The Transmission Mechanism Through Which the Platform Economy Promotes Integrated Urban-Rural Development—Based on the Meituan Platform in Yanyuan County, Sichuan

The urban-rural dual structure remains an issue in China’s development, and the platform economy offers possibilities for addressing it. Existing studies have mainly verified its role in promoting urban-rural integration, while the underlying transmission mechanism requires further examination. This study proposes a “four-element, three-stage transmission” framework that treats the platform economy as a composite actor of external driving forces and an internal capability system. Taking the Meituan platform in Yanyuan County, Sichuan, as a single case, the study examines how the platform economy promotes urban-rural integration. The findings show that the platform economy is not a simple empowerment tool but a “three-in-one” system comprising technological infrastructure, a capability system, and operational rules, all of which are indispensable. Platform expansion results from policy guidance, capital pressure, and platform capabilities, whereas urban-rural integration is the objective outcome of the transmission chain rather than an expression of platform intent. Platform expansion is also not one-way technological implantation. Algorithms and rules must be adapted and “translated” to local sociocultural conditions, and local elites play an irreplaceable coordinating role. This study integrates fragmented mechanism pathways into a coherent transmission sequence and provides a new theoretical perspective on the platform economy and urban-rural integration.