Against the backdrop of new urbanization and urban-rural integration, research on rural resident mobility patterns in megacity fringe areas provides insights into addressing challenges in urban-rural spatial governance. Using mobile phone signaling data and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model, this paper examines the spatiotemporal characteristics of rural resident mobility across multiple scales and the underlying mechanisms in Tongzhou District, Beijing. The results show that: ① Village-to-village mobility sustains the basic rural resident mobility network, while village-to-district central area flows significantly exceed village-to-town/township central area flows. On weekends, rural-to-urban mobility intensifies and extends to the central city and surrounding suburban districts, generating new urban-rural interaction patterns. ② In the inner suburbs, mobility intensity follows a dual-core–periphery gradient pattern centered on the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center and Yizhuang New Town, whereas the outer suburbs exhibit a dispersed cluster pattern centered on key villages and town/township central areas, challenging the assumption of spatial homogeneity inherent in core–periphery theory. ③ The effects of the influencing factors demonstrate spatial heterogeneity. High-level mobility in the inner suburbs is governed by urban-rural location and transportation infrastructure, whereas localized mobility in the outer suburbs is primarily shaped by public service facilities and socio-economic conditions. Accordingly, the paper proposes differentiated planning strategies: strengthening rapid transit networks in the inner suburbs and fostering specialized industries in the outer suburbs. These strategies provide a scientific basis for promoting the flow of urban-rural production factors and enhancing spatial governance in megacity fringe areas.

Inter-city adjacent areas constitute important spaces for overcoming administrative barriers and facilitating coordinated regional development through factor mobility. Population and industry are two core variables shaping regional development, and understanding how industrial structures shape population mobility is therefore essential for promoting coordinated regional development. Using mobile signaling and industrial data, this study examines population mobility patterns in the inter-city adjacent areas of Beijing and investigates how industrial characteristics influence these patterns. The results show that: ① Population mobility exhibits a pronounced concentric spatial structure, and short-distance cross-boundary mobility has become the dominant form of daily interaction. Mobility is unevenly distributed, with populations from areas outside Beijing primarily flowing into the city. ② On weekdays, distinct cross-boundary commuting corridors are evident, particularly in the Beijing–Tianjin–Langfang and Beijing–Baoding areas, while non-commuting mobility is concentrated mainly within Beijing and the Beijing–Tianjin–Langfang area. On weekends, commuting mobility declines significantly and becomes concentrated in the Beijing–Langfang area, whereas non-commuting mobility increases markedly in both intensity and spatial extent. ③ High-value-added, innovation-oriented industries tend to attract cross-boundary commuting populations. Districts within Beijing, owing to their stronger innovation capacity, draw substantial numbers of commuters from surrounding areas. Finance and commercial services and technology, as well as R&D services, are associated with inflows of commuting populations, whereas daily life and consumer services tend to attract non-commuting populations. Diversified industrial agglomeration significantly promotes both commuting and non-commuting mobility, whereas specialized agglomeration based on traditional industries tends to inhibit population mobility.

Rural area of megacities is characterized by strong connection with the urban functions and the high diversification. The function evolution can be used to determine the function positioning for the multiple value and high-quality development of rural areas. Taking the rural areas in the periphery of Beijing as a typical case, this study aims to construct an evaluation index system of rural functional intensity suitable for the long-term sequence measurement, according to the connotation and classification of rural function. Then, Nelson classification was selected to measure and identify the functional intensity and functional structure in the different rural areas from 2000 to 2020. A summary was given on the evolution and formation path of the functional structure in the rural areas. The research results were as follows: 1) There were the significant regional differences in the functional intensity of rural areas in the periphery of megacities. Diversified forms were found in the functional combination. There was also the trend from the single-dominant dominant function to multi-dominant dominant function in the functional structure. The rural multi-function was evaluated as the basis for the classification of rural functional structure. The rural regional functional structure was represented by the differences in the path formation of rural regional functions. 2) According to the number and differentiation of dominant functions, the evolution of functional structure in the rural area on the edge of megacity was summarized into three development paths: "function strengthening and upgrading path", "function adjustment and transformation path" and " Functional comprehensive improvement path". Among them, there was the relatively simple functional structure of the exurb districts and counties far from the central urban area. The functional structure evolution was attributed to the functional strengthening and upgrading path. The path of functional adjustment and transformation was mainly taken, due to the instability of core functions. The functional comprehensive and perfect path was also taken as the optimization direction of the functional structure in the plain areas with the better development in the suburbs. 3) The agricultural safeguard function with the strength was the main initial function before the multiple transformation and differentiation of the functional structure of most rural areas on the edge of megacities. The life service function was strengthened in the primary measure, in order to promote the functional diversification and high-quality development of the rural area on the edge of megacity under the current urban-rural integration goal; 4) The evolution of dominant functions and functional structures showed that the development of different rural regions was defined to guide the formulation of their functional positioning, in order to promote the diversified functions and rural regional functional structure, as well as the determination of the development direction. The functional structure and the evolution path was introduced to determine the differentiated functional positioning. The typical regional cases were enriched the research perspective of the rural regional multi-function theory. The finding can provide the promising idea for the functional structure evolution and positioning in the development path decision-making of rural areas outside megacities.