Stage-dependent natural constraints on rural settlement development across the Yellow River Basin, China

This dataset provides processed, analysis-ready geospatial and statistical data for examining the socioeconomic differentiation of rural settlements and its natural drivers in the Yellow River Basin (2020). It includes harmonized layers for accessibility analysis (POI and road networks), natural condition assessment (DEM, annual mean temperature, and the Remote Sensing Ecological Index), and socioeconomic characterization (gridded GDP distribution, rural settlement footprints, and county-level population and economic statistics). All data have been unified to a consistent coordinate system and clipped to the Yellow River Basin boundary. These integrated inputs directly support fine-scale, settlement-level spatial network construction and regression modeling in the associated study. Complete source and processing information for all data are archived with this dataset.