The impact of urbanisation on land resources in Chongqing, China, 1997–2015

Significant differences are observed in the urbanisation process between China and countries in the Western world, and also within China between its western regions and coastal areas. The western region of China experienced rapid urbanisation after 1997 when Chongqing, one of the most important central cities in the region, came directly under central government control. This article examines the urbanisation process in Chongqing from 1997 to 2015. The authors use the coordinated degree index, land use change intensity index and land use spatial index to analyse the urban construction process, its spatial variability and impact on cultivated land resources from a human geographer’s perspective. They show how rapid urban growth kept pace with the rate of industrialisation and was characterised by a ‘centre–periphery’ spatial structure. They find that urban growth lagged behind the rate of urban construction, measured by the rate of population urbanisation. In line with the government’s ‘new urbanisation strategy’, which was supported by research evidence, arable land was not used for construction, in contrast to other coastal cities. In identifying the characteristics of the urbanisation process in Chongqing and the challenges it raised, the authors comment on the reciprocal relationship between research evidence and policy development.