Development and Application of a Coupled Model for Rural-Transportation Coordination in China Based on an International Perspective

There has been a common phenomenon of rural population loss and rural development challenges throughout the process of industrialization and urbanization in developed countries, and these countries have implemented the rural revitalization strategy. As an important part of rural infrastructure, rural roads are critical to the success of rural revitalization. Rural roads in developed countries have been thoroughly built with the cooperative support of national and local governments. By developing a coupled model for rural-transportation coordination in developed countries and exploring the characteristic mechanisms of urbanization process and rural road development, the study establishes a coupled rural-transportation coordination model in China and makes a judgment on the development trend of rural roads in China. The findings demonstrate the requirement for long-term phased evolution and regional difference in the construction of rural roads within the context of rural revitalization, and the rural-transportation coupling coordination model can more accurately demonstrate the coordinated evolution of rural road scale and urbanization rate. Prior to 2035, it is anticipated that China’s rural road network will continue to rise steadily along with the rate of urbanization and eventually stabilize.