Negotiating Space and Identity: Digital Empowerment and Spatial Practices of Returning Older Adults in Rural China

Abstract This study examines how returning older adults in rural China navigate spatial practices and reconstruct identities through digital technology. It reveals that the older adults returning to rural areas, motivated by affective ties to their hometowns, achieve entrepreneurial identity transformation through digital empowerment. Their initiatives contribute to local socio‐economic development, establishing them as pivotal endogenous drivers of rural advancement. As a novel category of rural elites, these returning entrepreneurial older adults utilise digital platforms for marketing and management while integrating individual experience with global knowledge systems. By adapting global frameworks to local contexts, their reflective spatial practices catalyse rural vitalisation through the reproduction of rural spaces and social relationships. This study contributes to understanding how digital inclusion empowers marginal groups to become agents of rural vitalisation. It offers a critical pathway for promoting the integration of digital technology and active aging, thereby providing valuable insights for inclusive rural development agendas.