Types of shrinking villages and flexible planning strategies in the Jianghan Plain region: Based on an investigation of 606 villages in Xiantao City

Abstract

[Objective] Against the backdrop of widespread rural shrinkage in the Jianghan Plain region, this study investigates the differences in the causes of village shrinkage so as to identify the types of shrinking villages. It also aims to explore the planning strategies for different villages by referring to their types. [Methods] This study took Xiantao City as a case and employed field surveys to establish a village database comprising 606 villages. It comprehensively identified shrinking villages from both the population and spatial perspectives and recognized typical areas with similar shrinkage features. By constructing a combined quantitative and qualitative analytical framework, this study categorized causal types of shrinkage in these typical areas. [Results] The research findings reveal that the rural shrinkage phenomenon in Xiantao City is widespread. Population and spatial shrinkage values stand at -48.48% and -13.37%, respectively. In addition, most villages have experienced both population and spatial shrinkage simultaneously; From the spatial dimension, it reveals that village shrinkage exhibits a pattern of being “serious in the east, moderate in the west, and severe in the periphery in general”. The primary factor affecting population shrinkage is high ratio of aging popluation caused by rural hollowing, and the primary factor affecting spatial shrinkage is the siphon effect caused by proximity to large city. Shrinking villages are classified into three main types: aging-induced decline, transportation lagged, and siphon-induced shrinkage. [Conclusion] The phenomenon of rural shrinkage is common in Jianghan plain area, but there are significant differences in the causes of shrinkage among different villages. Accordingly, the key planning strategy for aging-induced decline villages is flexible arrangement of public service facilities; The key planning strategy for transportation lagged villages is flexible improvement of transportation; The key planning strategy for siphon-induced shrinkage village is flexible strengthening of the industrial foundation and revitalization of the unused space. To classify the shrinking villages based on the differences in causes can help to formulate locally customized policies so that the key points and specific strategies for flexible planning of each type of villages can be clearly identified and highly adoptable.

Keywords

• rural shrinkage|village types|population aging|siphon effect|flexible planning|jianghan plain