This study examines the spatial distribution of consumption competitiveness and carrying capacity across regions, exploring their interrelationship and implications for sustainable regional development. An evaluation index system is constructed for both consumption competitiveness and carrying capacity using a range of economic, social, and environmental indicators. We apply this framework to regional data in China and analyze the resultant spatial patterns. The findings reveal significant regional disparities: areas with strong consumption competitiveness are often concentrated in economically developed regions, while high carrying capacity is notable in less populated or resource-rich areas. Notably, a mismatch emerges in some regions—high consumer demand is not always supported by adequate carrying capacity, and vice versa. These disparities highlight potential sustainability challenges and opportunities. In the discussion, we address reasons behind the spatial mismatch and propose policy implications to better align consumer market growth with regional resource and environmental capacity. The paper concludes that integrating consumption-driven growth strategies with carrying capacity considerations is essential for balanced and sustainable regional development.

In an effort to bridge the gap of economic and social inequality among the community, rural areas in Indonesia are encouraged to be self-sufficient in generating income. This makes the central government create various policies so that the regional government maximizes the management of its potential as an economic resource for the well-being of its people. One of the ways to manage this potential is to encourage rural areas to create tourism products that can be sold to the public. The Indonesian governments openly use the tourism sector as a tool for the development in many rural areas. Next, efforts to achieve successful development of the district will be closely related to the strategic planning and long-term cooperation of each local government with stakeholders in its implementation. These two points are the basic elements of the new regionalism theory. This theory states that the role of local governments is very important in initiating and making policies for new economic activities for a significant improvement in the quality of their population. Therefore, this study tries to explore how the new theory of regionalism can include rural development from a tourism perspective as a way to stimulate the fading economy in rural area of Indonesia. The study found that the new theory of regionalism needs support from various aspects such as social-cultural, community participation, the three pillars of sustainable development namely economic, social, and environmental as well as basic aspects to shape sustainable rural development through tourism.