Analyzing the Decoupling between Rural-to-Urban Migrants and Urban Land Expansion in Hubei Province, China

Yaolin Liu,Ying Jing,Jie Gong,Zhengyu Wang,Enxiang Cai

doi:10.3390/su10020345

Abstract

Rapid urbanization in China has caused a large number of rural-to-urban migrants (RUMs) and rapid urban land expansion (ULE). Understanding the relationship between RUMs and ULE has important implications for urban sustainable development. This study explored the spatial patterns of RUMs and ULE in Hubei Province from 2009 to 2014, and analyzed the relationship between the two using a decoupling model. The results show that: (1) a large proportion of the rural population migrated to urban areas in Hubei Province from 2009 to 2014, and the distribution of RUMs was uneven: developed areas attracted more RUMs than undeveloped regions; (2) the urban land in Hubei Province increased rapidly from 2009 to 2014, and the urban land use in Hubei Province was extensive and inefficient; (3) the decoupling types between RUMs and ULE in Hubei Province were dominated by expansive negative and weak decoupling; (4) according to the changes in per capita urban land area and decoupling types, the coordination relationship between RUMs and ULE in Hubei Province was divided into eight types, and while the relationship between RUMs and ULE in most areas were coordinated and beneficial to urban land intensive use, the rest were uncoordinated. Finally, reasonable implications for urban sustainable development and new land use policy were put forward.

Highlights

Since the initiation of the “reform and opening-up” policy in 1978, China has made great achievements in social and economic development, and undergone unprecedented urbanization [1]
We argue that the migration population that caused urban population growth is rural-to-urban migrants (RUMs), and the migration from urban-to-urban was not considered
Our studies find that urban development in Hubei Province is highly uneven from the perspective of RUMs and urban land expansion (ULE); the higher economic development leads to higher ULE and RUMs

Summary

Introduction

Since the initiation of the “reform and opening-up” policy in 1978, China has made great achievements in social and economic development, and undergone unprecedented urbanization [1]. This urbanization has caused the phenomena of a monumental flow of rural-to-urban migration and dramatic spatial expansion in the scale of urban land in China [2,3]. The continuous migration from rural to urban areas increases the proportion of people living in towns and cities [8].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion