Space reconstruction process and internal driving mechanisms of Taobao villages in metropolitan fringe areas: A case study of Lirendong village in Guangzhou, China

This paper examines the process and internal mechanisms of rural ecommerce industry agglomeration and space reconstruction in metropolitan fringe areas, employing Lirendong village in Guangzhou, China, as a case study. Questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews were utilized and interpreted through the perspective of the actor-network theory. The results show that, in Lirendong village, local government, processing enterprises, rural collectives, e-commerce entrepreneurial talent, and other key actors participate in the pursuit and realization of suburban land value according to their action logic. Actors jointly evolved and constructed the phased industrial processes and space value accumulation process of the e-commerce industry. The reconstruction process experienced three stages, including the government-led agricultural decentralization stage, the market-oriented industrialization stage, and the Internet+ stage dominated by the social network of fellow villagers. The development process has evolved from the dominance of exogenous forces to that of endogenous forces, and, as a result, the types and structures of rural land use are diversified. The spatial texture and rural environment of the traditional country gradually disappeared, forming a diversified mixed form of urban-rural land and mixed-use landscape of industrial, commercial, and residential land in vertical space. At the same time, the social network changed from a single and homogeneous social network of acquaintances to a multiple network of strangers.