Changing Spatial Distribution and Determinants of Land Development in Chinese Cities in the Transition from a Centrally Planned Economy to a Socialist Market Economy: A Case Study of Guangzhou

Abstract

The spatial distribution and locational characteristics of land development have changed dramatically in Chinese cities since the land reform of 1987 which allowed the paid transfer of land-use rightsÐ i.e. land leasing. This has led to the rapid transformation of the urban spatial structure of Chinese cities. There is an urgent need to study the general trend of such changes and their policy implications. However, due to the lack of data, such investigations lag far behind the rapid land development in Chinese cities. This paper attempts to examine the new spatial pattern of land development in Chinese cities and its determinants by studying land development in Guangzhou before (1979± 87) and after (1987± 92) the land reform by analysing data obtained from aerial photographs with the aid of GIS techniques. The determinants of land development are analysed using a logistic regression model. It is found that there has been signi® cant acceleration of urban redevelopment and urban sprawl in Guangzhou since the adoption of the new land-leasing system in 1987. The changing spatial distributions and determinants of land development suggest the emergence of new locational behaviours of land development in Chinese cities in the transition from a centrally planned economy to a socialist market economy.

Long-term impacts of transport infrastructure networks on land-use change: an international review of empirical studies

“…The results of studies using indicators of land cover can be quite contradictory. Distance to railway line is reported to have no impact on land-cover change in Guangzhou from 1979 to 1992 (Wu & Yeh, 1997). Surprisingly, in the case of Nanjing (1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000), the proximity to rail is shown to discourage the conversion to urban land.…”

Spatiotemporal Dynamics and Spatial Determinants of Urban Growth in Suzhou, China

“…Applying the model to land use change in Guangzhou, China, Wu and Yeh [32] find that road accessibility and socioeconomic factors are the important determinants of urban land development in a transitional economy. Verburg et al [33] use this model to analyze land use change in the Netherlands and find that the expansions of residential, industrial/commercial, and recreational areas can be explained by a combination of accessibility measures, spatial policies, and neighborhood interaction.…”

“…Many types of explanatory factors have been identified in land use conversion models, including accessibility to road infrastructure, attributes of neighborhoods of land use site, and spatial policies such as planning restrictions [8,24,32]. In this study, we used three groups of independent variables, including proximity to transportation infrastructure, neighborhood physical conditions, and socioeconomic factors.…”

Urban expansion and its consumption of high-quality farmland in Beijing, China

“…A large body of research has found the primary physical determinants of the locations occupied by urban expansion to be slope, elevation, aspect (Wu and Yeh, 1997;Aspinall, 2004;He et al, 2006;Batisani and Yarnal, 2009;Dubovyk et al, 2011) and distance to water bodies (Cheng and Masser, 2003;Aspinall, 2004;Batisani and Yarnal, 2009). Elevation should be important in a local landscape that is prone to flooding (Pijanowski et al, 2009).…”