Land Management and Rural Development in Northwest China

In order to break away from the overreliance on a single industry and the simple supply of agricultural products, rural multifunctional research has gradually received public attention. To a certain extent, multifunctional classification governance paths can enhance rural competitiveness and land use efficiency and alleviate the problems of local poverty and unbalanced development in rural regions. Based on the theory of rural multifunctionality, this paper reveals the spatial characteristics and coordination of rural multifunctionality at the township scale, analyzes the barrier functions of different regions, and clarifies the direction of rural development using the rural assessment method, the trade-off synergy model, and the dysfunctional diagnostic model, taking Yongchang County in the western corridor of China as an example. On this basis, we further discuss the path selection of rural governance in northwest China. The results show that: (1) The spatial distribution of rural functions has pronounced heterogeneity, with better life security functions and ecological background functions, and similar spatial patterns; economic development functions are on the low side, showing the divergent characteristics of enhancement from the township center to the surrounding area. The functions of agricultural production are low, and the spatial distribution is similar to that for the living guarantee function. (2) The living guarantee function has a strong trade-off effect on the ecological background function, and the living guarantee and ecological background functions have a synergistic effect on the agricultural development function. (3) We classified types of villages according to the intensity index of village function trade-offs and clarified the functional development characteristics of each administrative village. The incompatibility of village functions caused by different demands is the root hinderance to the development of villages.