The Evolving Structure of Rural Construction Land in Urbanizing China: Case Study of Tai’an Prefecture

With a rapid surge in urbanization, rural functions and the structure of rural construction land are undergoing profound change. Using the village-level units of Tai’an Prefecture in the North China Plain as the research object, this study employs the land use survey data in 2019, selecting the diversity index, concentration index, land use type, and location index to analyze the spatial pattern of rural construction land structure. Thereafter, a multiple linear regression model is developed to identify the driving factors of spatial differentiation in rural construction land structure. The results show that (1) there are remarkable spatial differences in all indices representing the structure of construction land in Tai’an and the landscape varies across the indices, and (2) the most important factors affecting the spatial differentiation of construction land use structure are the location, socioeconomic development, and policy, while the effects of natural conditions are limited. The worse the location conditions and the more regressed the economic and social development level, the lower the diversity of construction land and the more unitary the structure. The results of this case study demonstrate the crucial role of the changing urban–rural relation under rapid urbanization in shaping the geography of rural land use, which is expected to have reference significance for researchers and policy makers dealing with rural transformation in developing countries.