A Study on the Spatial Evolution and Evolutionary Models of Rural Settlements in 25 Counties (Cities, Districts) along the Yellow River in Shandong Province

Based on field investigations, text analysis, and remote sensing image interpretation, this study comprehensively constructs models such as land use status and classification index, rural settlement land dynamic degree, landscape pattern index, land use transfer matrix, and principal component analysis to analyze the spatial evolution basis and characteristics of rural settlement land of 25 counties in Shandong Province from 2000 to 2020. The aim is to grasp the basic state of rural settlement spatial evolution in this area and integrate effective paths for optimizing rural settlement space. Research has found that: The rural settlement land of 25 counties in Shandong Province is showing a continuous expansion trend, and the distribution density of rural settlement land patches continues to decrease over time. In recent years, the effectiveness of rural settlement land planning and governance is gradually becoming prominent. From 2000 to 2020, the scale 25 counties along the Yellow River in Shandong Province showed an orderly increase, and the settlement patches showed a spatial layout trend of "relocation integration". From 2000 to 2020, there were differences in the spatial distribution and dynamic trends of rural settlement land within different altitude levels in 25 counties along Shandong Province. The middle and low altitude areas (18-246 meters) were the main distribution areas study area. From 2000 to 2020, there was a clear trend of mutual transformation between space and other land types in 25 counties along the Yellow River in Shandong Province.