Analysis on the Spatial Impact Factors of Poverty and Its Planning Suggestions: A Case Study of Guizhou Counties

Abstract

Poverty has been a world-wide focus topic. Previous studies have given lots of analysis and policy recommendations in the views of economics and sociology. Considering that the poverty tends to gather in some particular space with spatial characteristics, some researchers from the World Bank have begun to focus on the “Spatial Poverty” in recent years. Taking Guizhou province—the poorest region of China- as an example, this paper does further research in this field. Guided by the research framework of the science of human settlements, this article constructs a theoretical model showing the connection between space and poverty, which contains factors from (1) natural resources, (2) distribution of population, (3) intensity of spatial economic activities, (4) cities and towns, and (5) infrastructure. This research finds a positive influence though partial least squares regression (PLSR), using data from 75 counties in Guizhou Province. The results show that some spatial factors may serve an important role in poverty generation, including (1) the contradictions between people and land, (2) the lower level of county economic and urbanization development, and (3) weak infrastructure. Based on the analysis, the article also gives some policy recommendation on the spatial planning of rural areas.