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Realizing the ecological value of rural areas through industrial development is an indispensable pathway of global rural sustainable development. However, it is still unclear how to choose efficient rural industrial development modes (RIDMs) for ecological value realization in rural areas due to the lack of quantitative measures. In this study, a quantitative measurement is proposed to identify the RIDMs and evaluate their capability of realizing the ecological value in 2, 090 counties of China. The results show that the modernization of planting industry and integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries are the two most prevalent RIDMs in rural China, while the integration of agriculture and tourism and ecological tourism are the two most ecologically efficient RIDMs. Besides, the ecological value of rural China (63.11 trillion yuan) is much higher than its economic value produced (50.43 trillion yuan) in 2020, and their spatial distributions are mismatched. The western region of rural China has an enormous ecological value but create a low economic output. Our findings highlight the importance of realizing the vast ecological value of rural areas through effective RIDMs to promote the rural sustainable development in China and other developing countries. • A quantitative method is proposed to identify the rural industrial development modes (RIDMs) in China. • Modernization of planting industry and integration of three industries are the two most prevalent RIDMs in China. • Integration of agriculture and tourism and ecological tourism are the two most ecologically efficient RIDMs in China. • The ecological value of rural China is much higher than its economic value, and their spatial distributions are mismatched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural Sustainable Development (RSD) is promoted by the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014–2020, and in particular by the national and regional Rural Development Programmes (RDPs), which are mainly supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). At the sub-regional level, a part of the EAFRD is managed by Local Action Groups (LAGs), which decide how to use their own budget within their municipalities via a bottom-up approach, according to the most suitable projects available within the RDP. Requalification of traditional farm buildings is a possible RSD project for achieving various objectives, including creation of new jobs and economic activities, protection of the natural environment, promotion of rural tourism, preservation of rural culture and traditions, encouragement of a sense of community, improvement of the viability of rural villages, and also to contrast the abandonment of rural areas. Nevertheless, European projects and research show that the different types of requalification carried out are often not related to RSD objectives and that requalification does not usually combine the sustainability dimensions and spatial features of rural areas. Furthermore, the opinions of various stakeholders should be considered to support the generation of RSD policies and strategies. Thus, this research aims to provide a RSD decision making framework that makes it possible to tackle the above issues for identifying which type of requalification to assign to certain traditional farm buildings. Therefore, the results should facilitate the work of LAG policy makers in planning and managing the EAFRD 2014–2020. The framework combines the Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) methods “Analytic Network Process” (ANP) and “Dominance-based Rough Set Approach” (DRSA). This framework was applied to a LAG territory in Apulia Region (Southern Italy) that includes 176 traditional farm buildings. The ANP application identified the optimal quota for each type of requalification and showed that the highest quota is allocated to Facilities and Accommodations for Rural Tourism. The second preferred requalification is Centres for Environmental Education, Recreational and Social Facilities, while the third is Facilities for the Transformation and Sale of Agricultural Products. The DRSA was then applied in a Geographic Information System (GIS) in order to choose the most suitable traditional farm buildings for each type of requalification, helping the LAG policy makers to fill each quota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural Sustainable Development is a very important topic under the European Union policy, and it is currently promoted through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2014–2020. This fund is managed at sub-regional level by the Community-Led Local Development approach that involves Local Action Groups in order to promote the objectives of Rural Sustainable Development within rural municipalities. Each Local Action Group applies the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis in order to identify for its own rural municipalities the strategic elements to which it will allocate the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development budget. Nevertheless, this analysis has some general shortcomings, including difficulties in managing a large number of Strength and Weakness factors. In addition, the importance of each factor cannot be measured quantitatively, and the same factor may be characterized both as a Strength and a Weakness. Further difficulties may occur in the case of partnerships between different Local Action Groups, such as disagreement about whether a given factor is a Strength or a Weakness, lack of information about the relationships between Strength and a Weakness factors and decision alternatives, as well as impossibility of ranking the decision alternatives. Thus, this research aims to overcome the drawbacks of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis and to support Local Action Group partnerships in the sustainability evaluation of their rural municipalities, and therefore to aid the identification of a common Rural Sustainable Development strategy to allocate the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development budget. This decision problem was tackled by applying a Multiple Criteria Spatial Decision Support System that integrates a Geographic Information System with the Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding methods “Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution” and “Dominance-based Rough Set Approach”. In order to demonstrate the validity of this methodological approach, this Multiple Criteria Spatial Decision Support System was applied to a study area of thirteen rural municipalities located in Apulia Region (Southern Italy); these municipalities belong to the same landscape unit, but they are managed by five different policy makers that represent the Local Action Groups. The results provided the maps of environmental, economic and social sustainability rankings of rural municipalities as well as their overall sustainability value. Based on these rankings, a specific Rural Sustainable Development strategy was identified for the allocation of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. This methodology provided a common decision making framework that can also be applied to Local Action Group partnerships within the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy makers have recently begun to agree on environmental, economic and social aspects of rural areas that are enhanced according to the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and in particular in the national Rural Development Programmes (RDPs). Greenways are an acknowledged tool within the CAP because they help to protect and manage environmental heritage, promote economic activities and enhance the social assets of rural areas; furthermore, given their natural ability to simultaneously connect these resources, greenways promote Rural Sustainable Development (RSD). Nevertheless, several issues can create difficulties for policy makers in the implementation of greenways for promoting RSD, and the research about greenway planning shows that government agencies do not adopt a collaborative approach with each other or with stakeholders. Thus, our research aims to provide a common decision making framework enabling both greenway implementations by policy makers (top-down strategy), and the choice among various alternatives evaluated by different stakeholders (bottom-up strategy). This helps policy makers to identify the greenway that best promotes the objectives of RSD, and therefore facilitates planning and management of the 2014–2020 RDP funds reserved for greenway implementation. This decision making framework consists of a Multiple Criteria Spatial Decision Support System (MC-SDSS) that integrates a Geographic Information System (GIS) with the Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) technique “Group Analytic Hierarchy Process” (GAHP). The validity of this MC-SDSS was tested on three rural municipalities of Apulia Region (Southern Italy). In particular, a GIS was used to detect the rural resources and existing linear elements, which were used to perform overlay mapping to identify four greenways. We then established a hierarchy consisting of four groups of stakeholders, seven criteria and twenty-one sub-criteria. Finally, GAHP was applied to aggregate the preferences of stakeholders and obtain the ranking. Specifically, Greenway 4 is the preferred alternative for every stakeholder, because it best connects cultural heritage, land use and urban centers and it scored the highest preference concerning route characteristics. The second alternative is Greenway 1, because it best links the interchange nodes, and the third alternative is Greenway 3, preferred for its panoramic scenery. Greenway 2 is the last alternative, because it performs worst in connecting urban centers, land use and interchange nodes, and scored the lowest preference for route characteristics. The above results were easily understood and accepted by the stakeholders and Local Action Groups (LAG) policy makers, because the methodology provided clear outcomes that completely reflect their opinions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's increasing versus decreasing balance (IDB) land-use policy provides an opportunity for easing the contradiction between urban and rural land use within a strict land use planning framework. This paper reviews the evolution of the IDB policy in terms of changes in transfer scope and objectives. Taking the resettlement site and resettlement targets as classification criteria, the rural resettlement paths during the implementation of the IDB policy are summarized, and the characteristics of each path and the effects on people's living conditions and social relations are analyzed. Additionally, the potential problems and suggestions for resettlement in the context of the IDB policy are put forward. The results show that, with the spatial reorganization, administrative reorganization, and industrial reorganization, the living environment, lifestyle, and social relations of the resettled farmers have changed to varying degrees, showing the characteristics of "the strong is stronger, the weak is weaker". After the centralized settlement, there is no substantial change in rural vitality and the risk of a new round of hollowing out still exists in villages far away from the city, while the heterogeneity between the suburban village and the close city decreases. In the long run, it is still unclear whether the implementation of the IDB policy is conducive to rural protection and sustainable development given the varying impacts of different paths on resettled farmers and potential problems after rural resettlement. • The rural resettlement paths of the increasing versus decreasing balance land use policy in China were summarized. • The characteristics and the varying effects on resettled farmers' livelihood were analyzed. • For different villages, the strong one is stronger while the weak one is weaker after the resettlement. • In the long run, it is still unclear whether the increasing versus decreasing balance land use policy is conducive to rural protection and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]