Changes of Resource Use Patterns and State Policies since 1978: A Political Ecology of the Rural Beijing City, China

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the changing relationship between resource use patterns and state policies in the rural area of Beijing City from the viewpoint of political ecology in China's rapid economic growth. Since the reforms initiated in 1978, local government such as at village and township levels have enlarged the decision making power of agricultural production in accordance with the measures suited to local conditions in Beijing City. Policies of state and local government have lead to diversified resource use patterns on farmland in Beijing City. Local peasants also adapted to changing state policies by modifying the use pattern of regional resources. Relations between the state policies and the natural environment of Beijing City differ from other rural cases. The change of state policies has not damaged local natural environment, it has been somehow improved in the past twenty years. Thus different agricultural production policies were applied to each agricultural region, differentiating the crop production patterns.