Index system to assess implementation of strategic land use plans in China

Abstract

The strategic land use plan is an effective tool to implement new ideas and strategic adjustments in land use policies in the context of the economic transformation of China. This study designs an index system for quantifying the success of the implementation of strategic land use plans. The proposed index system consists of two independent dimensions as quota implementation and task implementation. The indices for assessing quota implementation were directly obtained from planning quotas and quantified by conformance analysis. We determined the extent to which the output of the quotas had met expectations. The indices for assessing task implementation were obtained through questionnaires and quantified by performance analysis. We divided the indices into several scenarios for scoring. This framework was applied to a medium-term evaluation of China's Land and Resource Plan of 2016. The results reveal the advantages and defects of the planning implementation. Four provinces, mostly concentrated in the east, were praiseworthy in implementing the plan in the two dimensions but four others, mostly concentrated in the west, were failed. There was a positive correlation between the comprehensive conformance values and the performance scores and were weak correlations between the conformance of four quotas and the performance of seven tasks. This study has practical value for quantitatively monitoring the implementation of strategic land use plans. The results can provide suggestions for new ideas and strategies in land use policies during the economic transformation in China, including optimizing ecological protection, improving farmland quality and people's livelihood within rural land requisition, and strengthening law enforcement.