Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of the Coupled Development of Livable, Economically Viable, and Harmonious Rural Communities and Rural Tourism in China

To characterize the evolution of coupling coordination between the development of livable, economically viable, and harmonious rural communities (LEHRCs) and the high-quality development of rural tourism, identify regional disparities, and determine the major factors explaining spatial differentiation, this study constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system for the two subsystems using panel data from 30 provincial-level regions in China for the period 2014–2024. The entropy weight method, a modified coupling coordination degree model, and the GeoDetector method are employed for the analysis. The results show that (1) under the baseline specification, both subsystems exhibited an upward trend, with their composite indices increasing from 0.263 and 0.252 to 0.398 and 0.435, respectively. (2) The national average coupling coordination degree increased from 0.467 to 0.602, with the coordination level improving from the slightly maladjusted to the well coordinated. Regionally, a persistent gradient pattern was observed, with the eastern region outperforming the central region, which, in turn, outperformed the western region. However, the coordination gap between the eastern and western regions narrowed from 0.139 to 0.088, indicating a reduction in regional disparities. (3) Government support and consumer demand are the most consistently supported spatial explanatory factors, with baseline q values ranging from 0.6844 to 0.8076 and from 0.7087 to 0.7446, respectively. Statistical support for joint associations varies with stratification settings and sample size requirements for joint strata. Accordingly, differentiated regional policies and interregional collaboration should be promoted, the complementary contributions of the two subsystems strengthened, and coordination mechanisms integrating government guidance, market forces, talent, and technology improved to advance the coordinated development of LEHRCs and high-quality rural tourism.