strands: the first one is based on the paradigm of regional geography and emphasizes the homogeneity within a region, such as regional industrial zoning and major function oriented zoning; the second one is based on location theory, "pole-axis" spatial system, and territorial-production complexes and underlines the functional complementation within the region, such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the strategy for large-scale development of western China; the third one is based on the theories of regional governance, space of flows, and city networks and highlights the functional linkages and cooperation within the region, such as the strategies of integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). However, few studies have adopted the theories in political geography and most of the arguments in previous studies are limited to the regional scale. Based on the dilemma faced by regional coordinated development and recent progress in scale theory, this study takes the GBA as an example to analyze the scalar traps faced by regional coordinated development, such as the scalar range of functional positioning of the region, the choice of its own scale form, and the scalar politics among various actors. This article holds that the coordinated development of the GBA involves functional positioning at different scales, complex scale forms, and interest gaming at multiple scales, and the process of regional coordinated development and the omnipresence of many contradictions must be fully taken into consideration in empirical analysis and policy design. By comparing the results of multi-scale empirical analysis and scheme design, we can avoid the trap of scalar mismatch and scalar politics by promoting active and effective innovation in the institutional system and the development model. This article contributes to the literature by enhancing the theoretical discussions of regional coordinated development and enriching the application of the theory of scalar traps in regional studies.

作为全球化背景下城市与区域空间转型的主流理论框架,新国家空间(New State Space, NSS)框架已被国内学者应用于诠释中国国家空间重构过程。论文梳理了NSS框架的提出背景、重要概念、主要观点以及国内外相关研究成果,发现NSS框架虽能为碎片化的全球空间治理研究提供一个统一的分析视角与平台,但却可能因概念泛化且缺乏可证伪性、框架固化而难以捕捉繁复情境、复杂化现象问题等潜在缺陷而引发理论本体模糊。同时,中国存在特殊的国土空间行政结构、政府间关系、所有制安排、地方官员晋升机制以及市场经济发展路径,基于欧美背景的NSS框架难以准确解析中国的本地化场景。此外,国内学界对NSS框架涉及的概念术语尚缺乏必要的辨析,在某种程度上存在对本土现象的机械化解读,可能导致难以深入探究多尺度国家空间转型的实际过程与底层逻辑,不能实现国内外学界的深度学术对话,进而无法掌握改革开放以来中国空间转型研究领域的话语权。未来有必要重新审视NSS框架的内涵外延,理性解读中国空间转型的实践,力争以本土化实践为基础,构建更具普适性的理论框架来兼容不同国家的情境,在国际上发出中国学者的声音。

New state space (NSS) framework is the main theoretical framework to explain urban and regional spatial transformation under the background of globalization. Researchers in China have introduced NSS to interpret China's spatial reconfiguration process in recent years. This study reviewed the background, key concepts, main ideas, and research findings of NSS in China and internationally, revealing that NSS can provide a unified perspective to analyze global spatial transformation. However, some defects of NSS would lead to serious ontological problems. First, the concepts of NSS have a tendency of generalization, meanwhile, are lack of falsifiability; second, the lack of flexibility of the framework is hard to capture multifaceted situations; third, NSS may complicate the real-world scenarios sometimes, which would go against the intention of theorization. China has unique national spatial administrative structures, governmental relationship, property right arrangement, promotion system of officials, and market economy development path, therefore NSS may run into difficulties to articulate the intricate Chinese contexts because it was proposed based on the background of Western scenarios. That is to say, there are limitations in using NSS to interpret China's spatial transformation—the differences of territorial administrative framework between China and Western countries may lead to correspondence problems of terms and concepts. Different property right arrangement could result in different dimensions of analysis in spatial restructuring. Finally, the complicated power field in China would have different internal driving forces in the process of regional and urban transformation. These problems would result in dilemmas when discussing and exploring the multiple-scalar practical situations and the underlying logic of state spatial transformation. Further, it would be difficult for Chinese academia to engage in in-depth academic exchanges with scholars from other countries, and to have their voice heard in the theoretical study of Chinese spatial transformation. The NSS might be caught in the involution of dogmatization and instrumentalization if it could not concentrate on several core topics related to the ontology of human geography. China is large and complex in territorial areas with multifarious populations, resources, environment, and so on. The special history and development contexts mean that any theories or frameworks would need to be examined in real and practical situations. Therefore, it is urgent to pay more attention to the localization of spatial transformation and governance theories and propose more universal theoretical frameworks to underpin the study of spatial transformation since 1978.

飞地经济伴随着2000年以来的区域化过程而兴起。当前研究多关注微观机制和模式,而对宏观结构性因素缺乏更为细致的探讨。论文基于国家空间重构理论,分析了飞地经济如何在国家空间重构中被生产出来,同时在复杂的尺度和领域间关系中形成何种治理结构。研究表明,在资本过度积累的危机和再领域化的驱动下,飞地经济产生于地方制度试验,并因与国家空间选择性的演变趋势相一致而被纳入国家空间策略,以培育区域竞争力和协调区域间关系。其治理结构因涉及复杂的领域间、尺度间和政府-市场关系而存在一定内在矛盾。因此,飞地经济应被视为国家空间重构中的一种特殊试验手段,主要发挥“引导”作用,并同其他空间或非空间政策相衔接。

The state space has undergone significant transformations in China since 2000, changing from urban entrepreneurialism to regionalization. In this context, enclave economy is emerging and developing in various regions, and has been studied by researchers in a range of fields. However, most of the existing studies focus on the microscopic mechanisms and modes, without more detailed analyses of the macroscopic and structural factors behind this phenomenon. Apparently, this approach is problematic because enclave economy is not only a grassroots strategy, but also an integral part of the spatial strategies at the national scale in recent years. Therefore, based on the theories of state spatial restructuring, this article analyzes how enclave economy is produced and what governance structures are formed in this process. It suggests that enclave economy is driven by the crisis of capital accumulation and the tendency of reterritorialization. In this context, it originates from bottom-up institutional experiments, and then becomes a flexible yet inadequate strategy of regionalization. Following this, due to the consistency between enclave economy and the evolution of state spatial selectivity, it is then integrated into China's state spatial strategies that focus on the competitiveness of city-regions. Moreover, the governance structure of enclave economy includes inter-scalar, inter-territorial, and government-market relations, which are contingent, complex, and relatively fragile. In sum, this practice should be viewed as an emerging experiment in the state spatial restructuring, whose effects and consequences remain to be seen.

从资本、权力与社会的地域重构视角系统探索了中国区域空间生产与治理的相互关系及作用机制。分析珠三角典型的“飞地经济”深汕特别合作区的地域重构过程，研究发现，首先，区域空间生产一方面依赖于政府的政策动员，另一方面企业主体的空间偏好决定了区域空间生产的结果。其次，区域治理对区域空间生产的多尺度修复是动态调整的，以资本的空间需求为导向。最后，区域空间生产与区域治理协同演进并相互促进。结果表明，中国城市区域的形成是“规划中心，市场为器”的国家治理体制在区域尺度的具体表现。现代政府治理能力的建构与对地方本位主义的路径依赖需要更深层次的激励机制与制度设计。

Against the backdrop of the China’s city-regionalism, this article systemically examines the interaction between regional spatial production and regional governance from the lens of capital, social and power territorialization. Through a case study of Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone, a typical “enclave economy” in the Pearl River Delta, this article found that the regional spatial production is on one hand contingent upon the political mobilization from the superior government, on the other hand upon the market preferences of the entrepreneurs. Second, the spatial fix of regional governance upon regional spatial production is dynamically adjusted, which is guided by the capital demands. Third, the regional spatial production has co-evolved and inter-facilitated with the regional governance. All of these findings suggest that the formation of China’s city-region is essentially the manifestation of China’s state governance marked by state centrality and market instruments at the regional scale. The building of modern state governance capacity and the path dependence upon localism need a deepening motivation mechanism and institutional design.

目前国内外对尺度及尺度政治的讨论十分热烈。本文在整合已有研究的基础上,基于主体与结构视角提出了一个三阶段的尺度政治理论框架,指出政治过程和权力结构的尺度化是尺度政治的前提,尺度重构是尺度政治的核心机制,权力关系重构是尺度政治的目的和结果。具体而言,尺度化涉及物质空间、组织空间和表达空间的大小、层级、范围等结构关系;尺度重构包含由尺度上推、下推、重组,以及上述不同尺度形式构成的3×3矩阵;不同政治主体会采用特定尺度重构策略改变权力关系,并造成一系列尺度关系和合法性的悖论。基于以上认识,本文进一步讨论了中西方关于尺度和尺度政治的认知差异和未来值得深入研究的课题。

Since Neil Smith initiated the arguments of "politics of scale" based on his studies of the homeless, scale has become a hot topic in political geography. However, it is a pity that a comprehensive theoretical model of "politics of scale" has still not been developed despite of a large number of debates on the concept of scale itself and various empirical studies conducted in different cultures. In this article, we propose a three-step theoretical model of "politics of scale" based on the existing literature, especially the structural and post-structural perspectives to power, the second-abstraction view of scale, and the large volume of empirical studies on scalar politics. We argue that "politics of scale" is pillared on the processes of scalization, rescaling, and articulation of scale with power relations. Specifically, in "politics of scale" power relations are embedded in various forms of scale that can be mainly decomposed into size in material space, level in organizational space, and scope in discursive space. The existing scale frames or scalar relations are reshaped or rearticulated by different political actors. A three by three matrix is developed to incorporate the dazzling strategies of rescaling in terms of scaling-up, scaling-down, and rescaling. Different political actors will adopt different rescaling strategies to transform the power relations and legitimate/problematize governmental rationality according to their own interests. Several basic laws and paradoxes of "politics of scale" are summarized. The specific characteristics of "politics of scale" in China compared with its Western counterparts are also summarized, including the dominance of administrative level, underdevelopment of scaled discourses, and decisive roles of the Internet and international intervention. We also point out some issues worth further exploration, such as the problem of political justice in "politics of scale" and extension of the "geographical meaning" of scale in political geography. This article may contribute to the growing literature on scale and Chinese political geographical studies.

In recent years, the dominant political-economic approach to scale has been subject to critique from poststructuralist perspectives. In this paper, I argue that the charge of ‘reification’ has been accepted too readily, masking areas of conceptual overlap between political-economic and poststructural approaches, particularly in terms of their shared concern with the construction of scale. On this basis, I propose to replace the established concept of ‘the politics of scale’ with ‘scalar politics’, arguing that it is often not scale per se that is the prime object of contention, but rather specific processes and institutionalized practices that are themselves differentially scaled.

This essay seeks to reframe recent debates on sociospatial theory through the introduction of an approach that can grasp the inherently polymorphic, multidimensional character of sociospatial relations. As previous advocates of a scalar turn, we now question the privileging, in any form, of a single dimension of sociospatial processes, scalar or otherwise. We consider several recent sophisticated ‘turns’ within critical social science; explore their methodological limitations; and highlight several important strands of sociospatial theory that seek to transcend the latter. On this basis, we argue for a more systematic recognition of polymorphy—the organization of sociospatial relations in multiple forms—within sociospatial theory. Specifically, we suggest that territories (T), places (P), scales (S), and networks (N) must be viewed as mutually constitutive and relationally intertwined dimensions of sociospatial relations. We present this proposition as an extension of recent contributions to the spatialization of the strategic-relational approach (SRA), and we explore some of its methodological implications. We conclude by briefly illustrating the applicability of the ‘TPSN framework’ to several realms of inquiry into sociospatial processes under contemporary capitalism.

This paper describes the uncharted terrain of the 'remote city', an ubiquitous modern urban space. Concentrating on four cities to the north-east of Tokyo and New York, it argues that worldliness is hardly a monoply of 'world cities'; that historical narratives of connection not only construct the 'locality' of many places, but establish imperatives for regular re-engagement. The remote, local, historical and small are revealed as aspects of globality, rather than alternatives. The worldly narratives of Bangor and Lewiston, Maine (US), and Hakodate, Japan, are contrasted not only with each other, but with the studied non-worldliness of the larger but still remote Japanese city of Niigata. The essay ends with a possible explanation for why 'heroic' or local worldliness actually flourishes in an era of the global mundane.

Economic development has become-a hotly debated topic and a much sought after goal in small towns across America. The literature, however, has yet to present a comprehensive source on the theory and practice of economic development, due in part to the diversity of small towns. Instead, the literature features a piecemeal collection of strategies, techniques, case studies, and most recently, methods for adapting to changing economic conditions. Industrial recruitment and reliance on outside funding are giving way to locally based finance and entrepreneurial activity. Fewer and larger farms and the popularity of regional shopping malls suggest that the traditional purpose of many small towns as a service and retail center is fading. The literature stresses a need to take advantage of unique local resources and leadership to compete successfully with other communities.

Along with most of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, New Zealand has experienced significant changes in local and regional development policy and practice since the wide-spread adoption of neoliberal reforms in the 1980s. Policy interventions have restricted the powers of local governments, rationalised state support for more marginal areas and ultimately led to a scenario in which local communities are obliged to become more pro-active in the determination of their local economic futures. This paper discusses how neoliberal changes have impacted on New Zealand government policy and spatial development. In the second part of this paper, based on field research, the implications of these changes on smaller, more marginal urban centres less well positioned to adapt to a context of neoliberalism and change are investigated. Evidence is drawn from statistical indicators of change and from a study of 68 small towns to identify common catalysts and barriers to economic development and diversification. The study reveals the key role which entrepreneurs, in particular those who desire to encourage others to come and locate in their town, can play in the economic wellbeing of their towns in an era of reduced state support.

城市与乡村是一个有机体,只有二者可持续发展,才能相互支撑。依据人地关系地域系统学说,城乡融合系统、乡村地域系统是全新认知和理解城乡关系的理论依据。针对日益严峻的“乡村病”问题,全面实施乡村振兴,既是推进城乡融合与乡村持续发展的重大战略,也是破解“三农”问题,决胜全面建成小康社会的必然要求。本文探讨了新时代城乡融合与乡村振兴的基础理论,剖析了乡村发展面临的主要问题,提出了问题导向的中国城乡融合与乡村振兴科学途径及研究前沿领域。结果表明：① 城乡融合与乡村振兴的对象是一个乡村地域多体系统,包括城乡融合体、乡村综合体、村镇有机体、居业协同体,乡村振兴重在推进城乡融合系统优化重构,加快建设城乡基础网、乡村发展区、村镇空间场、乡村振兴极等所构成的多级目标体系。② 中国“三农”问题本质上是一个乡村地域系统可持续发展问题,当前乡村发展正面临主要农业生产要素高速非农化、农村社会主体过快老弱化、村庄建设用地日益空废化、农村水土环境严重污损化和乡村贫困片区深度贫困化等“五化”难题。③ 乡村是经济社会发展的重要基础,城乡融合与乡村振兴战略相辅相成,乡村振兴应致力于创建城乡融合体制机制,推进乡村极化发展,按照产业兴旺、生态宜居、乡风文明、治理有效、生活富裕的要求,构建乡村地域系统转型—重构—创新发展综合体系。④ 乡村振兴地理学研究应着眼于乡村地域系统的复杂性、综合性、动态性,探究以根治“乡村病”为导向的新型村镇建设方案、模式和科学途径,为实现新时代中国乡村振兴战略提供理论参考。

Cities and villages are components of a specific organism. Only the sustainable development of two parts can support the prosperous development as a whole. According to the theory of man-earth areal system, urban-rural integrated system and rural regional system are the theoretical bases for entirely recognizing and understanding urban-rural relationship. To handle the increasingly severe problems of "rural disease" in rapid urbanization, accelerating rural revitalization in an all-round way is not only a major strategic plan for promoting the urban-rural integration and rural sustainable development, but also a necessary requirement for solving the issues related to agriculture, rural areas, and rural people in the new era and securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. This study explores the basic theories of urban-rural integration and rural revitalization and analyzes the main problems and causes of rural development in the new era, proposing problem-oriented scientific approaches and frontier research fields of urban-rural integration and rural revitalization in China. Results show that the objects of urban-rural integration and rural revitalization is a regional multi-body system, which mainly includes urban-rural integration, rural complex, village-town organism, and housing-industry symbiosis. Rural revitalization focuses on promoting the reconstruction of urban-rural integration system and constructs a multi-level goal system including urban-rural infrastructure networks, zones of rural development, fields of village-town space and poles of rural revitalization. Currently, the rural development is facing the five problems: high-speed non-agricultural transformation of agriculture production factors, over-fast aging and weakening of rural subjects, increasingly hollowing and abandoning of rural construction land, severe fouling of rural soil and water environment and deep pauperization of rural poverty-stricken areas. The countryside is an important basis for the socioeconomic development in China, and the strategies of urban-rural integration and rural revitalization are complementary. The rural revitalization focuses on establishing the institutional mechanism for integrated urban-rural development and constructs the comprehensive development system of rural regional system, which includes transformation, reconstruction and innovation in accordance with the requirements of thriving businesses, pleasant living environments, social etiquette and civility, effective governance, and prosperity. Geographical research on rural revitalization should focus on the complexity and dynamics of rural regional system and explore new schemes, models and scientific approaches for the construction of villages and towns, which are guided by radical cure of "rural disease", implement the strategy of rural revitalization polarization, construct the evaluation index system and planning system of rural revitalization, thus providing advanced theoretical references for realizing the revitalization of China's rural areas in the new era.

新时代背景下,深入开展县域城乡聚落规模体系研究对促进城乡融合发展、推动乡村振兴战略的实施具有重要的理论意义和实践价值。本文从苏南、苏中、苏北选择张家港市、泰兴市、涟水县3个典型县市作为研究案例地,利用1995年和2015年遥感影像数据和土地利用数据,构建了县域城乡聚落规模体系的评价方法,对县域城乡聚落规模体系的时空演化过程进行了实证分析,发现不同类型县域城乡聚落规模体系的演化路径既有明显差异,也存在一般性路径,而且演化路径具有显著的城镇主导效应和集群分布效应。在深入分析经济发展、城镇化、交通网络、制度与管理4种主要影响因素基础上,进一步提炼出县域城乡聚落规模体系演化的“四轮”驱动机制。研究结果有助于深入认识城乡聚落有机整体的系统观,为推动城乡聚落优化重构提供了新的研究视角和方法支撑。

In the context of the new era, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to promote urban-rural integrated development and rural revitalization by exploring the evolution paths and the driving mechanism of the urban-rural scale system. In this paper, we examined the evolution paths and the driving mechanism of this system at the county level based on both the land change survey data and remote sensing data in 1995 and 2015, when taking three counties of Jiangsu province as an example, namely developed Zhangjiagang, moderately-developed Taixing, and less-developed Lianshui at different levels of economic development. Based on the empirical study, in this paper, three typical evolution paths of the urban-rural scale system at the county level in Jiangsu province were summarized, and they fell into three types: Developed County, Moderately Developed County, and Less Developed County. In this case, some conclusions can be drawn as follows: (1) the number of settlements in the county decreased, but the total size increased; (2) the total size of rural settlements decreased, and the size of cities and towns increased at different speeds, when the town size gradually exceeded the urban size; (3) the number and the built-up area of high grade settlements increased, while those of low grade settlements decreased; (4) the polarization feature of the county's development became increasingly significant before gradually becoming weak; (5) the characteristics of the spatial cluster concerning the urban-rural scale system became increasingly significant, and the number of hot-points increased in the county area; (6) urban and rural construction land constantly expanded, when Chengguan town and key towns experienced the main change; (7) the spatial pattern of the urban-rural scale system evolved from the single center to double centers, and then to multi-centers. Furthermore, there were two common characteristics, namely urban-dominant effect and clumped-distributive effect, in the developing process of the urban-rural scale system in different counties. Then, based on the analysis of the key influencing factors, in this paper, the driving mechanism of the urban-rural scale system at the county level was put forward. In this study, economic growth, urbanization, transport network, and institutional management stand for four ways to propel progress. They are like the four wheels of a car, reinforcing and depending on one another and forming an integrated whole, in which the urban-rural settlement system constantly evolves.