Evaluating the Sustainable Development of Rural Communities: A Case Study of the Mountainous Areas of Southwest China

Rural areas are complex multi-level regional systems comprising multiple elements such as natural resources, human resources, social systems, and economic elements. Drawing on the socio-ecological system framework, we develop a new evaluation system to better understand rural sustainable development and the interactions between economic, social, and natural factors. Applying this system to the case of Guizhou Province reveals the following: First, the overall level of sustainable development of rural communities is low. Furthermore, the development gap between communities is significant, mainly driven by differences in the resource system and economic outcomes. Second, the overall coupling and coordination level among the rural sustainable development subsystems is low, and they are all in the grinding and less coordinated stage. Compared with communities with lower sustainable development, those with higher sustainable development levels exhibit higher coupling and coupling coordination. Third, the obstacles to sustainable development in rural communities are mainly concentrated in the resource systems and economic outcomes, including construction land, housing, government funding, asset growth, income growth, profitability, and bonus sharing.