Coordinated development and its' spatio-temporal evolution of rural population, land and economy system in Sichuan Province

It is important for sustainable development of rural economic-social system to explore interaction degree among people's life standard, land use degree and economic development level. This paper used a comprehensive evaluation index system of "population, land and economy" to calculate the development indexes of rural population, land use and economic development. The coupling degree and coordinated development degree of population, land and economy system were also assessed. The coordinated development of rural population, land and economy system was categorized into five types-serious inharmonious and decline (SIHD), mild inharmonious and decline (MIHD), barely coordinated transition (BCT), well-coordinated development (WCD) and highly coordinated development (HCD). Using quantitative analysis and GIS platform, this paper analyzed the characteristics and problems of spatial and temporal variations of coordinated development among rural population, land and economy under accelerated urbanization in Sichuan Province, and then further explores the way for sustainable development of the rural socio-economy. The result showed that in 2014, BCT and WCD were predominated types in Sichuan rural population, land and economy system with obvious regional differences, as some regions had excellent coordination development level while some others were still undergoing SIHD. In terms of time span, there was a wide range of change in coordinated development of rural population, land and economy system during the period 2000-2014. The number of MIHD region and BCT region reduced, while BCT region which occupied 61.90% of the total region in 2000, and fell to 33.34% in 2014. Also WCD region increased gradually from 14.29% in 2000 to 52.38% in 2014, while HCD and SIHD remained relatively stable, showing an overall development momentum. In more recent years, reform of rural land policy positively influenced land and improved land use efficiency. The integration of urban and rural construction was conducive for promoting the development of rural economy, promoting increased rural land development index and economic development index. With regard to spatial characteristics, regions with HCD were mainly located in plain and hilly regions. On the contrary, there was low degree of coordination in regions with poor natural geographical conditions such as mountains and plateaus. Specifically in central plain areas, northeastern hilly regions and southern hilly regions of Sichuan, the degree of coordinated development was high compared with regions with low degree of coordinated development in Panxi area and northwest plateau region; which was basically consistent with the actual situation in Sichuan. In conclusion, influenced by geomorphic characteristics, resource endowment, geographical location, etc., the development levels of rural population, land and economy, and the degree of coordinated development of these three factors (rural population, land and economy) were quite different in terms of the various prefectures or counties in Sichuan. Thus strategies such as setting agricultural development goals and priorities and promoting sustainable development of rural socio-economy should be done based on the regional development characteristics and deficiencies.