Measuring and Evaluating the Commodification of Sustainable Rural Living Areas in Zhejiang, China

Abstract

This study aims to construct an evaluation index system to measure the commodification of living space in Chinese rural areas and investigate the spatial characteristics of the commodification. Based on the dataset collected from public institutions in Zhejiang province, this study applies the entropy method to calculate the weights of the evaluation indicators and the commodification level. The results reveal that overall commodification levels of rural spaces in Zhejiang Province are different from each other due to different levels of economic development, transportation, tourism resources, and government support. In addition, this study suggests appropriate commodification strategies corresponding to the commodification development potential of the four types of rural living spaces (i.e., advanced development areas, promotion development areas, transformation development areas, and potential development areas). This study provides an evaluation index system measuring the commodification of rural living places and guidelines for effectively developing commodification of rural places.