Layout optimization for county rural residents in Huang-Huai-Hai plain area and its remediation strategies

Abstract: In order to provide the guidance for migration and combination in land consolidation and new rural construction, this paper analyzed layout optimization scheme of rural residential patches in Quzhou county, both in terms of rural residential patches' development conditions and of spatial interaction between adjacent patches. Centrality index from Christaller's Central Place Theory was employed to quantitatively calculate development conditions of rural residential patches. To achieve this, an evaluation index system which fitted the characteristics of Huang-Huai-Hai plain was built. The paper obtained the centrality indices of 247 main residential patches in Quzhou county using comprehensive judgment method of various factors, which derived from 342 administrative villages and consisted of 242 rural residential patches and 5 urban residential patches. The paper regarded the rural residential patches as the study units and merged the adjacent rural residents belonging to different administrative villages.. Then, field-strength was used to recognize the rural residential patches greatly influenced by cities and towns, and the improved gravity model was employed to find out the spatial interaction between rural residential patches. The 242 main rural residential patches were divided into 4 levels according to the values of centrality index, and most of high-level patches were located along arterial traffic and towns. Based on the higher value of field strength given by 5 urban residential patches, 21 rural residential patches were defined as urbanization-oriented type. In these rural residential patches, the second and third industry developed rapidly and employment structure changed gradually. The paper drew the largest gravity connection line between the patches, based on which the 59 consolidation units were confirmed and spatial interaction relationship was known. According to the characteristics of spatial organization between the patches in one unit, the paper recognized 4 types, including tandem type, parallel type, aggregation type and dual-core type. There were 21 out of 242 rural residential patches which were urbanization-oriented type, and the remaining rural residential patches were deeply divided into 3 types, including key development type, restricted expansion type and combined migration type, on the basis of centrality index of rural residential patches and spatial interaction between the patches. Finally, the paper put forward the policy suggestions aiming at every type of layout optimization. Quzhou county, Hebei province is located in the Heilonggang Basin of Huang-Huai-Hai plain. People living in the study area prefer to reside and gather together. For example, one rural residential patch from Henantuan town, had a population of 3.2 thousand. This rural residential patch was divided into 3 administrative villages, including 1st Malantou village, 2nd Malantou village and 3rd Malantou village. The paper eliminated the influence of administrative village boundary by taking rural residential patches as the research unit. This had implications for the study of rural resident layout in the other areas of Huang-Huai-Hai plain. The paper took both centrality index and spatial interaction into consideration when studying the layout optimization scheme in Quzhou county. However, the relationship between the two as well as different trip modes between urban residents and peasants, deserves further study.