Problems and Strategies of Allocating Public Service Resources in Rural Areas in the Context of County Urbanization

Muzhe Pan, Yaofu Huang, Yawen Qin, Xun Li and Wei Lang ()
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Muzhe Pan: School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Yaofu Huang: School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Yawen Qin: School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Xun Li: School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Wei Lang: School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-20

Abstract: Imbalances in allocating public service resources are a universal problem worldwide, especially in urban and rural areas. As a developing country with a significant imbalance between urban and rural areas, China is representative of the unbalanced allocation of public service resources. Presently, China has entered the county urbanization stage. Therefore, this study can provide a new way to realize the equalization of urban and rural public services with the county as the basic unit. Taking counties as the primary study area, this paper analyzes the new trends of population mobility in China’s counties. It combines large-scale questionnaires and field surveys to investigate the new demand of rural residents for public services and the shortcomings of public service resource allocation. First, the county seat attracts a concentration of the county’s rural residents and returning population, whose high expectations for the county seat’s education and medical services have not yet been met. Second, the township assumes the vital function of elementary school education and medical services in rural areas, and the rural children have a great demand for elementary school education services in the township. However, there are still apparent shortcomings in support of teaching facilities and the quality of education services. Third, the problem of aging and hollowing out in rural areas is serious, and the education, medical and elderly service needs of left-behind children and the elderly are difficult to be guaranteed. Finally, this paper proposes targeted planning strategies and policy recommendations for allocating county public service resources at three levels based on the “county–town–village” hierarchy.

Keywords: county urbanization; equalization of public services; trend of population mobility; planning strategies; urban-rural integration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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