Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Rural Revitalization and an Improvement Path: A Typical Old Revolutionary Cultural Area as an Example

Abstract

At present, the focus of global attention is on implementing rural revitalization strategies. However, constructing a set of scientifically based evaluation indexes for the evaluation of the effectiveness of rural revitalization implementation, exploring the implementation plan for rural revitalization, has become a common concern and a focus of discussion in political and academic circles. This study used a typical rural revitalization demonstration area in China as an example. We proposed a theoretical framework for rural revitalization research and constructed an index evaluation system for the evaluation of the effectiveness of rural revitalization implementation and influencing factors from two perspectives: material life and spiritual life. The results were as follows: Differences were found in the implementation effectiveness of rural revitalization strategies in the study area; especially, in areas with obvious rural cultural characteristics, their implementation level was relatively high. The implementation effectiveness of rural revitalization strategies was the result of multi-factor interactions. The village greening rate, innovation ability, and the age of village supporters were the main factors affecting rural revitalization, and the interaction effects of a village’s innovation ability and other factors were significant. Therefore, we argue that in the process of promoting the sustainable development of villages, it is necessary to prominent the characteristics of village construction and improve the effectiveness of the implementation of village revitalization strategies at both the material and spiritual levels.