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As an important representation of the evolution of the rural human–land relationship in the process of urban–rural transformation development, labor migration between rural and urban areas has become the core impetus for agricultural transformation in China's traditional farming areas. An in-depth analysis of the internal mechanism of the evolution of agricultural production patterns driven by rural–urban migration at different phases helps to find solutions for ensuring the sustainable development of the countryside. This paper analyzes the relationship between rural–urban migration and the evolution of the rural human–land relationship, then introduces the city power and the rural power in the push–pull theory, and finally establishes an interactive analysis framework for rural–urban migration and agricultural transformation. The results demonstrate that the part-time rural labor and the frequent rural–urban migration in Yucheng City are the normal conditions for the labor to participate in agricultural production; and the low registered population urbanization rate and the return of the elderly labor have become the main features of the rural–urban migration in the new era. Furthermore, the state of rural–urban migration in Yangqiao Village has become the impetus of the farmland use transition and homestead use change at the village level; the arrangement fragmentation of agricultural production and the change in traditional agriculture production modes are the important factors affecting agricultural transformation in Yangqiao Village. In the context of rural vitalization, agricultural transformation in traditional farming areas needs to pay more attention to the future livelihood systems of small peasants. It is important to promote rural transformation to create more employment opportunities based on local conditions and attract rural migrants to return to start businesses in the countryside. • Analysis framework about rural-urban migration and agricultural transformation is established based on 'push–pull' theory. • The effects of rural-urban migration on agricultural transformation in China's traditional farming areas are analyzed. • The low urbanization rate and the return of the elderly migrants become the main feature of the rural labor migration. • Creating employment opportunities and attracting return migrants to start businesses is important for rural vitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A coupling analysis framework between greenhouse-led farmland transition and rural transformation development is constructed. • Coupling relationship between greenhouse-led farmland transition and rural transformation development is analyzed from different scales. • Coupling mechanism between greenhouse-led farmland transition and rural transformation development is probed. • Optimizing the coupling relationship and interaction between land use transition and rural development is useful for rural reconstruction. • Formulating land management policies tailored to local conditions can stimulate the vitality of rural development. The farmland transition is a theoretical summary of the morphological change of farmland in the context of the rural man–land interrelations evolution. The coupling mechanism between the farmland transition and rural transformation development (RTD) in China's traditional farming area is good for optimizing urban–rural relations and reconstructing rural development paths. This paper takes the greenhouse-led farmland transition (GFT) as the starting point and attempts to construct a coupled conceptual model between farmland transition and RTD. Further, Qingzhou City is used as a case study to analyze the process of GFT from the county and village scales, and the coupling relationship between farmland transition and RTD is analyzed. The research shows that the coupling relationship between farmland use morphology and rural development status presents types at different stages, which become an important window to track the change mechanism of rural man–land relationship. The GFT has changed the rural production system and urban–rural relations in Qingzhou City. The correlation coefficient between the proportion of greenhouse land area in the available farmland area and the proportion of rural labor force outflow was −0.579. Since 1995, the coupling relationship between GFT and RTD of Nanxiaowang Village in Qingzhou City has shown the characteristic four stages: "traditional grain production stage" ― "mixed development stage of grain production and greenhouse cultivation" ― "modern high efficiency agricultural production stage" ― "market-oriented comprehensive agricultural development stage". This study puts forward the conceptual framework of the coupling mechanism of farmland transition and RTD, and further validates the stage succession process of the coupling relationship based on typical case studies at different scales. In addition, the major problems existing in the current coupling relationship between GFT and RTD are further summarized. The land use policy based on the coupling relationship between land use transition and rural development is proposed to further promote the orderly reconstruction of the villages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past forty years, rural China has undergone dramatic spatial restructuring, and its production functions have gradually become diversified. However, although several studies have examined factors affecting the distribution of rural settlements in recent years, few have focused on rural production functions. To fill this gap, this paper proposes an analytical framework to understand the impact of rural production functions on the spatial distribution of rural settlements and quantitatively analyzes the rural areas of Taizhou municipality by using the bivariate Moran's I method at the township level. In general, the results show that the spatial distribution of rural settlements has different correlations with each type of rural production functions. The distribution has the strongest correlation with agricultural production functions, followed by the industrial manufacturing and service supply functions, while the weakest correlation is with the ecological leisure function. Further, in the high-value areas of the agricultural production function and the ecological leisure function, the distribution of rural settlements is discrete, with low density, a large scale, and a long distance. In contrast, in the high-value areas of the industrial manufacturing function and the service supply function, the distribution of settlements is clustered, with high density, a small scale, and a short distance. Based on the correlations, this paper sketches four types of ideal town-villages construction pattern to guide the optimization of rural settlements layout, including the productivist-oriented evenness pattern, the transit-oriented axis pattern, the idyll-oriented corridor pattern, and the urbanization-oriented integration pattern. This research provides scientific guidance for developing countries in the spatial planning of rural territories and the optimization of rural settlements. • Spatial heterogeneity of rural production functions is explored in the township level. • There are certain correlations between different rural production functions and spatial distribution of rural settlements. • The four ideal town-village construction patterns are presented, applied to the different dominant production function. • The implication for rural spatial planning is conducive to promoting rural vitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]