Progress of international rural network geographic research and implications for China

Abstract

With the development of rural-urban integration, rural areas are included in a wider circulation of socioeconomic processes and redefined by multiple internal and external connections. Correspondingly, the marginality of rural geographical location is gradually weakened. The relationship turn in economic geography research provides a new way of dealing with the current situation, where participants in social and economic activities are regarded as the real research objects. It also focuses on virtual space consisted of all kinds of socioeconomic flows, which can be a supplement to geographic space research. However, it is not appropriate to simply apply the research framework of economic geography, which are mainly based on urban context, to rural geography studies. In this article, the necessity and feasibility of the network paradigm application in rural geography were discussed based on an international research review. The core issue of the rural network paradigm discussion is whether people living in rural areas can get rid of the limitations of marginal geographical location by the construction of outward connections. It is found that geographical location and local characteristics can still be the key factors for the development of rural industries and their participation in external competition. There is a limited marginal revenue of more investment in physical infrastructure, such as transportation and communication facilities, to make up for the disadvantages of rural remote locations. The improvement of social environment, such as institutional space, learning space, and informal social network, is important for promoting information, technology, and economic capital flows from urban areas to rural areas more efficiently, so as to accelerate the development of rural areas.