Rural spatial restructuring in ecologically fragile mountainous areas of southern China: A case study of Changgang Town, Jiangxi Province

Against the dynamic background of Chinese rural transformation development, this study takes the countryside as a regional system, and closely examines rural spatial restructuring in an ecologically fragile mountainous area of southern China at a village-township level. It puts forward a set of methods for rural spatial restructuring based on landscape security pattern construction as well as a model of rural residential land expansion using an ant colony optimization algorithm and scenario simulation. These methods are applied to the case area of Changgang Town, Jiangxi Province. The case study results indicate that the land use security pattern of the study area under the ideal security scenario is the best scenario of three examined, with the least extent of residential land and the minimum loss of key ecological land. Moreover, this scenario can fully satisfy the land demands of ecological security, agricultural production and regional socioeconomic development. These results indicate that the method we proposed can provide technical support for rural spatial restructuring in the ecologically fragile mountainous areas of southern China. Simulation results and spatial zoning control strategies for the case area can provide decision-making references for local spatial planning and control practices. In contemporary China, it is necessary to recognize and better explore the multiple functions of the countryside. The government's scientific planning and appropriate control of self-renewal processes of rural space can make more economical use of land, and can guarantee the provision of public goods such as ecological welfare and food security. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.