A Study of the Time–Space Evolution Characteristics of Urban–Rural Integration Development in a Mountainous Area Based on ESDA-GIS: The Case of the Qinling-Daba Mountains in China

The multi-index comprehensive evaluation method is used in this paper to estimate the urban–rural integration development level of the Qinling-Daba Mountains in China and build an evaluation index system that is composed by five subsystems and 18 basic indexes. The integration of the indexes is conducted through linear weight sum method and the weight of each index is determined through analytic network process to get the urban–rural integration development coordination indexes of each county in the Qinling-Daba Mountains. Meanwhile, the time–space evolution characteristic of urban–rural integration development in the Qinling-Daba Mountains in the past 10 years is studied through exploratory spatial data analysis and GIS technology. The results indicate that urban–rural integration displays a spatial imbalance, with a situation of polarization, i.e., high–level counties gathering with each other; the spatial aggregation rule of west–high, east–low is coupled with land conditions, industrial activity, and the transportation situation to affect the urban–rural development. Finally, we propose that development priorities should be circular industry, eco-agriculture, and tourism to accelerate urban–rural development and work towards a comprehensive modern transportation system and other infrastructure in the Qinling-Daba Mountains.