IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v71y2018icp602-611.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The dilemma of land expansion and governance in rural China: A comparative study based on three townships in Zhejiang Province

Author

Listed:
  • Yu, Zhenning
  • Wu, Cifang
  • Tan, Yongzhong
  • Zhang, Xiaobin

Abstract

Why do Chinese farmers continually utilize high-quality yet scarce cultivated land and extensively construct residences? Why is the Chinese government unable to control the continuous expansion of rural residential land after implementing strict economical and intensive land policies? To answer these questions, we launched a comparative study of three townships in Zhejiang Province. Based on a survey of 576 households and 72 rural government officials, this paper identified the determinants of rural house-building, explored different models of government intervention and provided recommendations for future government efforts. Results showed that (1) children, environment, investment, “mianzi”, and “feng shui” factors were the main driving forces that influence farmers to construct residential structures, although primary and secondary differences in the various townships existed; (2) three problems in the specific governance emerged: the lack of farmers’ unified action, failure to protect the rights of farmers, and the problem of meeting the funds demand of homestead replacement; (3) Actively exploring effective village planning, establishing linkages among stakeholders, effectively promoting farmers’ participation, creating a service-oriented government, and introducing a Public-Private Partnership mechanism may effectively address the problems related to rural residential expansion and governance. The results indicated a need to pay more attention to the motivations of rural house-building, the interests of stakeholders and the funding arrangements of the project in future government intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu, Zhenning & Wu, Cifang & Tan, Yongzhong & Zhang, Xiaobin, 2018. "The dilemma of land expansion and governance in rural China: A comparative study based on three townships in Zhejiang Province," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 602-611.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:71:y:2018:i:c:p:602-611
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.09.054
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837717304908
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.09.054?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yi Peng & Liyin Shen & Cong Tan & Dalu Tan & Hao Wang, 2013. "Critical determinant factors (CDFs) for developing concentrated rural settlement in post-disaster reconstruction: a China study," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 66(2), pages 355-373, March.
    2. Kung James, Kaising, 1995. "Equal Entitlement versus Tenure Security under a Regime of Collective Property Rights: Peasants' Preference for Institutions in Post-reform Chinese Agriculture," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 82-111, August.
    3. Li Jiang & Karen C. Seto & Junfei Bai, 2015. "Urban economic development, changes in food consumption patterns and land requirements for food production in China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(2), pages 240-261, May.
    4. Wei Xu, 2004. "The Changing Dynamics of Land-Use Change in Rural China: A Case Study of Yuhang, Zhejiang Province," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(9), pages 1595-1615, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jie Zhang & Shengping Liu & Zijuan Zhao & Bin Li & Beilei Fan & Guomin Zhou, 2022. "Spatio-Temporal Features and Influencing Factors of Homesteads Expansion at Village Scale," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-23, October.
    2. Jia Gao & Ge Song & Shuhan Liu, 2022. "Factors influencing farmers’ willingness and behavior choices to withdraw from rural homesteads in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 112-131, March.
    3. Zhou, Bing-Bing & Aggarwal, Rimjhim & Wu, Jianguo & Lv, Ligang, 2021. "Urbanization-associated farmland loss: A macro-micro comparative study in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Renhao Yang & Qingyuan Yang, 2020. "Restructuring the State: Policy Transition of Construction Land Supply in Urban and Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Liu, Shuchang & Xiao, Wu & Ye, Yanmei & He, Tingting & Luo, Heng, 2023. "Rural residential land expansion and its impacts on cultivated land in China between 1990 and 2020," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    6. Ting Zhang & Jia Li & Yan Wang, 2023. "Effects of Livelihood Capital on the Farmers’ Behavioral Intention of Rural Residential Land Development Right Transfer: Evidence from Wujin District, Changzhou City, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, June.
    7. Fengzeng Lin & Yu Shao & Haibo Guo & Ruihong Yan & Chen Wang & Bolun Zhao, 2024. "Carbon Emissions and Intensity of Land Use: A Rural Setting Analysis in Ningde City, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-29, May.
    8. Meimei Wang & Yongchun Yang & Tao Guo, 2021. "Measurement of Urban–Rural Integration Level in Suburbs and Exurbs of Big Cities Based on Land-Use Change in Inland China: Chengdu," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-17, May.
    9. Jing Li & Meng Guo & Kevin Lo, 2019. "Estimating Housing Vacancy Rates in Rural China Using Power Consumption Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-13, October.
    10. Xiaoyu Liu & Liangjie Xin, 2022. "Assessment of the Efficiency of Cultivated Land Occupied by Urban and Rural Construction Land in China from 1990 to 2020," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-12, June.
    11. Libang Ma & Shichun Liu & Yiwen Niu & Meimei Chen, 2018. "Village-Scale Livelihood Change and the Response of Rural Settlement Land Use: Sihe Village of Tongwei County in Mid-Gansu Loess Hilly Region as an Example," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-25, August.
    12. Yang Wang & Chengchao Zuo & Mengke Zhu, 2024. "How Semi-Urbanisation Drives Expansion of Rural Construction Land in China: A Rural-Urban Interaction Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, January.
    13. Peng Tang & Jing Chen & Jinlong Gao & Min Li & Jinshuo Wang, 2020. "What Role(s) Do Village Committees Play in the Withdrawal from Rural Homesteads? Evidence from Sichuan Province in Western China," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-15, November.
    14. Suxia Zhao & Mengmeng Yin, 2023. "Research on Rural Population/Arable Land/Rural Settlements Association Model and Coordinated Development Path: A Case Analysis of the Yellow River Basin (Henan Section)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-15, February.
    15. Zhaoxia Guo & Qinqin Guo & Yujie Cai & Ge Wang, 2021. "Unraveling Risk Networks of Cultivated Land Protection: An Exploratory Stakeholder-Oriented Case Study in Xiliuhe Town, Hubei Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-26, November.
    16. Liu, Runqiu & Jiang, Jian & Yu, Chao & Rodenbiker, Jesse & Jiang, Yongmu, 2021. "The endowment effect accompanying villagers' withdrawal from rural homesteads: Field evidence from Chengdu, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    17. Zijuan Zhao & Beilei Fan & Qingbo Zhou & Shihao Xu, 2022. "Simulating the Coupling of Rural Settlement Expansion and Population Growth in Deqing, Zhejiang Province, Based on MCCA Modeling," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-23, November.
    18. Yongzhong Tan & Ju He & Zhenning Yu & Yonghua Tan, 2018. "Can Arable Land Alone Ensure Food Security? The Concept of Arable Land Equivalent Unit and Its Implications in Zhoushan City, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-13, March.
    19. Yunxian Yan & Lingqing Wang & Jun Yang, 2022. "The Willingness and Technology Preferences of Farmers and Their Influencing Factors for Soil Remediation," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qin, Pin & Carlsson, Fredrik & Xu, Jintao, 2009. "Forestland Reform in China: What do the Farmers Want? A Choice Experiment on Farmers’ Property Rights Preferences," Working Papers in Economics 370, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    2. Sindisiwe Nyide & Mulala Danny Simatele & Stefan Grab & Richard Kwame Adom, 2023. "Assessment of the Dynamics towards Effective and Efficient Post-Flood Disaster Adaptive Capacity and Resilience in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-25, August.
    3. Paul L. G. Vlek & Asia Khamzina & Hossein Azadi & Anik Bhaduri & Luna Bharati & Ademola Braimoh & Christopher Martius & Terry Sunderland & Fatemeh Taheri, 2017. "Trade-Offs in Multi-Purpose Land Use under Land Degradation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, November.
    4. Haijun Bao & Xiaoting Zhu & Yingying Cen & Yi Peng & Jibin Xue, 2018. "Effects of Social Network on Human Capital of Land-Lost Farmers: A Study in Zhejiang Province," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 167-187, May.
    5. Thomas Vendryes, 2014. "Peasants Against Private Property Rights: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 971-995, December.
    6. Alan de Brauw & John Giles, 2017. "Migrant Opportunity and the Educational Attainment of Youth in Rural China," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(1), pages 272-311.
    7. Jieming Zhu & Yan Guo, 2014. "Fragmented Peri-urbanisation Led by Autonomous Village Development under Informal Institution in High-density Regions: The Case of Nanhai, China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(6), pages 1120-1145, May.
    8. Ran Tao & Zhigang Xu, 2006. "Groping for Stones to Cross the River versus Coordinated Policy Reforms: The Case of Two Reforms in China," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 177-201.
    9. Wu, Yuzhe & Mo, Zhibin & Peng, Yi & Skitmore, Martin, 2018. "Market-driven land nationalization in China: A new system for the capitalization of rural homesteads," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 559-569.
    10. Dana Alsaad & Mohammed Al-Mahish, 2024. "Demand and Nutrient Elasticities of Egg Consumption: Evidence from Saudi Arabia," Economies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15, September.
    11. Liu, Kai & Zhu, Wenjue & Luo, Mingzhong, 2022. "Land integration and titling policy in China: Institutional barriers and countermeasures," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    12. Barsha Shrestha & Sanjaya Uprety & Jiba Raj Pokharel, 2023. "Factors Influencing Housing Satisfaction in Post-Disaster Resettlement: A Case of Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-26, August.
    13. Keijiro Otsuka, 2012. "Economic Transformation of Agriculture in Asia: Past Performance and Future Prospects," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-19, June.
    14. Liu, Shouying & Carter, Michael R. & Yao, Yang, 1998. "Dimensions and diversity of property rights in rural China: Dilemmas on the road to further reform," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(10), pages 1789-1806, October.
    15. Liu, Runqiu & Jiang, Jian & Yu, Chao & Rodenbiker, Jesse & Jiang, Yongmu, 2021. "The endowment effect accompanying villagers' withdrawal from rural homesteads: Field evidence from Chengdu, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    16. Yixiang Chen & Xiangmu Jin, 2023. "How Do Farmers Realize Their Rights on the Collective Land in Rural China? An Explanatory Framework for Deconstructing the Subject of Collective Land Ownership," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-17, September.
    17. Bai, Junfei & Seale Jr, James L. & Wahl, Thomas I., 2020. "Meat demand in China: to include or not to include meat away from home?," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(1), January.
    18. Jing Wang & Yurui Li & Qianyi Wang & Kee Cheok Cheong, 2019. "Urban–Rural Construction Land Replacement for More Sustainable Land Use and Regional Development in China: Policies and Practices," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-18, November.
    19. L Rachel Ngai & Christopher A Pissarides & Jin Wang, 2019. "China’s Mobility Barriers and Employment Allocations," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(5), pages 1617-1653.
    20. Bev Wilson & Arnab Chakraborty, 2013. "The Environmental Impacts of Sprawl: Emergent Themes from the Past Decade of Planning Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(8), pages 1-26, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:71:y:2018:i:c:p:602-611. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.