A New Trend in the Space–Time Distribution of Cultivated Land Occupation for Construction in China and the Impact of Population Urbanization

Abstract

Rapid urbanization has brought huge development dividends to China. At the same time, its negative effects have aroused people's attention. For example, a large amount of cultivated land has been occupied for urban expansion and construction. Using exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and the spatial Durbin model (SDM), we analyzed the spatial distribution of cultivated land occupation for construction (CLOC) and its driving factors in 31 provinces in China from 2005 to 2016. The results indicated that (1) the CLOC rate presented a significant spatial clustering feature, and its distribution showed a new trend of "homogenization" after the year 2012; (2) as the core driving factor, the population urbanization rate significantly promoted the growth of the CLOC rate in the local province, while showing a negative effect on that rate in the neighboring provinces;(3) in addition, behind the new trend of the CLOC rate, there was a transformation from being "investment driven" to being "population and industry driven". Therefore, this paper suggests that the government should link each city's construction land supply to the constantly changing trend of population migrations in China. Further, promoting the tertiary industry can be a win-win strategy for easing the tension between cultivated land and construction land.Sustainability 2019, 11, 5089 2 of 23 construction, to ensure economic stability and improve domestic livelihood issues (narrowing the urban-rural gap and increasing employment in poor areas). Therefore, issues related to the game relationship between cultivated land and construction land are becoming the focus of scholarly attention, including the driving forces of urban expansion [4,7], the chain effect of cultivated land loss [8,9], and the transformation from cultivated land into construction land [10,11].Sustainability 2019, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 23 urban-rural gap and increasing employment in poor areas). Therefore, issues related to the game relationship between cultivated land and construction land are becoming the focus of scholarly attention, including the driving forces of urban expansion [4,7], the chain effect of cultivated land loss [8,9], and the transformation from cultivated land into construction land [10,11].

Expansion of Impervious Surfaces and Their Driving Forces in Highly Urbanized Cities in Kyrgyzstan

“…Change in urbanization has shown a clear impact on people and their environments [3,4]. It can be argued that expansion (urbanization) offers many benefits to human society, such as stimulating the economy, developing societies, and creating educational and cultural centers that increase the economic productivity of any country [10,11]. However, urbanization also leads to significant changes in landscapes and ecosystems, and poses many problems, including environmental degradation, which creates risks for environmental and socio-economic activities [8,10].…”