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Land use change is not only the consequence of economic growth but also its direct and indirect driver. Based on official land use change data from 2004 to 2008, this study found substantial land use changes in China, with considerable cultivated land conversion into urban, industrial and transportation purposes. Correlation analysis shows a strong association between land use change and absolute GDP expansion. Structural equation analysis indicates that economic growth drives land use change. Industrial land expansion directly stimulates economic growth. Land has been successfully used as a tool to attract foreign investments and to sustain infrastructure investments, indirectly triggering economic growth. The findings suggest that land is not a simple factor of production but a strategic tool for economic development in urban China.

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Urban land expansion in China has attracted considerable scholarly attention. However, more work is needed to apply spatial modeling to understanding the mechanisms of urban growth from both institutional and physical perspectives. This paper analyzes urban expansion in Shanghai and its development zones (DZs). We find that, as nodes of global-local interface, the DZs are the most significant components of urban growth in Shanghai, and major spatial patterns of urban expansion in Shanghai are infilling and edge expansion. We apply logistic regression, geographically weighted logistic regression (GWLR) and spatial regime regression to investigate the determinants of urban land expansion including physical conditions, state policy and land development. Regressions reveal that, though the market has been an important driving force in urban growth, the state has played a predominant role through the implementation of urban planning and the establishment of DZs to fully capitalize on globalization. We also find that differences in urban growth dynamics exist between the areas inside and outside of the DZs. Finally, this paper discusses policies to promote sustainable development in Shanghai.

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This study investigates the driving forces of industrial land expansion under China's unique land use system in the context of economic transition with an explicit emphasis of the interactive relationship between local government and enterprises. Stemming from institutional insights in a transitional economy, this study develops a novel framework to integrate governmental intervention, firm-government connection, and economic transition to explain the spatial patterns and reveal the mechanisms of industrial land expansion in China. Based on the national utilization conveyance data and spatial econometrics, this study confirms that local government intervention and firm-government connection affect industrial land development significantly and in a spatially heterogeneous way. This study contributes an institutional and transitional knowledge to understand rapid industrial land expansion in China.