Research on the Development Logic and Sustainable Transformation Path of Suburban Villages from the Perspective of Relational Turn: A Case Study of Panlongling Village

Abstract

Against the backdrop of urban–rural element flow and rural transformational development in China, suburban villages, as frontier zones connecting cities and rural areas, are pivotal in promoting urban–rural integration and fostering sustainable growth. This study takes Panlongling Village in China as a case study, utilizing theoretical methods from the perspective of the relational turn in geography to analyze the relational logic of rural socio-economic phenomena and address related conflicts. Based on data from multiple field surveys and interviews, this study identifies problems already discovered in Panlongling Village’s development, such as superficial economic enhancement, low villager participation, unidirectional benefit flow, and so on. This study proposes a hypothesis about the causes of these problems and validates this hypothesis through Actor–Network Theory, including unequal benefit distribution, insufficient technical support, inadequate governance and supervision, and a lack of self-improvement awareness among the actors. This study further offers targeted future development pathways for the village’s industrial transformation through actor–network reconstruction, taking into account the multidimensional relationships of stakeholders within the village, urban–rural relations, and socio-economic–natural interactions. It highlights the importance of a people-centric approach, shared benefits among actors, and cross-regional and cross-scale relational connections, offering insights for promoting sustainable development and the transformational development of suburban villages.

1. Introduction

In the context of global flows, interactions among different regions of the world and various elements have become more frequent and complex, leading to a network society characterized by deterritorialization [1] and susceptibility to the influence of other actors and elements. This network is built upon the interplay of various elements. In geography, there has been a shift towards studying and discussing the interrelationships between elements [2]. Inspired by poststructuralist thought [3], the relational turn first garnered attention from human geographers like Allen, significantly impacting the theoretical development and academic practice of geography [4,5]. Poststructuralist geographers, led by Cresswell, termed this new perspective in geography “Relational Geography” [6,7]. In Relational Geography, the world is viewed as a fluid topological structure and a product of interconnected relationships, emphasizing the dynamic interplay and dependency of things in their developmental process [6,7]. Woods (2010) and others argue that the growing influence of network relationships on regional spaces has gradually diminished the antagonism between nature and society, between humans and non-humans, and among regions, leading to a more egalitarian network of various actors [8].

Influenced by globalization, informatization, and urbanization, rural geographical systems have also shown a trend of “deterritorialization” [9,10,11], exhibiting a phenomenon of urban–rural convergence in aspects such as industrial economic transformation and socio-cultural activities [12]. To strengthen the linkages between urban and rural elements and reduce the geographical marginality of rural areas, the relational turn in geography provides a new perspective for rural development. This perspective mitigates the issue of inverting the importance of socio-economic actors and geographical space found in classic views and theories [11] and allows for a more thorough analysis of socio-economic phenomena in rural development [9]. In the development paths of villages from a relational perspective, foreign scholars emphasize the compound effects of “exogenous” networks and “endogenous” local networks [11]. For instance, Murdoch (2000) developed a developmental path that connects internal and external elements of rural areas, suggesting that the emergence of new development paths in rural areas is the result of a complex interplay of exogenous industrial networks, informal learning networks, and local “path dependency” [12]. Macneil (1977) proposed the concept of “relational governance” for relational contracts fitting the “acquaintance society” of rural areas, focusing on the role of social interactions embedded in economic behaviors [13].

In recent years, as China enters a critical period of urban–rural relationship transformation and rural transformational development [14], domestic scholars have also started conducting rural geographical research from the perspective of the relational turn, tailored to China’s local conditions [15]. Cai and Liu (2019) redefined the space, place, scale, and subjectivity in Relational Geography and constructed a new topological geography concerning networks, relations, and flows [6]. Wu (2019) analyzed the essentialist rural development view in China under the relational turn and reconceptualized traditional, boundary-divided “space” [16]. She argued for a more coherent and cooperative relational governance framework for rural development, proposing path adjustments from the dimensions of urban–rural relations, local–global relations, and human–nature–society relations [17]. Xiao et al. (2022) discussed the applicability of the relational research paradigm in domestic rural geographical studies, establishing a rural Relational Geography research framework suited to China’s national conditions [11].

In 2018, China entered the phase of categorized rural development with the “Rural Revitalization Plan (2018–2022)” issued by the Central Committee and the State Council. The plan identifies four types of villages: aggregation and upgrading, urban–rural integration, relocation and consolidation, and characteristic protection. Among them, urban–rural integration villages (referred to as suburban villages) are located in suburban areas or near county towns, outside the urban planning zones [18,19]. These villages have the potential to become urban backyards and are well positioned for urban transformation. Socially and spatially, they are both pioneers of urban–rural integration and sites where urban and rural elements converge.

Suburban villages, as transitional areas connecting cities and rural regions, play a key role in facilitating the two-way flow of people, resources, and ideas, thus promoting urban–rural integration and reducing disparities [20]. However, these villages also face challenges. With significant population heterogeneity, they often attract migrants and low-income urban groups, leading to fragmented social relations and sensitivity to conflicts [21]. Their development is marked by complex relationships, diverse interests, and cultural differences [22].

Research on urban–rural integration villages has taken two approaches: one views them as passive products of urbanization, struggling with low-quality integration and depending on external governance [21]; the other emphasizes their unique, heterogeneous nature, focusing on their endogenous drivers and proactive engagement with urbanization [23]. However, there is a lack of research that explores the internal disparities within these villages from a process-oriented perspective that clarifies the inherent logic of village transformation [21].

The relational turn perspective is particularly suited to understanding the complexity and diversity in these villages, providing a dynamic framework for analyzing internal social relations and conflicts. This study aims to explore the dynamic logic of industrial transformation in Panlongling Village, a typical suburban village in Wangcheng District, Changsha City, Hunan Province, China, through the lens of relational turn theory and Actor–Network Theory (ANT). By examining the underlying causes of problems encountered during the development process, this research seeks to address these issues and provide a reference for the transformational development paths of other suburban villages. Additionally, it contributes to enriching China’s research on the internal logic of rural transformation.

After conducting multiple in-depth investigations in Panlongling Village, we identified several major issues, including the superficiality of economic improvements, insufficient participation of villagers, a unidirectional flow of benefits, abandoned farmland, agricultural non-point source pollution, low core competitiveness of agricultural product brands, and insufficient regional linkage promotion. However, we were unable to determine the underlying causes of these problems, making it difficult to propose feasible solutions. Therefore, the research focuses on the following questions:

(1)

What is the dynamic internal logic of industrial transformation in Panlongling Village?

(2)

What are the deep-rooted causes of the industrial issues in Panlongling Village?

(3)

How can these issues be resolved, and what pathways can be proposed for the future industrial transformation of the village?

2. Research Methodology and Analytical Framework

2.1. Actor–Network Theory

Under the relational turn perspective, Actor–Network Theory (ANT) serves as a research paradigm that considers interactions among actors through network relationships [24] and has been widely applied in various fields [25,26]. This network is a descriptive connecting method, emphasizing the processes of actor interaction, flow, and change [27]. Rural geography is one of the earliest sub-disciplines within human geography to apply ANT. Liu Xuan has noted that the application of ANT in rural geography primarily focuses on rural development models, the evaluation of agricultural policies, and the impacts of globalization [24].

ANT comprises 4 core concepts: actors, intermediaries, translation, and network [24,27,28]. Actors are the entities in the network, appearing as nodes, and can be any human or non-human object that changes the state of things by creating differences [29,30], and all actors are considered broadly equal [24,31,32]. Intermediary is what brings about difference in relational elements, causing changes in the actor–network [27,28,32]. In an egalitarian, decentralized actor–network, actors and intermediaries are of a similar nature [27,28,32]. Translation refers to the dynamic process where actors transform information through action and construct a network [27,28,32]. The network itself is a relational network of nodes, interrelationships, and element flows established on these relationships [27,28,32]. The more actors there are, and the more frequent their actions are and the closer they interact, the more complex and extensive the network will become [27,28,32].

In an actor–network, translation is the dynamic process through which actors construct networks [33]. It serves as the core of this study, where the roles, functions, and value positioning of actors evolve and are redefined [33]. The translation process includes problematization, interessement, enrolment, mobilization, and the exclusion of dissidence [27]. The logic of translation and ANT follows the sequence of “Problematization—Interessement—Enrolment and Mobilization—Actor–Network Formation—Dissidence—Actor–Network Stabilization/Transformation/Disintegration [34,35]”.

(1)

Problematization involves key actors transforming the concerns of other actors into problems, indicating the pathways for these actors to achieve their goals, and setting their own goals as the “Obligatory Passage Point” (OPP) for all actors [27,33]. In the early stages of actor–network formation, different actors have their own needs and goals, encountering various problems and obstacles. To address these issues, actors seek support from one another, forming network connections with those who can help resolve these problems. Actors with the most urgent needs are the most motivated to seek support, thus becoming key actors who lead the formation of the actor–network [36].

(2)

Interessement refers to the process where actors, through formal or informal means, achieve interest linkage, mutually assist each other in achieving goals, and reach consensus to establish a stable alliance [27]. The relationship between key and non-key actors is based on equality, as all actors seek a mutually beneficial arrangement, although key actors are often the most driven to connect with others due to their urgent needs.

(3)

Enrolment and mobilization form the process in which actors are “recruited” by key actors to join the alliance, taking on assigned tasks and engaging in continuous information exchange with other actors [15]. Each actor plays their role in achieving the OPP, and through this process, their contributions help strengthen the network [27].

(4)

Actor–network formation is formed as various actors are interconnected through the dynamic processes of enrolment and mobilization [27]. The relations within the actor–network are categorized into strong or weak relations, compatible or conflictual, and continuous or intermittent. Strong relations play a crucial role in the network, primarily occurring between the key actors and others [37]. Compatible strong relations maintain the relative stability of the network, whereas conflictual strong relations intensify instability within the key actor–network. Such instability may lead to the reorganization and transformation of actor relations to restore stability and achieve a new dynamic equilibrium. Relations outside of the key actors typically constitute intermittent weak relations, exerting a relatively weaker influence on the actor–network [37].

(5)

Dissidence is the conflict or disagreement that arises among different actors (including non-human actors) within the network due to differences in interests, goals, or interpretations. Such dissidence is not merely a simple act of opposition, but rather a form of dynamic interaction in the process of network construction. In the process of enrolment and mobilization, compatible relationships can form stable networks, while conflicting relations undermine stability. Once dissidence emerges, the network will only regain relative stability once these conflicts are resolved or transformed into new forms of stability. Otherwise, the network may disintegrate.

The translation process is not strictly sequential; the stages are interwoven and dynamic, as actors build networks through continuous translation [27]. The essence of the ANT network is a tool to describe the development of things, rather than the things themselves, emphasizing processes of work, interaction, and change [27]. It is a “dynamic network” that evolves over time.

2.2. Text Analysis Based on ROST CM 6.0

In this study, multiple rounds of field research were conducted. The first three phases identified the preliminary status and issues in Panlongling Village. Building on ANT analysis, the research conducted a quantitative analysis of a small but detailed set of interview text data. The goal was to gain an in-depth understanding of the needs and motivations of various actors, providing a solid foundation for subsequent translation and ANT analysis, while reducing the subjectivity of the analytical process.

ROST CM 6.0 is a Chinese text analysis tool, a large-scale social computing platform designed to assist research in the humanities and social sciences [38]. It is commonly used for natural language processing (NLP) and text mining tasks, with widespread applications in social media, public opinion analysis, market research, sentiment analysis, text classification, and other fields.

In this study, textual data obtained during the fourth research phase were subjected to frequency analysis, semantic network analysis, and sentiment analysis. Word frequency refers to the frequency with which specific terms appear in the text. The results of the word frequency analysis reflect the attention actors paid to various keywords. Semantic network analysis generates semantic network graphs, helping to understand the strength of relationships between different terms and providing insight into the general themes and meanings expressed by the interviewees. In these semantic network graphs, each keyword is represented as a node, and the nodes are interconnected by relational lines, forming a network that reflects the logical connections between different terms in the research content [39]. The size of each node represents the frequency of the keyword in the text. If two words co-occur in the same sentence, they are linked by a relational line. The thicker the line between two words, the higher their co-occurrence frequency and the stronger their relationship [40]. Sentiment analysis results provide insights into how different actors feel about the industrial development in the village and their overall life satisfaction.

2.3. Analytical Framework

The industrial transformation in Panlongling Village faces several significant issues, primarily instability in industrial development, low villager participation, and the wastage of agricultural resources. These problems may stem from deeper, underlying causes. Based on the findings from preliminary research, this study hypothesizes that the disagreements during the industrial transformation in Panlongling Village primarily arise from two sources of conflict: on the one hand, the village committee tends to favor external actors, while local villagers’ financial needs for industrial development remain inadequately addressed; on the other hand, local farmers experience low income due to a lack of technical support, while external farmers benefit from more substantial technical assistance, resulting in limited capital circulation back into the village. The purpose of this study is to apply ANT to analyze the inherent logic of industrial transformation in Panlongling Village, identify the deep-rooted causes of these disagreements, test the proposed hypotheses, and propose a network reconstruction path based on these causes, providing theoretical support and practical solutions for the industrial transformation of Panlongling Village and other suburban villages.

(1)

Actor classification: To better present the issues faced by each actor and clarify their needs and problems, this study defined three conceptual layers—“Actor”, “Problem–Obstacle”, and “Goal” [33,41]—based on field research. Different actors were categorized by their attributes and interviews explored their goals and the challenges they faced in achieving these goals. The relationships between these three layers were interconnected to identify the actors that could provide assistance or meet the needs of others, constructing a network of relationships among actors.

(2)

Text analysis: Interview results were categorized by actor type and organized into declarative statements. ROST CM 6.0 software was used to perform frequency analysis, semantic network analysis, and sentiment analysis on the textual data [39,42,43]. Fragmented textual information was transformed into quantifiable data and intuitive charts to identify the needs of different actors, providing reference points for the subsequent analysis of industrial transformation and the formation logic of the actor–network in Panlongling Village.

(3)

Translation and ANT network analysis: the industrial transformation in Panlongling Village was analyzed through the logical chain “Problematization—Interessement—Enrolment and Mobilization—Actor–Network—Dissidence”.

Problematization: based on the survey and text analysis, this study identified the demands of each actor, key actors, and the “OPP” that needed to be addressed, and deduced the process through which key actors framed the issues of other actors.

Interessement: the analysis examined how actors formed cooperative relationships through interest exchange during the transformation process, leading to agreements.

Enrolment and mobilization: we analyzed how key actors attract other actors to join the alliance and engage in information exchange.

Actor–network: this study constructed a relatively stable, dynamic actor–network once the alliance had been formed.

Dissidence: the analysis identified the dissidences arising during the industrial transformation, which were the problems uncovered in the initial research.

(4)

Dissidence analysis: By integrating the barriers and goals of each actor’s interview content, this study constructed a current actor relationship matrix to identify conflictive relations within the actor–network [33]. The deep-rooted causes of the dissidences were analyzed and the proposed hypotheses were tested.

(5)

Actor–network reconstruction: based on the content of the disagreements, the suburban nature of Panlongling Village, and the characteristics of the actor–network—such as its multi-scale and human/non-human actor focus [24]—this study proposed forms and implementation paths for network reconstruction at the village scale, urban–rural scale, and social-economic–natural scale [16] (see Figure 1).

3. Case Overview and Data Source

3.1. Case Overview

Located in the northwestern part of Qiaokou Town in Changsha City’s Wangcheng District, Panlongling Village lies within the one-hour traffic circle of the city, 3.5 km from Qiaokou Town and 50 km from downtown Changsha (see Figure 2). The village is part of the typical agricultural area on the southern edge of Dongting Lake, situated in the northern suburbs of Changsha, and has a subtropical monsoonal humid climate. It has a total population of 3299, with 817 households comprising 18 village groups [44].

The village primarily focuses on the development of the primary industry, undergoing continuous transformation and upgrade in land use and industry in recent years. Before 2014, its economy was predominantly based on rice cultivation, resulting in a monolithic income structure and relatively low level of income for the villagers. In 2014, heavy metal pollution was detected in the local soils, prompting a shift from rice to corn cultivation. Additionally, corn stalks were crushed and returned to the field to improve soil quality. After four years of soil improvement, a village collective land cooperative was established in 2018. The cooperative took charge of leasing contracted land from farmers and introduced large-scale breeders to develop lotus and crayfish aquaculture. Currently, the village has established a comprehensive ecological breeding model that integrates lotus, crayfish, and the four major domestic fishes.

Tourism also plays a vital role in the village’s economy. Attractions such as the Heliqiaojiang Homestay and Laoliu’s Crayfish Restaurant have been built and are operational, offering recreational activities like boat rowing in lotus ponds and crayfish angling. In 2021, the village welcomed approximately 20,000 tourists. The workforce in the village primarily consists of middle-aged and older people, with a significant outflow of younger labor. The overall income of the villagers is relatively low, primarily coming from sources such as land lease rents, earnings from external employment, local labor services, old-age subsidies, and sales of agricultural products. In summary, there is a need to raise the income level of the villagers.

3.2. Data Source

The data for this study were obtained from multiple sources and methods over a four-phase research process. The first phase focused on a literature review, online information gathering, and preliminary field research. In April 2021, visits were made to the Qiaokou Town government and the Panlongling Village Administrative Committee for interviews. The second phase mainly consisted of in-depth questionnaire surveys and interviews, coupled with behavior tracking investigations. In July 2021, work reports, plans, statistical data, and other information were obtained from the village committee. A village-wide questionnaire survey was conducted, yielding 143 valid responses. Additionally, the production processes of two crayfish farmers were observed and recorded. Visits and interviews were conducted at local cultural and tourism enterprises, crayfish breeding farms, the town’s Crayfish Industry Research Institute, and breeding bases. This phase aimed to construct a preliminary network of the various stakeholders involved and identify the main challenges facing the village’s industrial development.

The third phase involved fact-finding field surveys on spatial governance. In May 2022, methods such as drone aerial photography, field survey, and soil sampling and analysis were employed to investigate the village’s living environment, soil and water quality, land use, and engineering techniques. The fourth phase focused on in-depth interviews from the perspective of industrial transformation, to gain a deeper understanding of the specific details of the industrial transformation process. In February 2023, semi-structured interviews were conducted with various stakeholders involved in the village’s industrial development. These interviews aimed to clarify the interactions and relationships among the stakeholders and to verify and modify the preliminary stakeholder network constructed earlier.

For the fourth phase, interviewees were numbered and categorized into nine types of actors. Among them, only one representative was selected from the town government, land cooperative, and cultural and tourism enterprises. These interviewees were the leaders of the respective organizations, who had the most comprehensive and in-depth understanding of their organizations’ development status, direction, and priorities. The information obtained from them was the most accurate, and their views and opinions were the most influential, effectively representing the perspectives of the entire organization’s members. Therefore, these interviewees were considered as representatives of their respective categories of actors. Since the research was mainly conducted on weekdays and the village’s tourism industry was still in its early stage, sufficient tourist interview data were not obtained. To make up for the deficiency, 17 valid reviews were selected from the 147 tourist reviews of the Heliqiaojiang tourism experience on the Ctrip and TikTok platforms. The number of interviewees and the focus of each interview are summarized in

Table 1. Interviewees and focal points of interviews.

ID	Interviewee	Detailed Description	Number of Interviewees	Key Points of Interview
A1	Town government	Town leadership	1	▪ Development direction and focus ▪ Industrial development policies formulated ▪ Activities organized
A2	Village administrative committee	Secretary, director, accountant	3	▪ Relationships with external merchants, villages, and villagers ▪ Services provided ▪ Major events and solutions ▪ Views on non-local enterprises and breeders ▪ Village’s agricultural product production–sales chain ▪ Management and maintenance work ▪ Future plans
A3	Land cooperative	Cooperative director	1	▪ Business scope ▪ Operating model ▪ Encountered difficulties and solutions ▪ Cooperative relationships ▪ Government support ▪ Unresolved constraint factors ▪ Development needs
A4	Ordinary villagers	Farmers, villagers	11	▪ Types and driving factors of member entities ▪ Land transfer situation ▪ Sources of income ▪ Future intentions ▪ Hindrance factors ▪ Life demands
A5	Village-based operators	Shop owners, restaurant owners	5	▪ Material sources ▪ Sales locations, channels, and volume ▪ Supply–sales relationship ▪ Difficulties and opportunities in the business process ▪ Reasons for conducting business ▪ Unresolved issues ▪ Development needs
A6	Village-based breeders	Lobster breeders, pig breeders, rice growers	5	▪ Reasons for participating in breeding ▪ Product types, production materials, and required costs ▪ Market situation and performance ▪ Technical and information acquisition channels ▪ Sales channels ▪ Cooperative and competitive relationships ▪ Other sources of income ▪ Difficulties and opportunities in the production process ▪ Policy incentives ▪ Future plans ▪ Development needs
A7	External breeders	Aquaculture enterprises, non-local individual breeders	5	▪ Reasons for participating in breeding ▪ Production materials and required costs ▪ Market situation and benefits ▪ Sales channels ▪ Cooperative and competitive relationships ▪ Difficulties and opportunities in the production process ▪ Policy subsidies ▪ Future plans ▪ Development needs
A8	Cultural and tourism enterprises	Manager of Heliqiaojiang	1	▪ Development positioning ▪ Reasons for participating in industrial development ▪ Information acquisition channels ▪ Operating model and condition ▪ Operational difficulties and solutions ▪ Cooperative relationships and willingness to cooperate ▪ Development opportunities ▪ Future plans ▪ Development needs
A9	Consumers	Tourists, customers, urban residents	17	▪ TikTok and Ctrip tourism consumer reviews

.

4. Industrial Transformational Development and Actor–Network Formation in Panlongling Village

4.1. Research Data Analysis

The research conducted in the first three phases employed a combination of a literature review, surveys, field investigations, and chemical testing to gain an initial understanding of the industrial transformation status and issues in Panlongling Village. In contrast to the broad and comprehensive data collection in the first three phases, the fourth phase focused on a smaller, more in-depth scope, concentrating on the motivations and behaviors of various actors at different stages of the industrial transformation. To enhance the accuracy and relevance of the data analysis, this study utilized ROST CM 6.0 software to perform statistical analysis on the nine sets of textual data collected during the fourth phase. To avoid the interference of irrelevant information not related to the industrial transformation, the data from the first three phases were excluded from this analysis.

Before proceeding with the formal text analysis, a series of preprocessing steps were systematically implemented to enhance the quality and reliability of the analytical outcomes. It included several steps: tokenization, which entailed segmenting the continuous stream of characters into meaningful words; rare word and noise removal, including the elimination of characters, words, and symbols that are unrelated to the analytical objectives or lack semantic value; duplicate removal; named entity recognition (NER), which involved tagging specific entities such as proper nouns, place names, and organizational titles; and normalization, where synonyms and abbreviations were standardized into a consistent form.

In the frequency analysis, keywords were identified and categorized based on “Problem-Obstacle” and “Goal”. Several elements were summarized and their frequencies were calculated. Both categories encompassed problems/obstacles resolved and unresolved since the onset of rural transformation in 2018, as well as initial and future goals. The frequency classification results reflect the actors’ attention to various Problem–Obstacle elements and goal elements [45,46] (see Tables S1–S9).

Based on the frequency rankings, the top 200 keywords mentioned by each category of actors were extracted. After the filtering of meaningless words, the top 100 keywords were used to construct a semantic network map [47]. The network is laid out using the Spring Embedding model, with closely related words situated nearer to each other in the network, forming different themes and clusters [48].

The results (see Figure 3) indicate that there is a close connection between the villagers and the cooperative. Although the industrial transformation has brought changes to the lives of the villagers, they still hope to receive organization and assistance from the cooperative to increase their incomes. Local merchants, concerned with maintaining their businesses, focus primarily on operating costs and the size of the local consumer base. Factors like input, output, and market are the primary concerns for local breeders. Village cadres pay attention to the impact of various elements on the farmers’ incomes and village construction. The cooperative mainly focuses on land transfers, their resultant revenues, and the coordination of the villagers’ homestead space. Compared to local breeders, external breeders are more concerned with the crayfish breeding process itself, with less emphasis on the impacts of the surrounding environment and the development of the front and back ends of the industry. Cultural and tourism enterprises focus on the operational status of their development projects and their attractiveness to tourists. The town government attaches high attention to issues of village construction, villagers’ needs, and environmental governance, and has formulated various policy plans to guide the development of the village and town. Among the village’s tourism business components, homestay leisure projects are more attractive compared to food centers and cultural and creative centers. Tourists mainly visit to experience rural leisure vacationing and have high demands for environmental quality.

The interview texts of each category of actors were subjected to an emotional analysis, with each sentence being treated as a unit of analysis [49]. The proportion of positive, neutral, and negative statements in each type of text was calculated. These results are indicative of the varying degrees of satisfaction which the different actors have with the village’s industrial development and their own life conditions [49,50]. Given the limited text content from consumers, 147 user ratings from platforms like TikTok and Ctrip were referenced. Here, “good reviews” were equated to positive emotions, “average” to neutral emotions, and “poor reviews” to negative emotions [50,51].

The findings (see

Table 2. Statistical results of emotional analysis.

	Positive Emotion	Neutral Emotion	Negative Emotion	Total Number of Statements
Ordinary villagers	33.33%	60.00%	6.67%	15
Village-based operators	20.00%	60.00%	20.00%	5
Village-based breeders	55.56%	5.56%	38.89%	18
Village committee	60.71%	32.14%	7.14%	28
Land cooperative	50.00%	41.67%	8.33%	12
External breeders	100.00%	0.00%	0.00%	3
Cultural and tourism enterprises	50.00%	50.00%	0.00%	2
Town government	50.00%	37.50%	12.50%	8
Consumers	93.88%	5.44%	0.68%	147

) suggest that external breeders are often very satisfied with their situations, exhibiting almost no negative emotions. Actors such as the town government, village cadres, the cooperative, ordinary villagers, and consumers generally express satisfaction with the development of the village, primarily displaying positive and neutral emotions, with a smaller proportion of negative emotions. Conversely, negative emotions are predominantly observed among the local business operators and local breeders. In particular, the views of local breeders regarding their own development are severely polarized.

Based on the results of 143 questionnaire surveys and the interview texts of the actors, it was found that external breeders generally possess better breeding techniques and experience, resulting in higher breeding profitability compared to local breeders. As a result, their emotions tend to be more positive. Some local breeders benefit from the support and assistance of external breeders, leading to more optimistic breeding outcomes. However, other local breeders, who rely on trial and error to develop their own breeding methods, are dissatisfied with their breeding results, leading to a significant emotional divide within the local breeding community. The actors with higher levels of negative emotions are more likely to develop conflictual relationships with other actors, which may induce dissidence within the actor–network and affect its stability.

4.2. The Relational Logic of Industrial Transformation and Development

Based on the results of field research and text analysis, this study takes the guidance of problematization and interessement to examine the interest linkage mechanisms behind the village’s industrial development and analyzes the relational logic of industrial transformation and development.

4.2.1. Problematization

According to the identified “Problem-Obstacle” and “Goal” in the interviews, village cadres, as policy implementers and administrators of village affairs, played a crucial role in communication between the low and high levels. Their demands involved actors from different governance scopes, making them key actors who could facilitate the operationalization of other actors’ demands through problematization and call for the formation of a network alliance. Up to this point, the “problems” of the key actors become an “Obligatory Passage Point” (OPP) for other actors to achieve their goals [27]. All actors must pass this OPP to realize their respective goals.

4.2.2. Interessement

In this process, actors negotiate to fulfill mutual demands of interests, refining their roles as defined in the problematization stage (see Figure 4). In this case, the village administrative committee plays a central role in driving rural transformation and development, with its primary objective being the promotion of economic development and an improvement in living standards for all participants. Success in rural transformation is therefore measured by the positive impacts on the community’s well-being, including economic stability, social welfare, and overall quality of life. All actors reach agreements through connections of interest. They are “recruited” as alliance members to play their roles in achieving the OPP.

From the analysis of the processes of problematization and interessement, the following were found to be the main driving factors for the formation of the actor alliance: ① policies and regulations guide and constrain the actors, serving as fundamental drivers of rural transformation; ② economic interests bind the actors in capital transactions to fulfill their demands, becoming the primary and most extensive driving force for alliance formation; ③ apart from economic and capital relationships, spontaneous common desires to develop their hometown, driven by local, kinship, and professional ties, also accelerate alliance formation [52]; and ④ social networks play a significant role in connecting local and external actors [53]. In the alliance, the external breeders highly rely on local villagers they know for resource information. These informal social relations enhance accessibility to the network society and transactional resources and help the actors to better realize their individual demands [52,54].

4.3. Mechanisms and Key Issues in the Formation of Actor–Networks

4.3.1. Enrolment and Mobilization

In the process of rural transformation and development, pursuing the common goal of “creating a lotus and crayfish themed tourism village and developing the lotus and crayfish aquaculture industry” has elevated village cadres as spokespersons for the entire alliance. They exercise power to coordinate various resources, maintain the connections of interest and interactions between the actors, and engage the actors in the transformation process to maintain and stabilize network relationships together, eventually forming a dynamic but relatively stable actor–network (see Figure 5). Enrolment and mobilization mainly include four types:

(1)

Enrolment and mobilization through administrative relations. District- and town-level government plans encourage the construction of modern aquaculture sightseeing areas centered around Qiaokou, the extension of the lotus and crayfish industrial chain, and the development of rural tourism and fisheries. On this basis, the town government proactively provides policy, financial, and project support, organizing breeding skills training for local villagers. For their part, the village cadres proactively implement the policies and plans, strive for town government project funds, and enthusiastically attract new business entities. They have now built the Heliqiaojiang residential area, significantly improving the living environment. They have also set up a land cooperative to manage land transfer affairs and have appointed 18 village group leaders to coordinate and manage village affairs. They set forth action regulations and requirements for all actors and subsidize them, ensuring that the actors carry out industrial activities according to the plan, with mutual supervision through the group leaders. Such administrative relations facilitate smooth enrolment and mobilization.

(2)

Enrolment and mobilization through social resources. By way of policy publicity and project promotion, the town government has successfully attracted Wangcheng District Cultural and Tourism Investment Development Company Limited to rent the land in the village for the “Heliqiaojiang” rural complex project. Local renowned enterprise Hunan Wenheyou Cultural Industry Development Group Company Limited has also set up the Crayfish Industry Research Institute in Qiaokou Town and a lotus and crayfish breeding center in the neighboring village to expand related industries. Other cultural and tourism enterprises promote themselves on popular platforms like TikTok and Xiaohongshu, drawing visitors for personal consumption experiences. Media coverage on the Wangcheng lotus and crayfish brand and local industrial transformation has raised the public profile of the village’s lotus and crayfish industry, while locals also recommend tourism projects and publicize crayfish breeding investment information to their friends from other places, thus enhancing the village’s fame through personal connections. Geographic clustering actions help to forge closer social ties between different actors, highlighting the beneficial effect of social aggregation by a certain extent.

(3)

Enrolment and mobilization through market resources. The land cooperative attracts tourism businesses, breeding enterprises, and individual breeders to operate restaurants and shops, breed lotus and crayfish, or develop rural tourism, all of which drive the village’s transformation and development.

(4)

Enrolment and mobilization through environmental resources. The government leverages the advantageous natural resources of the Dongting Lake area to vigorously develop aquaculture; village cadres enhance the village’s industrial ecological environment and living conditions through environmental transformation and maintenance; the cooperative, breeders, and businesses utilize abundant local land and water resources for lotus and crayfish breeding, and create lotus pond ecological landscapes; villagers plant vegetables and grow fish in their yards during their spare time and turn them into leisurely and comfortable backyards; and tourists and villagers enjoy the gradually enhanced quality of tourism and living space in the village, manifesting the aesthetic and spiritual value of the landscape.

In the existing actor–network, actors rely on relatively stable forms of enrolment and mobilization, thereby strengthening compatible connections and further promoting active mobilization among the actors. Among them, the village administrative committee plays the most critical positive role in the transformation and development of the village, maintaining compatible strong connections with other actors. The formation of such strong connections is largely dependent on policy support from the town government. As a specific driver of industrial development, the land cooperative uses rental incomes from the leased land and idle houses to provide financial support for village construction. Through landscape creation, tourism facility construction, site leasing, and event promotions, cultural and tourism enterprises not only enhance their visibility but also create some employment opportunities for local villagers. Initially, due to fewer tourists, their connections with other actors were compatible but weak. Crayfish breeders or breeding enterprises maintain compatible strong relations with the land cooperative through land transfers.

4.3.2. Dissidence

However, over time, conflictual connections inside the actor–network have become prominent, leading to dissidence within the network:

(1)

Unidirectional flow of benefits: Benefits are concentrated on external actors. Due to inadequate breeding techniques and a lack of experience, local breeders face declining profitability and become the most dissatisfied actors. In the new round of land circulation, the number and land area of local land-renting breeders has fallen, while the external breeders and enterprises with mature know-how secure stable incomes and expand their rented land area, leading to benefits flowing mainly to the external breeders. Although tourism provides stable jobs, profits flow mainly to the cultural and tourism enterprises.

(2)

Weak brand competitiveness and inadequate regional linked promotions: The village’s tourism resources are underexploited and inconveniently located, with insufficient tapping, management, and promotion by cultural and tourism enterprises, resulting in weak appeals and insignificant revenues. The integration of resources among local villages is weak, and connections between the village and the outside world are insufficient.

(3)

Superficial economic enhancement: The entire town faces similar challenges with reduced government project support and funding for village administrative committees, which slow down village development. The media still heavily promotes the positive effects of industrial investment. While infrastructure and public services boom, the underlying issues of the industrial model are overlooked.

(4)

Lack of villager participation and benefit sharing: With the hindrance of aquacultural development, the land cooperative has reduced the rental rate from 700 CNY/acre/year to 500 CNY/acre/year in the new leasing round and has divided the land into 19 plots to mitigate breeders’ losses. Falling rental income and job opportunities hinder local villagers’ participation in industrial development.

(5)

Agricultural land abandonment and non-point source pollution: Losses in aquaculture have led to severe land abandonment. Some breeders pay little attention to environmental protection, contributing to serious agricultural non-point source pollution [55].

4.3.3. Dissidence Analysis

To resolve dissidences and restabilize the actor–network, an actor relations matrix was developed from the survey results and used to identify conflictual relations within the actor–network and explore the underlying causes of dissidence (see Figure S1):

(1)

As a key actor, the village administrative committee has focused most of its funds on village construction, with insufficient attention to and support for villagers. The land cooperative has reduced the villagers’ share of the land rent revenue without offering them more opportunities for industrial participation. Apart from the fixed rent, the villagers have almost no other sources of income, resulting in low enthusiasm for participation and no real improvement in their living standard.

(2)

Beyond intrinsic factors such as lack of experience among village breeders, the village administrative committee has not organized breeding technology training. The breeders rely on sporadic technical exchange meetings held by the town government and Wenheyou, leading to insufficient experience, support, and subsidies, and big income fluctuations.

(3)

Cultural and tourism enterprises possess limited environmental and market resources and operate independently of the industry system without sharing market resources with other actors.

(4)

There is an absence of strict breeding management and production rules between the land cooperative and breeders. The village administrative committee’s efforts to maintain the breeding environment are weak and the breeders lack the awareness to maintain a good breeding environment.

(5)

The village’s economy heavily relies on rents from the cultural and tourism enterprises and support from the town government, with a low consciousness of self-improvement and lack of secure funding sources.

Based on the above analysis, we validate the research hypotheses. First, the hypothesis that “the village committee provides more support to external actors, while failing to meet the needs of villagers” is confirmed by the findings. The village committee indeed focuses on infrastructure development while providing insufficient support for villagers’ participation in industrial transformation, leading to low economic incentives for villagers. Secondly, the hypothesis that “there is a technical support gap between local and external breeders” is also confirmed. Local breeders lack adequate technical support and training, while external breeders receive more support, leading to unstable earnings for the local breeders. Furthermore, the lack of resource sharing by cultural and tourism enterprises also supports the idea that the uneven flow of funds and resources exacerbates dissidence in industrial transformation.

5. Actor–Network Reconstruction

5.1. Reconstruction of the Actor–Network

The actor–network of Panlongling Village is restructured in light of the existing dissidences and conflictual connections in the industrial transformation and development processes of the village, the demands of the various actors, and the suburban rural nature and development positioning of the village. Such restructuring involves refining actor categorization, introducing new OPPs, and improving the interessement mechanism and enrolment and mobilization processes (see Figure 6):

(1)

From the perspective of village internal relations [56], the town government’s leadership and coordination capabilities are leveraged to shift individual village development to multi-village collaborative development. This approach integrates different environmental and human resources across villages to produce the industrial agglomeration effect.

(2)

The OPP is redefined as “creating a high-efficiency core base for lotus and crayfish aquaculture in Wangcheng District that integrates ecological agriculture, research, education, and leisure tourism, achieving coexistence between man and nature, neighborhood harmony, and prosperous rural life”, shifting the focus of the goal from “village construction” to “people’s happiness” and emphasizing the importance of “sharing”.

(3)

In terms of improving the collective economic community [47,57], multiple village administrative committees are united to set up a supply and marketing cooperative and an economic cooperative based on the existing village land cooperative. The land cooperative needs to not only manage land leasing but also to strengthen governance over land use, ensuring the rational utilization of land, water, and other ecological resources to secure production space balance and safety. The supply and marketing cooperative is responsible for connecting with urban consumer markets, reducing market risks and production costs, and collaborating with the Wenheyou Crayfish Industry Research Institute for a unified supply of high-quality shrimp fry and feed. The economic cooperative is responsible for managing business operations, organizing skill training and exchange meetings, and expanding agritourism models based on household courtyard transformation and villagers’ willingness. Villagers can voluntarily develop specialty homestays, create continuous productive landscapes, run citizen farms, offer cloud farming services, participate in the development of cultural and creative handicraft and peripheral products, and operate street shops to broaden employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. The training functions of the “Heliqiaojiang” cultural and creative center and villagers’ hall, include introducing professionals from the Wenheyou Crayfish Industry Research Institute, experienced breeders from Hubei Province, and young innovators to conduct “menu-based” skill training according to the villagers’ needs.

(4)

Regarding cooperative breeding for mutual income enhancement, breeders in Hubei are attracted to invest in breeding and encouraged to lead local villagers in cooperative breeding, share experience and expertise, and jointly bear risks and profits.

(5)

In terms of enterprise support for branding [58], with government assistance and support, comprehensive cooperation with Wenheyou and other enterprises is deepened to leverage their brand appeal to continuously attract customer, capital, and information flow through crayfish breeding base construction and agriculture–tourism integration.

(6)

With regard to youth leadership in innovation [59], a youth innovator center is established to provide policy, venue, and necessary financial support for young talents to engage in further study and research. Youth volunteers (college students) organize surveys to regularly collect local villagers’ demands and offer creative ideas, scientific approaches, and solutions for resolving farming issues and promoting village development.

The stable formation of a new actor–network requires the creation of compatible relations among actors. Given the suburban nature of Panlongling Village, this study further explores feasible transformation and development paths of the village from the perspective of urban–rural relations and establishes a new mechanism for interessement and connection (see Figure 7). Different actors in villages, towns, and cities play their roles in the whole urban–rural system. In the restructured village actor–network, the involvement of young innovators, flagship enterprises, consumers, and external breeders, along with enrolment and mobilization, can induce certain urban–rural element flows: young innovators bring innovative things from outside; breeders absorb new production technologies through full communication and learning with enterprises and professional households in Hubei; enterprises change the traditional rural landscape and villagers’ lifestyles through project investment and operation, offering villagers a variety of economic activities and attracting more people; consumers from urban areas stimulate rural vitality, boosting the business activities of enterprises and operators; and villagers become operators through cooperatives, establishing direct or indirect industrial connections with urban actors.

Rural development and balanced urban–rural development are also inseparable from the sharing of interests and mobilization among actors in the municipal and town areas [60,61]:

(1)

Governments at all levels link urban and rural tourist sites through policy planning to promote joint tourism development. In Wangcheng District, marketing and development strategies and activities are coordinated between Panlongling Village and nearby tourist attractions to share visitors and achieve joint development.

(2)

The establishment of rural markets, agricultural processing factories, and logistics centers further strengthens the connections between village cooperatives, operators, and town actors; under the town government’s leadership in planning and supervision, enterprises expand business models and invest in markets and processing plants, thereby extending the village–town industrial chain and driving development.

(3)

Agricultural products from the countryside are processed, sold, and utilized in towns and are then recycled and reprocessed at recycling stations and brought back to the countryside, achieving waste-to-land reuse.

5.2. Implementation Pathway for Actor–Network Reconstruction

In all stages of actor–network construction, the guidance and management of other actors by key actors are required. Thus, the establishment of the new actor–network in Panlongling Village is to be undertaken by the village’s key actor, the village administrative committee, with implementation paths put forward from the scales of socio-economic–natural relations.

5.2.1. Guidance on Human and Social Relations

(1)

“Three Leaders and Forces” construction: the Party committee takes the lead in study, pollution treatment, achievement creation, and service; the village administrative committee acts as the main body to leverage internal resource strengths and offer scientific planning guidance; and villagers as owners actively participate in village construction work and cooperative supervision and extend their outreach force.

(2)

Guaranteed rental payment mechanism: a “basic rent + fixed percentage floating rent” payment mechanism is adopted. When aquacultural profits are high, basic rents and floating rents are to be distributed to villagers; otherwise, guaranteed basic rent should be provided, while promoting the sharing of income and risk.

(3)

Collective planning and full participation: Panlongling’s village development plan is to be taken as a link to gather the demands of multiple actors and engage them in the plan formulation process in various forms, covering all age groups and the while process. This will ensure the sharing of the planning and construction achievements, enhancing the villagers’ enthusiasm for participating in village affairs.

5.2.2. Guidance on Human and Economic Relations

(1)

Industrial chain extension: There is a need to strengthen the connection between the leading industry and upstream, downstream, and lateral related industries and build a high-efficiency core base for lotus and crayfish aquaculture in Wangcheng District. The natural and social resources of the village should be used to broaden the current tourism industry centered around Heliqiaojiang Homestay and extend the industrial chain; landscape agriculture needs to be developed in a sustainable way by integrating agricultural development with ecological landscape, and the landscape value of agricultural ecosystems should be explored; efficient product processing and sales work should be undertaken, and investment should be attracted to build more crayfish breeding bases, feed storage centers, and village online livestreaming rooms, connecting urban and rural areas through food sales; and agriculture and tourism need to be linked for integrated development and local natural resources should be rationally utilized to develop all-season and full-area tourism.

(2)

Virtual planting for increased income: A “cloud planting” courtyard economy model needs to be developed, implementing a diversified shared interests linkage mechanism in land use space [62]. With the design help of online third-party platforms, customers should be engaged in virtual planting online, while villagers can make full use of their home gardens and scattered vegetable gardens for offline physical planting [63].

5.2.3. Guidance on Human and Nature Relations

(1)

Establishing a responsibility and rights mechanism for breeders and operators: the responsibilities and reasonable rights of breeders and operators should be specified after they obtain land operation rights; reward and punishment measures should be adopted based on their implementation status.

(2)

Grid management: the land of Panlongling Village is to be divided into grids for use and supervision, forming a clear responsibility grid management system.

(3)

Quantified governance evaluation: An incentive mechanism is to be established for all actors to participate in environmental governance, with regular recording and quantitative evaluation undertaken. Cumulative points should be linked with the village’s collective dividend payments or rent reductions to motivate farmers and operators to voluntarily protect the ecological environment.

6. Conclusions

Through multiple rounds of data collection and field interviews in Panlongling Village, it was found that there are still several underlying issues in the village’s transformation and development. Based on this, this article adopts a relational turn perspective and uses ROST CM 6.0 to organize and analyze the interview content. This study deeply examines the translation process that various actors have undergone since the village’s industrial transformation (problematization—interessement—enrolment and mobilization—actor–network formation—dissidence), identifying the underlying causes of these disagreements. This study proposes a reconstruction of a dynamic and stable new actor–network to resolve these conflicts. The following conclusions were drawn from the research:

(1) In the industrial transformation and development of Panlongling Village, there are significant differences in the goals, demands, and encountered problems and obstacles among the various actors, including villagers, the cooperative, village cadres, local and external breeders, cultural and tourism enterprises, and tourists. The satisfaction levels and directions of benefit flow among the various actors are consistent with the development of industry.

(2) The guidance and constraint roles of policies and regulations, capital transactions based on the demands of the various actors, the common desire of local actors to develop their hometown under non-contractual relationships, and the role of social networks in connecting local and external actors are the main reasons for the formation of an actor alliance.

(3) Through enrolment and mobilization by way of administrative relations, social resources, market resources, and environmental resources, village cadres as key actors have promoted the active mobilization of various actors, helping to form an actor–network with certain compatible relations. However, over time, conflictual relations in the actor–network have gradually emerged, leading to dissidence such as the superficiality of economic enhancement, a lack of villagers’ participation, the unilateral direction of benefit flow, the abandonment of cultivated land, agricultural non-point source pollution, low core competitiveness of agricultural product brands, and insufficient regional promotional efforts.

(4) The emergence of dissidence aligns with the initial hypothesis, primarily stemming from factors such as uneven distribution of benefits, insufficient technical support, lack of governance and regulation, and a lack of awareness of self-improvement.

(5) To resolve dissidences, the translation process is deduced inversely, reconstructing an actor–network from the scales of in-village multi-stakeholder relationships, urban–rural relations, and socio-economic–natural relations. This network is formed by recruiting and mobilizing ten types of actors, including the town government, multiple village administrative committees, land cooperatives, economic cooperatives, supply and marketing cooperatives, villagers, breeders, flagship enterprises, young innovators, and consumers. This enhances the sense of ownership of all actors in rural transformation and development, engaging all of them in the construction and benefit sharing.

This study extends the application of Actor–Network Theory to rural transformation, providing a new perspective for understanding the complex relationships between various actors in the process of transformation and development. At the same time, this research highlights the importance of optimizing stakeholder relationships and urban–rural connections in promoting the sustainable development of suburban villages. It offers valuable insights for the transformation of other suburban villages, emphasizing the implementation pathways for sustainable urban–rural integration and development.

However, this study also has some limitations and challenges. Firstly, in the fourth round of interviews, some actor groups had a small base, and the sample size of interviews with these actors was relatively limited, which may affect the generalizability of the data. Secondly, some participants’ responses may carry subjective bias, and there is also a certain degree of subjectivity in categorizing the “Problem/Obstacle” and “Goal” factors in the text. As a result, the bias in data analysis cannot be entirely eliminated [40,64]. Additionally, while this study primarily focuses on the relationships among human actors, the role of non-human actors (such as environmental factors and technological involvement) in rural transformation has not been extensively discussed, which is an area that warrants further exploration [29,65].

To address these challenges, future research should consider several improvements. First, while ensuring the depth of the interviews, it is important to increase the diversity in the sample by including actors from different backgrounds, in order to gain a more comprehensive perspective. Second, incorporating more objective and diversified data collection methods, such as satellite data or digital tools, will help to reduce the impact of subjective bias. Finally, future studies could further expand the scope of the actor–network by considering the role of non-human actors, such as environmental, technological, and policy factors, to better understand their impact on rural transformation.

By addressing these limitations, future research will be able to more clearly outline the pathways for suburban village transformation, provide more practical recommendations, and offer theoretical support and practical guidance for promoting sustainable urban–rural integration, strengthening the resilience of suburban villages, and advancing the achievement of sustainable development goals.