Measurement and Regional Differences of Rural Revitalization in Jiangsu Province from the Perspective of “Strong, Prosperous, Beautiful, and Highly Civilized”: An Entropy Method Approach

Abstract

Rural revitalization is a key strategy for promoting agricultural and rural development and an essential component of coordinated urban–rural development. Although Jiangsu Province enjoys a relatively high level of economic development, considerable disparities persist among its regions. Adopting the "Strong, Prosperous, Beautiful, and Highly Civilized" framework as the theoretical lens, this paper applies the entropy weight method to panel data from 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province over the period 2006–2024. The results indicate that rural revitalization in Jiangsu has progressed steadily, whereas regional disparities remain pronounced and have tended to widen. Northern Jiangsu consistently ranks at the forefront of the evaluation by virtue of its abundant agricultural resource endowment, while Southern Jiangsu falls behind as agriculture accounts for a declining share of its economic structure. Based on these empirical findings, the paper proposes targeted policy recommendations for promoting coordinated regional development.