Through the analysis of the rural revitalization process of the world's major developed countries, the following experiences are worthy of attention.
First, urbanization and rural revitalization are coordinated. According to the experience of developed countries, to achieve comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, it is usually necessary to have several conditions: First, industrialization and urbanization have reached a high level, the proportion of rural population and agricultural employment personnel has been greatly reduced, and the income of professional farmers is comparable to the middle income level of surrounding cities. The proportion of the rural population in major developed countries is already below 25%, and the share of agricultural employment has reached less than 5%. Second, the productive forces are highly developed, and while the absolute level of agricultural added value has risen, its proportion in GDP has decreased significantly. Third, the element market of urban and rural unity is basically formed, especially rural land can participate in market transactions on an equal footing with urban land, and the market plays a decisive role in the flow of urban and rural factors.
Proportion of rural population in major developed countries
Proportion of employed persons in agriculture in major developed countries
Second, there is little difference between the urban and rural governance system. Major developed countries have realized the integration of urban and rural areas in terms of government management, community autonomy, and basic public service supply, and there is no social governance system with obvious dual characteristics. In this sense, the countryside exists only as a natural space that distinguishes it from the city, and the countryside in the sense of the social space that distinguishes it from the city has become history. There is no dual system between urban and rural areas, the countryside is essentially only an area with a relatively low population density, agriculture has become a category in the chain of division of labor in a modern society, and farmers are essentially citizens outside the city.
Third, there are mainly differences between urban and rural areas in industrial and environmental policies. In view of the particularity of the agricultural industry, each country will have a special agricultural support and protection policy to enhance the competitiveness of its own agriculture and farmers' income; in view of the spatial characteristics of rural areas, each country has formulated specific environmental policies to maintain the sustainability of natural ecosystems. Among the industrial policies, the most peculiar is the agricultural cooperative policy. Agricultural cooperatives in Europe and the United States are very large, and there are even transnational cooperatives in Europe, through which farmers can share the benefits of the entire industrial chain. Farm income in the United States accounts for only 15% of the income of the whole industry chain, the income of Dutch ranching accounts for only 10% of the whole industry chain, and the income of Japanese farms does not exceed 30% of the whole industry chain. Without a cooperative benefit-sharing mechanism, european and American farms are almost all loss-making.
Fourth, a reasonable urban and rural layout has an important role in promoting rural revitalization. International experience shows that if the urban and rural layout is reasonable, the efficiency of land use can be greatly improved, and rural society will be more dynamic. A reasonable urban and rural layout contains the following three meanings:
First, the definition of urban and rural areas is reasonable. Unlike China, which defines urban and rural areas through "administrative divisions", the concept of densely populated areas (DID) is usually used internationally to distinguish urban and rural areas. Settlements with a total population of more than 5,000 and a density of more than 4,000 people/km² in the core area can generally be regarded as a small city, and the vast area between various cities can be regarded as a village.
Second, the city is set up reasonably. An important feature of urban setups in major developed countries is the rational distinction between regional governments and city governments. Generally speaking, provinces and counties are regional governments, and cities are city governments; regional governments are responsible for regional management, and city governments are only responsible for urban management; cities can be large or small, and there is no fixed administrative level.
Third, the population layout is reasonable. The urban population is evenly distributed in large, medium, and small cities, with professional farmers living in rural areas, and the agricultural industry chain population and the reverse urbanization population living in large rural settlements or small towns.
[This article was originally published in Shanghai Rural Economy.] The author Chen Ming is an associate researcher at the Institute of Political Science of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, whose main research areas are rural governance, land system, and rural reform, and has published "On Land Politics" and "Facing China's Seed Problems" (editor-in-chief). ]