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The rural revitalization strategy proposes to promote rural development based on a spatial governance and classification system. The development directions and foci of different types of villages show the characteristics of differentiation. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out accurate and precise studies on rural development to clarify the objectives and directions of rural revitalization by identifying the vitality and activation pathways of rural development. With a focus on 221 villages in Conghua District, the outer suburb of Guangzhou, this study quantified rural development vitality and rural multi-dimensional activation values based on the vitality index of rural development and the evaluation index of rural activation, respectively, derived from multi-source geospatial data and socio-economic statistics, classified activation types according to the methods of hierarchical assignment and combination matrix, and proposed the corresponding activation pathways. The results were three-fold. First, the vitality index of rural development verified by the multiple linear regression model accurately reflected the current course of rural development in the Conghua District in 2020. The proportion of rural areas at or below the middle vitality level of development was 62.89%, indicating that the rural development in Conghua District was lagging. It presents the spatial distribution characteristics of "cross". The villages at or above the high vitality level of development are close to the center of the town (street) where they are located, while low-level villages are mostly distributed in the west and north of Conghua District. Second, there existed a significant differentiation pattern of multi-dimensional activation value in the rural areas. The resource activation values remained at the lower level, while the production and life activation values remained at the middle level, and the ecological activation values remained at the excellent level. The comprehensive activation value was mainly at or above the middle level, with the villages accounting for 55.65%. In other words, Conghua District exhibited a large activation potential with a spatial distribution pattern of "high in the southwest and low in the northeast". Finally, the rural activation type mainly comprised the priority activation type (42.99%), close to the center of each town (street) in space and distributed in the south and west of Conghua District, followed by the ecological leading type (28.96%) and strengthened and upgraded villages (28.05%). The strategy of the priority activation type was to strengthen the integration of rural industries as well as the implementation of planning and design. The ecological leading type was mainly distributed in the north of Conghua District, with the activation direction to develop ecological rural tourism in harmony with environmental protection. Strengthened and upgraded villages were scattered in all towns (streets), with the activation focus on the rural property-leasing economy and the improvement of the transfer of agricultural land and living security. The results of this study can provide effective support strategies and scientific guidance for local governments to promote rural revitalization.