Spatial distribution of rural housing abandonment and influencing factors at the village level: a case study of the Loess Plateau of China

Rural housing abandonment (RHA) is a negative process associated with urbanization that is influenced by many factors, such as natural, social-economic and system management factors. This paper conducted a micro-level analysis of the influencing factors of spatial distribution in the process of RHA through an empirical study on Heshun County on the Loess Plateau of China. The kernel density estimation and spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that the research area has spatial agglomeration of severe RHA. The results of the ordinary least squares (OLS) model reflected that influencing factors of RHA include road distance, housing and village area ratio, per household housing area, per capita income in villages, county town distance, slope, elevation, per capita arable land, arable land quality grade and arable land and housing area ratio. The first four factors were negatively correlated with RHA, and the last six were positively correlated. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that the arable land and housing area ratio and the housing and village area ratio are the main influencing factors for the formation of housing abandonment. That is, a lower arable land and housing area ratio and a larger housing and village area ratio can reduce the risk of RHA.