Multifunctional Evolution Response Mechanisms to Urbanization Processes on Peri-Urban Cultivated Land, Nanchang City, China

Cultivated land is an important material carrier providing multiple supplies for production, living, and ecological benefits. As an area of cultivated land subject to high levels of human activity during urbanization, the functional level and structure of suburban cultivated land have been strongly impacted. In this study, we took the suburban cultivated land in Nanchang City as the research subject and constructed a multi-functional indicator system for cultivated land in the context of production, ecology, and landscape culture. Using the improved CRITIC-entropy weight method and the optimal parameter geographical detector model, we examined the multi-functional evolution of suburban cultivated land from 2012 to 2022 and its response mechanisms to urbanization. The results showed that (1) the multifunctionality of cultivated land in the peri-urban area of Nanchang City shows a general decreasing trend, with the decline gradually decreasing with an increase in distance from the central urban area. (2) In contrast, the multifunctionality level of a few cultivated land areas away from the central area of the city showed a small to medium increase. The function of cultivated land in the peri-urban area showed a decreasing trend in 2012-2022 due to the urbanization level. However, the production and ecological functions increased slightly, whereas the cultural function decreased significantly. (3) The impact of urbanization on the multifunctional transformation of peri-urban cultivated land is a complex process that is largely shaped by economic urbanization and is influenced by a multitude of factors. Therefore, cultivated land management policies must fully mobilize the socioeconomic resources of each region.