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<p>Rapid population aging poses severe challenges to socioeconomic development and places unprecedented pressure on sustainable rural development. However, the mechanisms through which aging impacts rural sustainability remain underexplored. Utilizing large-scale survey data from China, this study develops a comprehensive assessment framework to measure rural community sustainability (RCS). We analyze the mediating effects of human capital, land use transitions, and agricultural modernization in the process of population aging that undermines RCS. The results reveal that China’s overall RCS score is 56.38, indicating substantial scope for improvement, with significant variations observed across dimensions and provinces. Cropland resources, communal assets, labor resources, agricultural dependency, and economic development levels constitute the primary internal constraints for RCS. This study demonstrates that while population aging has no direct significant impact on overall RCS levels, it significantly undermines RCS through multiple mediating pathways. Specifically, aging indirectly weakens RCS by exacerbating cropland abandonment and reducing labor force supply, while promoting agricultural mechanization and facilitating cropland transfers can effectively mitigate the adverse effects of aging on RCS. Notably, population aging has a significant negative impact exclusively on the dimension of services and infrastructure sustainability. Based on these findings, we propose several policy interventions to optimize rural resource allocation and mitigate aging-related constraints.</p>

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How Population Aging Undermines Rural Community Sustainability: Evidence from 304 Chinese Communities

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月11日

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  • Honglin Tang,
  • Ye Liu,
  • Tianmin Tao

摘要

Rapid population aging poses severe challenges to socioeconomic development and places unprecedented pressure on sustainable rural development. However, the mechanisms through which aging impacts rural sustainability remain underexplored. Utilizing large-scale survey data from China, this study develops a comprehensive assessment framework to measure rural community sustainability (RCS). We analyze the mediating effects of human capital, land use transitions, and agricultural modernization in the process of population aging that undermines RCS. The results reveal that China’s overall RCS score is 56.38, indicating substantial scope for improvement, with significant variations observed across dimensions and provinces. Cropland resources, communal assets, labor resources, agricultural dependency, and economic development levels constitute the primary internal constraints for RCS. This study demonstrates that while population aging has no direct significant impact on overall RCS levels, it significantly undermines RCS through multiple mediating pathways. Specifically, aging indirectly weakens RCS by exacerbating cropland abandonment and reducing labor force supply, while promoting agricultural mechanization and facilitating cropland transfers can effectively mitigate the adverse effects of aging on RCS. Notably, population aging has a significant negative impact exclusively on the dimension of services and infrastructure sustainability. Based on these findings, we propose several policy interventions to optimize rural resource allocation and mitigate aging-related constraints.