The orderly development of county urbanization, as an effective driving force for the integrated development of urban and rural areas in the new era, promotes the interaction and flow of elements between urban and rural territorial system, the optimization and adjustment of industrial structures, the optimal allocation of resources and markets, and the organic integration of urban and rural territorial system. The results show that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the county urbanization in China developed rapidly, and the regional differences in spatial and temporal dynamics were significant. The county urbanization rate in the eastern coastal, central suburbs and northern border areas was high, while it is low in southwest China, rural areas of the central region and most parts of Tibet and Xinjiang. In 2020, to the east of the Hu Huanyong Line, the northeastern region, northern Hebei, Shanxi-Shaanxi-Henan region, eastern Sichuan, and Yunnan-Guizhou region became high-value areas for urbanization rates at the county level. There are 716 counties with urbanization rates exceeding 50%, including the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Chengdu-Chongqing region, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the border areas of Inner Mongolia, and the southeastern coastal areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian, accounting for 38.3% of the country's total. (2) The county urbanization in China is the result of the combined effects of factors such as population, economy, society, and culture. The level of economic development, natural environment conditions, infrastructure construction, geographic locations, public resource supply, professional entrepreneurial clusters, and macro policies affect the direction, scope and depth of county urbanization. It is predicted that by 2035, the urbanization rate of China will reach about 76.04%, and that of counties will be about 64.38%. In the future, we should strengthen the adjustment and optimization of county population, economy, society and spatial organizational structure. (3) There are five types of county urbanization in China, including factor agglomeration urbanization in counties around big cities, industrial agglomeration-driven urbanization in counties with specialized function, agricultural modernization-led urbanization in counties with main agricultural production areas, ecological conservation urbanization in counties with ecological function areas, and concentrated urbanization in counties with population loss. (4) County urbanization takes county and key towns as important spatial carriers for the agglomeration of urbanization elements, and forms a multi-level system of residence-industry and industry-city coordination. The rational spatial distribution of factors such as the development of industrial integration and population resources will further promote the interactive flow of urban and rural elements, the integration of urban and rural industries, the equalization of urban and rural residents, and the equalization of urban and rural infrastructure, and enhance urban-rural integration and network development.

Town-village shows a heterogeneous development trend in the urban-rural transition in China. However, previous studies focused more on the dynamics of the physical space of town-villages and the impact of natural factors while ignoring the shaping effects of the underlying socioeconomic changes. Scientific understanding of town-villages development rules at the county scale and the refinement of typical evolutionary modes can help construct an efficient and coordinated town-villages construction pattern (TVCP) that adapts to socioeconomic patterns according to local conditions. It also helps to promote industrial reshaping, organisational reconstruction, and spatial reconfiguration of town-villages. More importantly, it can build a new platform for urban-rural integrated development and thus achieve common prosperity for both rural and urban areas. This research aims to refine the evolutionary modes of TVCP in counties with different development paths. First, we analysed the logic and history of the differentiation of the TVCP evolutionary path from the perspective of "social process-space form". Then, a multicase method was used to compare and analyse the differences in the evolution of TVCP in three typical counties of Jiangsu province from 2009 to 2018. Finally, we generalised the experience into universal evolution modes. The results show that the TVCP evolution is a typical process of the production of space, and the transformation of the production mode leads to various evolutionary paths of the TVCP. Moreover, there are obvious differences in the spatio-temporal characteristics of the TVCP evolution and the mechanisms of influencing factors under different development paths due to the difference in spatial demands of element agglomeration and evacuation. Based on the comparative case analysis, we summarise three types of evolutionary modes with different changing trends and dynamic mechanisms. The agricultural production mode shows a trend of polarised expansion of Chengguan town and shrewd contraction of the villages, which is mainly driven by urbanisation combined with state power and social demands. The industrial production mode, driven by rapid capital circulation dominated by market power, shows a trend of polycentric expansion of towns and consolidation of villages. The ecological consumption mode is characterised by the divergence between the revival and decline of villages; the driving mechanism is commodification and authoritativeness in rural space. According to the three modes, we suggest that efforts should be made to equalise basic public services, realise the citizenization of the migrant agricultural population, and promote commercial cooperation between urban and rural areas in the future.

Administrative division is an important part of the national governance system. A systematic analysis of the spatial and temporal change pattern and influencing factors of the adjustment of county-level administrative divisions in the Qing Dynasty can better learn from and give play to the supporting role of administrative divisions in national and local governance. Using the textual research results of the national Qing history compilation project Qing History·Geographical Chronicles, and referring to the Qing Dynasty archives in China's first historical archives collection, Qingshilu, Qinghuidian, Daqingyitongzhi, local chronicles and other historical documents, this paper comprehensively analyzes the overall evolution and adjustment of county-level administrative divisions from 1683 to 1911. The research shows that: (1) There are 9 kinds of adjustment forms of county-level administrative divisions in the Qing Dynasty. The key of the adjustment is the proposal power of the governor, and the governor system is the institutional guarantee for the adjustment and promotion of administrative divisions. (2) The frequency of administrative division adjustment was greatly affected by the governance concept of the supreme ruler, showing fluctuating changes. The Yongzheng period was the absolute peak of administrative adjustment in the Qing Dynasty, the Guangxu and Xuantong periods was a relative peak, and the adjustment of Daoguang to Tongzhi periods was the least. (3) The setting of county-level administrative divisions was the most frequent, followed by the change and splitting of subordinate relations. Level change and consolidation were 2 types with lower adjustment frequency. (4) In the Qing Dynasty, the 4 types of adjustments of upgrading, relocation, abolishment and new establishment were widely distributed in 23 provinces, with the highest uniformity of provincial distribution, and the 4 types of adjustments of renaming, merging, changing affiliation and changing at the same level were concentrated in provinces such as Zhili, Henan and Shanxi. (5) The formation of the adjustment pattern of county-level administrative divisions in the Qing Dynasty was the result of the joint action of many factors. Political consideration was the decisive factor. All this reflected the management concept of clear hierarchy, clear rights and responsibilities, adjusting measures to local conditions and step by step.