Research on Rural Community Restructuring in Traditional Agricultural Areas from the Perspective of Hybridity: A Case Study of the Jianghan Plain, China

Theoretical perspective: The function of rural human settlements serves as a crucial perspective for interpreting rural community restructuring, and hybridity is a powerful tool for decoding the function of rural human settlements. Objectives and methodology: Based on rural communities’ sample survey data in typical counties and cities of the Jianghan Plain in 2012 and 2022, an evaluation index system for rural community restructuring was constructed across three dimensions: entity hybridity, network hybridity, and meaning hybridity. This paper aimed to analyze the characteristics of rural community restructuring and human settlement functions evolving in the traditional agricultural plain using the weighted TOPSIS method, the Markov chain, and the synergy model. Results and conclusions: From 2012 to 2022, the level of rural community restructuring in the Jianghan Plain has significantly improved, and the comprehensive index of rural community restructuring has gradually narrowed across different rural communities. Meaning hybridity plays a major role in rural community restructuring in the Jianghan Plain. Social culture is the dominant element of rural community restructuring. Public security situation contributes 21.35% to rural community restructuring as the key indicator. Both macro humanistic environment and micro spatial attributes have significant influences on rural community restructuring. These findings can provide a scientific basis for the optimization of the rural community system in the Jianghan Plain.