Spatial Pattern and Driving Mechanism of Urban–Rural Income Gap in Gansu Province of China

The urban–rural income gap is a principal indicator for evaluating the sustainable development of a region, and even the comprehensive strength of a country. The study of the urban–rural income gap and its changing spatial patterns and influence factors is an important basis for the formulation of integrated urban–rural development planning. In this paper, we conduct an empirical study on 84 county-level cities in Gansu Province by using various analysis tools, such as GIS, GeoDetector and Boston Consulting Group Matrix. The findings show that: (1) The urban–rural income gap in Gansu province is at a high level in spatial correlation and agglomeration, leading to the formation of a stepped and solidified spatial pattern. (2) Different factors vary greatly in influence, for example, per capita Gross Domestic Product, alleviating poverty policy and urbanization rate are the most prominent, followed by those such as floating population, added value of secondary industry and number of Internet users. (3) The driving mechanism becomes increasingly complex, with the factor interaction effect of residents’ income dominated by bifactor enhancement, and that of the urban–rural income gap dominated by non-linear enhancement. (4) The 84 county-level cities in Gansu Province are classified into four types of early warning zones, and differentiated policy suggestions are made in this paper.