The Classification and Regulation of Mountain Villages in the Context of Rural Revitalization—The Example of Zhaotong, Yunnan Province

Abstract

Village classification schemes and development strategies have important theoretical and practical significance for realizing rural revitalization. Mountainous villages account for a large proportion of China’s rural areas, which is a challenge to rural revitalization. This study takes the mountainous region of Zhaotong, Yunnan Province, and the “National Strategic Plan for Rural Revitalization (2018–2022)” to construct an evaluative index of village development potential and a village classification model, and proposes regulation strategies and the classification and stratification public service configuration scheme for different types of village. The research results show that (1) when evaluating development potential, terrain factors such as slope and geological hazards should be included; (2) the distribution of development potential in Zhaotong has obvious heterogeneity; (3) villages in Zhaotong are divided into five types for development: agglomeration and upgrading, suburban integrated, relocated and merged, characteristic conservation, and temporarily ambiguous types; and (4) the order of greatest to least number of village types is agglomeration and upgrading > suburban integrated > relocated and merged > temporarily ambiguous > characteristic conservation. The agglomeration and upgrading, relocated and merged, and suburban integrated types are relatively concentrated spatially. The characteristic conservation and temporarily ambiguous types are more scattered. Based on the above research results, it is suggested that villages be renovated and public service facilities be configured on different levels, according to the characteristics of different village types. During renovation, special emphasis is placed on preserving the original style of the village and protecting and respecting the will of the villagers. The strategy for developing village infrastructure and public service facilities should be dynamically adjusted according to village type.