The county is an important carrier for the integration of urban and rural economies and spatial evolution, and a hub linking urban and rural areas, which is of great significance for the realization of urban-rural integrated development. The development of agroforestry industry is not only directly related to the growth of county economy and the improvement of farmers’ income level, but also has an important impact on the integrated development of urban and rural areas in the county. This paper analyzes the role of agroforestry industry in promoting urban-rural integration and the impact of urban-rural integration on the development of agroforestry industry by exploring the intrinsic connection between the development of agroforestry industry and the urban-rural integration in the county.

Based on the panel data of six counties in ChangZhuTan region of Hunan province from 2013 to 2022, the article uses the entropy value method to measure the composite index of the level of development of agroforestry industry and the level of development of urban-rural integration of counties, analyzes the impact of the development of agroforestry industry on the development of urban-rural integration of counties, and explores the impact of the development of urban-rural integration of counties through the establishment of the baseline regression model and explored the various elements that affect the urban-rural integration development of counties by establishing a benchmark regression model, and analyzed the influence effect of the development of agriculture and forestry industry on the urban-rural integration development of counties in ChangZhuTan region from the perspective of empirical evidence.

The results show that the development of agriculture and forestry industry has a direct impact on the urban-rural integration of counties, and the development level of agriculture and forestry industry is positively correlated with the development level of urban-rural integration of counties.

The policy implications of the above findings are: firstly, to deepen the integration of industrialization and agroforestry, and to promote the interaction between urban and rural economies; secondly, to enhance the saving capacity of the residents, and to cultivate the consumption market in the county; and thirdly, to adhere to the concept of green development, and to rationally plan the development of tourism, so as to realize the win-win situation of tourism and urban-rural integration. These recommendations are intended to provide practical guidance for the integrated urban-rural development of counties in the ChangZhuTan area and the wider region.

The county is an important carrier for the integration of urban and rural economy and spatial evolution, and also a hub connecting urban and rural areas, which is of great significance for the realization of urban-rural integrated development. Ecotourism as an advocate of harmonious coexistence between man and nature of green tourism, can effectively promote urban and rural development, promote farmers’ income, eco-tourism with its high degree of industrial relevance, become the most promising industry, for the integration of urban and rural development provides a strong driving force, at the same time, the integration of urban and rural development will also promote the development of tourism in the region to a certain extent, the coordinated development of the two has an additional effect to drive the economic development of the region.

Based on the panel data of urban-rural integration and ecotourism in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan area from 2013 to 2022, this paper constructed a coupling and coordination comprehensive evaluation index system of urban-rural integration in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan.

1) There was a large difference in the basic level of coupling coordination degree among the six counties in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan area, but the overall development trend increased steadily. 2) There were obvious spatial differences among counties in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan area, and the internal differences in the coupling and coordinated development of urban-rural integration and ecotourism in the six counties in 2013,2019 and 2022 are large, and the development level in the north was better than that in the south, among which, Liuyang city had the best degree of coupling and coordination, and had reached high-quality coordination. 3) The coupling coordination degree of urban-rural integration and ecotourism in Changsha-Zhuzhou- Xiangtan area had not achieved breakthrough and leapfrog improvement, and the problem of lagging development of ecotourism was obvious, which affected the process of achieving high coupling and coordination degree between the two.

There is a long-term equilibrium relationship between ecotourism and urban-rural integration in the counties of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan area, and the development of ecotourism can effectively promote the development level of urban-rural integration at the county level. Based on this, each county should adopt policies and measures adapted to local conditions, and put forward relevant countermeasures and suggestions to promote the coupling, coordinated and high-quality development of urban-rural integration and ecotourism.