Evaluation, Coordination Relationship, and Obstacle Factor Analysis of Integrated Urban–Rural Development in Counties of Wuling Mountain Area

Integrated urban–rural development is of great significance in promoting coordinated development in underdeveloped areas across provinces and advancing common prosperity. Previous studies have mostly focused on typical counties in single or developed areas, with insufficient exploration of integrated urban–rural development in underdeveloped areas. A total of 71 counties in Wuling Mountain area were taken as the research object, and a conceptual model of “element–structure–function” was constructed based on the theory of the urban–rural integration system. The entropy weight ideal point method, variation coefficient method, coupling coordination model, and obstacle model were employed to analyze the integrated urban–rural development in counties of the Wuling Mountain area during 2010 and 2023 from the five dimensions of population, economy, space, society, and ecology, and to explore their coupling coordination relationship and key obstacle factors. The research results indicate the following: (1) During the study period, the average annual growth rate of integrated urban–rural development was only 1.213%, showing a relatively low level. The spatial evolution exhibited a trend of “overall optimization–gap convergence–multipolar linkage–hot in the south and cold in the north”. (2) The comprehensive coupling coordination increased from 0.6380 in 2010 to 0.7016 in 2023, and the coupling coordination of “population–space” became the dominant mode. Nearly 60% of counties achieved a level upgrade from the transition stage to the coordination stage, and the multidimensional coordination relationship was mainly affected by the dual effects of spatial polarization and ecological constraints. (3) The obstacle of spatial integration ranked first and the mismatch of factors was severe. Land urbanization and population distribution imbalance were key obstacles, and their core contradictions were concentrated in the tripartite dilemma of “extensive land utilization–factor blockage–ecological antagonism”. It is urgent to achieve coordinated and sustainable development of urban and rural integration through market-oriented reforms of two-way factor flow. The conceptual model of “element–structure–function” constructed by the research results can provide a theoretical tool for analyzing the integrated development of urban and rural areas in counties, and can provide decision support for solving the dilemma of element mismatch.