Rural Development Evaluation from Territorial Function Angle: a Case of Shandong Province

Rural territorial function follows the trend to develop from agricultural production space to a complex of cultural heritage, food security, social stability, quality of living, etc. Based on the rural area's territorial function to both urban and rural areas and its evolution law, index system of rural development evaluation, covering rural production function, rural consumption function, regional sustaining function, and individual development function were constructed in this paper. Case study based on Shandong Province and entropy method showed that the rural development in Shandong Province was neither stable nor orderly, and some of rural territorial functions were under fluctuation. The simulation result was close to the actual situation in rural areas of Shandong Province, and therefore, it would provide some experience for scientific evaluation of rural development in other regions. In the end, policy suggestion to cope with rural function transition was provided, namely further promoting the rural economic development, and breaking away from various factors that restricted the value realization, natural increment, and equitable distribution of rural production factors, and therefore, it would receive a sustainable rural development.