Urban-Rural Synergy Pathways: Exploring Human-Factor in Multifunctional Utilization of Urban Farmland Based on Rural Push-Pull Theory

In the context of ecological civilization construction, China's urbanization has officially entered its latter stage, highlighting the increasing contradiction between construction land and farmland protection. The nation has implemented the strictest farmland protection policies ever, mandating the preservation of the 1.8 billion-mu farmland red line in terms of both quantity and quality. Currently, the intertwined distribution of cities and farmland is commonplace, characterized by fragmented layouts and inefficient production. Furthermore, urban farmland areas generally suffer from crude management and low efficiency, leading to prominent issues of farmland conversion to non-agricultural and non-grain uses. Most farmland remains neglected, exhibiting a state of "scattered, disorganized, poor quality, and underdeveloped." In reality, these urban farmlands are closely linked to urban spaces and residents, possessing not only conventional production value but also substantial ecological, social, landscaping, and cultural humanistic service values yet to be unleashed.This study, grounded in the rural push-pull theory, innovatively establishes an inverse urbanization population attraction analysis model. It defines the synergistic connotations of three objective factors—policy push, business pull, and development resistance—in the composite utilization of urban farmland. Furthermore, it constructs a quantitative evaluation framework of "evaluation system-influencing factors." Empirical analysis based on this framework elucidates the internal logic of attracting urban populations to participate in consumption and production through composite utilization of urban farmland, revealing the interactive relationships between these three influencing factors and human behavior.Taking Ningbo ,China, a typical representative of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, as a case study, this research employs in-depth stakeholder interviews, questionnaires, and field surveys. The primary investigation targets include urban residents, farmers, government personnel, and farmland managers. Over 30 interviews were conducted, with 580 questionnaires distributed and 426 valid responses collected. The collected data were utilized for empirical analysis.The results indicate that: (1) Composite utilization of urban farmland necessitates the deep integration of functions, spaces, industries, and cultures to address issues in policy, management, and development. Through optimized policy management, coordinated urban-rural resource allocation, and innovative business philosophies, coordinated urban-rural development can be achieved. (2) Urban farmland leverages production to exert functional value, appends agricultural, cultural, and tourism elements to provide emotional value, and facilitates offline entertainment and online purchasing to create brand value. These three values complement each other, attracting urban populations and thereby promoting resource flows and population migration between cities and villages.This study explores the human factor mechanisms in the composite utilization of urban farmland. By enhancing the value of urban farmland and facilitating urban-rural resource and population flows through land circulation and income distribution mechanisms, it aims to increase farmers' incomes and promote sustainable, coordinated urban-rural development.