The Spatiotemporal Coupling and Hindering Factors of County-level Agricultural and Rural Modernization and Urban-rural Integration: A Case Study of Northern Anhui

The integrated development of urban and rural areas in counties can effectively promote the construction of Chinese-style modernisation and common wealth. Taking 18 counties and county-level cities in northern Anhui as examples, this paper evaluated and analysed the spatial and temporal characteristics of the coordinated development of agricultural and rural modernization and urban-rural integration in each county from 2001 to 2021 through the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method and the coupled coordination model, and diagnosed the obstacle factors affecting their development through the obstacle degree model. The results showed that, (1) Northern Anhui region had made remarkable progress in both agricultural and rural modernisation and urban-rural integration, and the counties showed different development patterns and characteristics. The level of agricultural and rural modernisation showed an upward trend, while the level of urban-rural integration and development showed a downward and then upward trend. (2) The degree of coupled coordination showed an upward trend over time, but there were stages and differences in space. The early stage was dominated by preliminary coordination, and the counties with higher degree of coordination at the end of the period were distributed in the shape of “十”. The standard ellipse of coupling coordination degree was distributed in the direction of “Northeast-Southwest”, with the centre of gravity moving to the “Southwest”, and the development of southwestern counties was superior. (3) The main obstacles to the coordinated development of agricultural and rural modernisation and urban-rural integration in northern Anhui lay in agro-ecological, urban-rural social and urban-rural ecological integration. Finally, based on the research conclusions and diagnostic results, the countermeasures and suggestions for optimising the coordinated development of agricultural and rural modernization and urban-rural integration in the counties of northern Anhui Province were further proposed.