Inter-village collaboration is a common challenge in rural governance, and how to build durable cooperation mechanisms is a shared concern across rural development practices. This study examines rural cluster development in Zhejiang Province, China. Based on a comparative case analysis of eight models covering thirty clusters, it develops a three-dimensional framework of mobilization, coordination, and distribution to explore how rural clusters operate and evolve. The study finds that rural cluster development is essentially a functional restructuring of rural development units: resources are integrated across villages without altering village boundaries. The eight models form three types of mechanism configuration according to their driving-force structures: externally guided, market-driven, and community-activated. The sustainability of collaboration depends on the degree of coupling among the mobilization, coordination, and distribution mechanisms.
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Share and Cite
Ying, Z. (2026) Mechanisms of Rural Cluster Development: A Comparative Case Analysis of Eight Models in Zhejiang, China. Journal of Social Development and History, 2(2), 75-87. https://doi.org/10.71052/jsdh/PPDM1003