Research on the impact of digital economy on urban-rural integrated development under the background of rural revitalization: Taking the Yangtze River Economic Belt as an example

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YERB) is a key regional economic belt in China. Urban-rural integration plays a crucial role in its economic development. This project, taking the YERB as a case study, conducted field research and collected data from nine provinces and two municipalities within the YERB over the ten years from 2014 to 2023. The data were analyzed and, from a general systems theory perspective, the theoretical mechanisms by which the digital economy influences urban-rural relations were explored. The YERB digital economy and urban-rural integration development indices were calculated using entropy weighting and principal component analysis, respectively, and empirically validated. The results show that the digital economy significantly promotes rural industrial development, with significant regional variations; urban-rural integration significantly promotes rural industrial development, with significant regional heterogeneity; and that industrial restructuring plays a positive regulatory role in the digital economy and urban-rural integration promoting rural industrial development. To this end, we should deepen the impact of the digital economy on rural industrial development, fully strengthen the collective economy, enhance the role of urban-rural integration in promoting common prosperity, and promote the development of rural areas through urban development. Furthermore, we should closely link the support provided by industrial upgrading to rural development and promote the aggregation of key factors.