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Rapid urbanization has led to the sharp decline of some rural villages. Idle rural residential land (IRRL) is symbolic of rural decline, and the academic community is in urgent need of quantitative studies on the spatial pattern of IRRL from the perspective of geography. Taking Pinggu as a case area, we explored the spatial pattern and layout mode of IRRL and evaluated its utilizability and reuse under different spatial layout modes. Our findings show that the idle rate of rural residential land (RRL) in Pinggu, which is in a suburb of a metropolis, is more serious than that of urban land. The patches of IRRL are generally small and fragmented, showing the characteristics of overall dispersion and local agglomeration of the whole area. The agglomerative point type and scattered point type are the main spatial layout modes of IRRL. In villages, the spatial distribution of IRRL is characterized by a small and scattered point distribution, and large-area polygon agglomeration and belt agglomeration are relatively less common. The utilizability of IRRL in Pinggu decreases from the urban fringe to the surrounding rural area. The utilizability of the agglomerative polygon type, agglomerative belt type, and agglomerative point type in the urban suburbs and agricultural plains areas is higher, while the utilizability of the scattered strip type and scattered point type in the northern and eastern suburban mountainous areas is lower. Our research contributes to filling the gap in the geographical quantitative research on IRRL by exploring the interactions between humans and land under rural decline and providing a theoretical basis for the revitalization of declining rural areas and the coordinated development of urban and rural areas.

The function of rural housing land is an important manifestation of the living needs of farmers. Multifunctional research on rural housing land can provide a scientific basis for the formulation of practical and effective systems of rural housing land. Based on the survey data of 613 typical farmers, this paper identifies each function, analyzes functional spatial distribution features of rural housing land by using the kernel density estimation method, and constructs a multinomial logistic regression model to quantitatively measure the influencing factors and to reveal the mechanism of functional spatial distribution under the combined effect of the “farmers--rural housing land--village” system. This research shows the following: 1) Rural housing land has mainly a social security function(SSF), while a profit function(PF) and a retaining function(RF) have also appeared, with the proportions being 71.78%, 10.60% and 17.62%, respectively in the Pinggu District of Beijing. 2) SSF is strongest in the economically depressed mountainous areas, whereas PF and RF are strongest in the economically developed plain areas and the economically secondary semimountainous area, with the proportions being 77.31%, 15.91% and 22.10%, respectively. Various functions present a spatial gradient change. 3) Agglomeration analysis shows that SSF presents two strong cores: the hilly and mountainous areas in the far north and the plain areas in the suburbs with a better economy, with the “point-surface” distribution. PF concentrated in the tourist spots in the hilly and mountainous areas, the urban belt vicinity with a good economy and the MF industrial park, with the “point-and-belt” pattern. RF focused in the economically secondary semimountainous area and the industrial zone in the southwestern part of the city, showing a “multiband” shape. 4) The function of rural housing land arises from the farmers' needs according to conditions of their own family and rural housing land under the positioning of certain villages. The village characteristics, such as economy, are external factors that present a continuous adjustment effect on the function of rural housing land with the form of long-term action; the characteristics of rural housing land, such as location, are restrictive factors that show two-way feedback effects on the function of rural housing land with the form of foundational action. Both the family characteristics, such as non-agricultural income ratio, and the householder characteristics, such as age, are internal factors that present stage stimulating effects on the function of rural housing land with the form of direct action. 5) Trying to divide the right of use and qualification of RF housing, the right of use of PF housing, through innovating acquisition system of rural housing land and constructing mechanism of rural housing land replaces town security room, which aim to improve the functional efficiency of rural housing land.

With the onset of industrialization over the past several decades, the rural areas are undergoing considerable changes in China. Optimal rural industrial land use distribution provides a spatial foundation for sustainable development in rural areas. Moreover, the importance of appropriate rural industrial land use adjustment is evident in rural spatial restructuring. This paper investigates rural industrial land use patterns and its impact on rural areas in Pinggu District of Beijing based on a combined method of “landscape indices” and the “geospatial analysis.” Subsequently, this paper proposes a rural industrial land use adjustment. The results show that according to the relevance of township and village enterprises (TVEs) to rural development, rural industrial land can be classified as rural industry land (RI-land) and non-rural industry land (NI-land). “Small scale, spontaneous dispersion” is the overall rural industrial land use pattern in China, and the spatial patterns between the two types of rural industrial land are quite different: the pattern “dispersion inside rural settlements” is usually observed in RI-land, while “agglomeration around regional central towns” and “linear sprawl” are common on NI-land. Considering the peculiarity of TVEs, the dispersion for RI-land is designed to absorb the surplus labor and raw materials nearby in the countryside to enhance their output-efficiency, whereas the agglomeration for NI-land is to pursue the efficiency of agglomeration economies. This paper also revealed that current disperse rural industrial land use pattern has generated polluting effects on the environment. Therefore, following the “classification principle,” rural industrial land use adjustment should not merely pursue economic efficiency and agglomeration efficiency but should also engage in labor absorptivity and environmental benefits. The formation and development of rural industrial land in China is quite different from traditional industrial land; these differences are largely attributed to their unique driving mechanisms and historical backgrounds. In particular, the traditional Theories of the Location of Industries directed by “agglomeration,” are unsuitable for rural industrial land in China. Therefore, the results in this paper can help form a basis for sustainable planning of rural industrial land and contribute to rural transformation development in China.