Spatial Effect and Influence Mechanism of New Urbanization on Urban-Rural Income Gap in the Wuling Mountain Area

New urbanization is an important for narrowing the urban-rural income gap and providing powerful support for promoting regional cooperative development. Based on panel data of 71 county units in the Wuling Mountain Area from 2014 to 2021, the spatial effect and influence mechanism of new urbanization on the urban-rural income gap were investigated using the spatial Durbin, mediation effect, and panel threshold models. The results revealed the following: 1) A positive spatial correlation existed between new urbanization and urban-rural income gap in the Wuling Mountain Area. The local spatial clustering was dominated by the "low-high", and new urbanization had a significant spatial spillover effect on the urban-rural income gap. 2) New urbanization in the Wuling Mountain Area reduced the urban-rural income gap by increasing the level of digitally inclusive financial development and promoting upgrading the industrial structure. 3) The impact of new urbanization on the urban-rural income gap in the Wuling Mountain Area was constrained by itself and the level of economic development, and there was a single-threshold effect, which showed the law of diminishing margins and the inverted "U"-shaped change trend, respectively. Based on the spatial perspective and non-linear perspective, it investigated the spatial effect and influence mechanism of the new urbanization on the urban-rural income gap in the Wuling Mountain Area, which not only made up for the limitations of the existing research in exploring the relationship between the two from the perspective of localization, but also expanded the existing theoretical research system, and provided the theoretical basis and practical guidance for the Wuling Mountain Area and other underdeveloped areas to accelerate the two-way flow of urban and rural factors, to promote the organic integration of new urbanization and rural revitalization strategy, and to promote the realization of common prosperity.