Depopulation of rural areas under the backdrop of urbanization— A case study of Kangbao County, Northwest of Hebei Province

To understand the issues and driving factors of rural depopulation (a universal phenomenon in the rural areas of every nation under the backdrop of urbanization), we surveyed 19 villages in Kangbao County, Hebei Province. The villages are in the farming pastoral interlocks of North China where the ecology is fragile and the economic backward. The number of idle houses and the degree of damaged house were quantitatively analyzed. The survey shows that the proportion of idle brick houses to total brick houses is 0.360, and that of earthen houses to total usable earthen house is 0.254. That for dilapidated houses to total houses is 0.350. Depopulation of the rural villages in the farming pastoral interlocks of North China has the following characteristics: The extent of depopulation is in direct correlation with farmer income level. Low and slow economic development is the fundamental cause of depopulation in the area. Labor loss has resulted in severe dilapidation of village landscape and resource waste. Depopulation has severely retarded normal orders of rural production and life.