Land Rural Development Research Articles

Socio-economic Impacts of Forests Rights Act on the Individual Title Holders: An Analytical Study among the Lanjia Saoras of Odisha

The present study examines the socio-economic impacts of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 on Individual Forest Rights (IFR) title holders from the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) of Lanjia Saora in the Gumma block of Gajapati district, Odisha. It analyses the socioeconomic status, land use patterns, occupations, and convergence of government schemes for IFR households across 4 villages through household surveys and focus group discussions covering 52 households. Key findings i.e reveal livelihood dependence on agriculture, agricultural wage labour and lack of basic amenities like pucca housing, electricity and toilets for majority of households. While some support have been provided through rural housing, land development and horticulture schemes, the coverage remains limited. The study therefore recommends increasing awareness about FRA, promoting cash crops, horticulture, Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) collection and marketing, skill development for off-farm livelihoods, improving connectivity and public infrastructure etc. It conlude the need to address developmental gaps of tribal IFR holders through appropriate policies and convergence of government schemes at the district level.

The effectiveness of voluntary collective action in China's rural land development

China is gradually and directly making rural collective land available on the land market. It is important to understand how stakeholders collectively treat and manage this land, and if this collective action leads to effective and sustainable results. This paper, however, revises Ostrom's framework of collective action by constructing the joint analysis of social capital, trust, and cooperation performance, in order to better capture the distinction between voluntary action and enforced action of stakeholders towards a sustainable goal. We analyze the role of voluntary collective action through higher-order structural equation modeling (HSEM), applied to a database consisting of 324 households in Jiangsu Province, China, collected in 2022 and 2023. The results suggest that social capital effectively promotes villagers' trust in policy implementers by establishing new institutions, increasing actors' trustworthiness, and improving channels of information exchange, and the first two means are more effective than the latter. We also demonstrate the significant positive effect of trust on cooperation performance, with trusting relationships with familiar groups and the credible behavior of policy implementers affecting performance outcomes of collective action. Moreover, social capital drives cooperation performance through the mediating effect of mutual trust that it breeds. With this revised framework and verified hypotheses one can thus create more effective policies to avoid inequality and informality in the land marketization process in China.

Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Spatiotemporal Distribution of Rural Houses Construction Development in Mountainous Villages of China (1980–2019): A Case Study of Qingyuan Town

Rural house is a fundamental component of rural settlements, and understanding its construction and development characteristics is crucial for rural land use and development planning. This paper focuses on the spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of Rural Houses Construction Development (RHCD) from 1980 to 2019 with a case study of Qingyuan Town in China. Based on the literature review and filed research, a set of evaluation indicators for RHCD was established. The article calculates RHCD indicators from temporal and spatial dimensions, uses the location entropy method to demonstrate the spatial distribution of indicators, and classifies the RHCD type of 14 villages in Qingyuan Town using clustering algorithms. It also analyzes the influencing factors of spatiotemporal distribution. The results show that the RHCD in Qingyuan Town exhibits typical characteristics of mountainous areas and aligns with the development trends of rural society in China. Population growth, geographical location, and economic development are the primary driving factors for the quantity indicator (Qi), while economic growth, construction technology, industrial development, and policy adjustments are the key factors influencing the form indicator (Fi). In future policy-making, greater emphasis should be placed on optimizing development strategies, improving data and monitoring systems, and integrating administrative strength with actual development needs.

Perspectives for smooth bridging of dichotomized urban–rural land development in the peri‐urban areas of Ethiopia: Toward a continuum approach

The current trend of rapid urbanization in the global south is overwhelmed by an ever‐increasing demand for land. This indeed has been exerting an objectionable pressure over peri‐urban land located immediately outside of urban territories. This challenge is more severe in developing countries such as Ethiopia, where the urban and rural land systems are dichotomized and understood in isolation as two distinct entities. The need to broaden and understand perspectives for smooth bridging of urban and rural areas has been gaining more attention in the current discourse of viewing urban challenges and prospects. Hence, this study seeks to broaden perspectives for a smooth transition of urban development into rural areas and across peri‐urban areas in a continuity and guided by a continuum approach to development. A desk review research approach supplemented by key informant interviews was employed as a research method. The findings of this study show that the dichotomized land policy and governance systems, along with the multiplicity of actors or institutions having competing and conflicting interests in peri‐urban land have been hindering urban–rural development interconnectedness and continuity in Ethiopian cities. Moreover, a more nuanced perspective and understanding on the hindering factors for interconnectedness between urban and rural areas relevant for urban land use planning and policy‐making are presented in detail in this study. Concurrently, this study promotes the need for a more inclusive continuum approach to land development policy that responds equally to urban–rural contexts and across peri‐urban areas.

Exploring the socio-economic impacts of community based rehabilitated watersheds: an experience from Wera district, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT In developing countries, research evidence on the socio-economic impact is a crucial issue in motivating and encouraging community-based restoration of degraded watershed ecosystems. This paper focuses on exploring the socio-economic impacts of rehabilitating a watershed area in two villages (kebeles) using two independently pooled cross-sectional data sets. 240 households were selected at random to provide the data. Half of the households (120) were randomly chosen from the records of the rural land and agricultural development office in 2007 and the other half (120) were randomly selected and interviewed in 2022 using semi-structured questionnaires. Our results show that the contribution of the restored area to the economy of the local communities dramatically increased between 2007 and 2022. The main economic activities encountered in the restored area are fuelwood collection, the harvesting of construction wood, collecting grasses, and harvesting fodder, which are practiced by 75%, 68%, 59% and 41% of sampled households in 2022, respectively, while the same activities were practiced by 5%, 0%, 0%, and 2.5% households in 2007, respectively. Rehabilitation intervention also created job opportunities, and strengthened social networking among local households. These findings can help government and non-government stakeholders those implement ecosystem restoration by enhancing community-based rehabilitation of watersheds.

ANALYSIS OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF RURAL AND URBAN LAND AND BUILDING TAX (PBB-P2) TO THE REGIONAL ORIGINAL REVENUE (PAD) OF KOLAKA REGENCY IN 2016-2020

This study aims to analyze the contribution and development of Rural and Urban Land and Building Tax (PBB-P2) to the Regional Original Income (PAD) of Kolaka Regency in 2016- 2020. Data collection techniques use documentation and literature. The data analysis technique used in this study uses a qualitative descriptive analysis method. The results of the study show that: (1) The contribution of Rural and Urban Land and Building Tax (PBB-P2) to Regional Original Income (PAD) in 2016 to 2020 is included in the very low criteria because the contribution is in the range from 0.00% to 10.0%, namely the average contribution is at 3% with very low criteria. (2) The trend or development of PBB-P2 to Regional Original Income (PAD) in the last five years has shown an increasing trend in the percentage of contribution.

Examining Regional Economic Expansion Through the Reduction and Absurdum Methodologies: A View of the Variations of Rural Construction in China and Internal Causes of Cultural Confidence

The correlation between regional economic development and the urbanization process has been the cause of the emergence of “village-in-the-city” or “urbanization villages.” To accurately detail the changes in “village-in-the-city”, the urbanization scheme persists in transforming the “village-in-the-city” into a threadiness of “urban-rural fringe” in this decade. This document uses these two terms. After the suggestions about the “Liang and Chen Plan” failed to be accepted, “village-in-city,” the geographical term has lasted for 70 years. Nowadays, China’s policy of collective ownership of rural residential land (which is not allowed to be listed for trading) but commercial development has led villagers to increase the floor area based on their own homes without authorization to increase rental income. The Government must demolish the illegal building to comply with land planning rules, sustain the city’s appearance and protection, and manage the transient population. The cycle caused cultural resources to be destroyed and traditional villages to disappear. From an anthropological perspective, this paper uses rural ecosystem services, involving artists, appreciating rural assets, and stimulating rural job opportunities through social responsibility, equity, and public welfare design. Advocating the Chinese Government encourage private investments in rural construction, raising villagers’ awareness of resources, providing multiple choices, empowering rural businesses, and increasing villagers’ income from their talent as part of rural progress to explore a path of innovation with Cultural Confidence for rural construction in contemporary China.

The Spatial Association of Rural Human Settlement System Resilience with Land Use in Hunan Province, China, 2000–2020

In China, the rural human settlement system (RHSS) reflects the relationship between rural people and land but is affected by land use and land cover change (LUCC). Maintaining a harmonious development between RHSS resilience (RHSSR) and LUCC is an important rural development issue. However, the spatial association between LUCC and RHSSR remains unclear, constraining effective land use and rural policymaking. The association between RHSSR and LUCC was assessed from a spatial perspective. Using county-level spatial panel data for Hunan Province, China (2000–2020), an evaluation indicator system was established to measure RHSS and analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of RHSSR using a geospatial analysis and geodetector model. The average RHSSR level increased from 0.158 to 1.406. The RHSSR generally presented a three-level stepped spatial distribution feature of high in the east and low in the west, with a belt-like distribution. Additionally, the RHSSR was consistent with land use intensity (LUI), but there was significant spatial heterogeneity in the spatial relationship between LUI and RHSSR. The evolution of RHSSR occurred through industrial development, medical service improvement, increased income, and environmental protection. This has important implications for future rural development strategies, the sustainable development of rural land, and the integration of RHSS into regional planning.

Effects of Livelihood Capital on the Farmers’ Behavioral Intention of Rural Residential Land Development Right Transfer: Evidence from Wujin District, Changzhou City, China

In the process of rapid urbanization and industrialization, there is a significant gap between farmers’ participation and rural homestead reorganization for the more diversified external environment. Despite considerable research focused on homestead withdrawal, the transfer of rural residential land development rights has received comparatively little attention. To realize the optimal use of rural homesteads’ resources and reducing potential living risks, this paper conducted an empirical study on the impact of farmers’ livelihood capital on their behavioral intention of rural residential land development right transfer within Wujin District as an example by incorporating the concepts of livelihood capital and risk perception into the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The results of this research show that the increase in livelihood capital may reduce the level of risk perception. The livelihood capital influences farmers’ intentions towards rural residential land development right transfer through risk perception and individual cognition. Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested to diversify livelihood strategies and improve the quality of livelihood capital, in order to reduce the constraint impact of risk perception on farmers’ behavioral intention (BI).

Intensive-Use-Oriented Performance Evaluation and Optimization of Rural Industrial Land: A Case Study of Wujiang District, China

Rural industrialization is one of the core drivers of urban and rural spatial evolution and economic transformation in China. Given the background of stock and reduction planning, the development of rural industrial land, which has long relied on land inputs to increase production and inefficient expansion, is facing severe constraints and challenges. How to improve the spatial performance of rural industrial land and promote industrial upgrading and intensive land use have become vital issues for the healthy development of rural areas. This paper draws upon smart shrinkage theory to provide an analytical framework for the intensive-use-oriented performance evaluation of rural industrial land, unlike the evaluation method of efficiency orientation for industrial land, which emphasizes the core goal of the input and output of production factors per unit area. Based on the analysis framework, this study explored the parcel-microscale performance evaluation methods for rural industrial land, and the evaluation index system construction covers the four dimensions of economic performance, social performance, ecological performance, and land use structure performance. Wujiang District of Suzhou City was used as a case study to carry out a comprehensive performance evaluation and analyze the differences in RILP in space and industry. Based on the evaluation results, the key problems of rural industrial land were identified, and corresponding optimization strategies for rural industrial land are proposed from the aspects of land use control, spatial agglomeration, and industrial upgrading. This study intended to address the current major national strategic needs and solve the real dilemmas faced in the process of rural industrial land development. It is hoped that the study will provide a theoretical reference for the transformation of rural industrial land and policy-making for rural revitalization.

Spatial Evolution and Multi-Scenario Simulation of Rural “Production–Ecological–Living” Space: A Case Study for Beijing, China

With the vigorous development of industrialization and urbanization, rural space faces many difficulties in achieving sustainable development, such as the spatial structure being unbalanced. To explore the sustainable development of rural space, this study evaluates the spatial evolution and multi-scenario simulation of rural space with reference to the three dominant functions of land use, namely “production–ecological–living” (PEL), based on the interpretation of land use remote sensing data in 2000, 2010, and 2020. The change characteristics and the formation mechanism of the territorial spatial pattern were quantitatively analyzed by gravity center transfer, territorial spatial transfer matrix, standard deviational ellipse, geo-detector, and artificial neural network CA simulation. The results showed that (1) from 2000 to 2020, the rural production space in Beijing continued to decrease, the rural living space continued to increase and then gradually contracted, and the rural ecological space as a whole also showed a downward trend. (2) During the study period, the formation and evolution of the ecological spatial pattern of rural production and living in Beijing were affected by both regional physical geographical factors and human, social, and economic factors, with significant differences; the interaction between two driving factors is stronger than that within a single factor, and the main mode of action is double factor enhancement and nonlinear enhancement. (3) Compared with the other three scenarios, the performance of Beijing’s rural space in 2030 under the harmonious development scenario is more compact and stable, the rural production space is basically guaranteed, the intensity of rural living space is enhanced, and the overall situation of rural ecological space is stable. Our results show that in the future decision-making of rural land and space development around a metropolis, we should fully consider the evolution law of rural spatial pattern, as well as the driving force of natural geographical factors and economic activity factors and discuss the optimization and overall management of rural production and living ecological space through multi-scenario spatial simulation.

Multi-scales urban-rural integrated development and land-use transition: The story of China

Urban–rural integrated (URI) development strategy is designed to solve the accumulated urban–rural gap of China in the rapid urbanization stage. As the significant link in the interaction of human society and nature, the way of land use has an important impact on URI development. Most existing research evaluates the development level of URI in China from the spatiotemporal evolution path. However, due to the caliber of statistical data and differences in development stage, existing studies mostly focus on a single scale. And few studies have conducted the evaluation of URI level from multi-scales. We unified the evaluation index system of URI and land-use transition at different scales, and introduced panel quantile regression model to calculate the response of URI to land-use transition at different scales. The results of our study show that the impact of land-use transition on URI development exhibits regional and multi-scale characteristics. At the macro scale, rational growth of urban construction land will more effectively promote URI development in underdeveloped areas. At the meso and micro scales, cities (counties) with different URI development levels coexist, and for highly urbanized cities (counties), there is little benefit from promoting the expansion of construction land, and it is urgent to optimize land-use efficiency and land spatial morphology. Lagging development areas need orderly urban–rural land development and construction, optimize land-use functions, and accelerate URI development. Our results indicate that in urban–rural land management and spatial governance, it is necessary to coordinate the overall benefits and local benefits at different scales and develop a land-use transition model that conforms to the regional reality to effectively promote comprehensive URI development.

The impact modelling of urban and rural land planning and development on the ecological environment around the city

In order to effectively explore the impact of urban and rural land planning and development on the environment, there is a need to improve the research accuracy and environmental quality, and summarise the impact of urban and rural land planning and development on the periphery of the city. According to the results of impact analysis, the information of urban and rural land development intensity and the information of ecological environment around the city are counted. The global scheduling method is used to calculate the contribution of promoting factors, so as to construct the impact research model. The urban and rural land development intensity information and ecological environment information are input into the model, and the output of the model is the impact research result. The experimental results show that the accuracy of ecological environmental impact analysis around the city remains above 90% after the application of this method.

Study on the impact of rural land development and utilisation on the coordinated development of regional ecological environment

In order to effectively resolve the conflict between land use and ecological security, this paper studies the impact of rural land development and utilisation on the coordinated development of regional ecological environment. After selecting the index, the data are dimensionless, the index data weight is calculated, and the comprehensive evaluation function of ecological environment is established. According to the comprehensive evaluation function of land use and ecological environment, the rural land use evaluation index and ecological environment comprehensive index are obtained. Combined with the coupling coordination degree, the impact of rural land development and utilisation on the coordinated development of regional ecological environment is clarified. The results show that when the benefit of rural land development and utilisation is 0.5923, it can promote the coordinated development of regional ecological environment. When it exceeds 0.5923, it is not conducive to the coordinated development of ecological environment.

Evaluating Sustainability of Tourism Projects in Rural Land Development Base on a Resilience Model

The underutilisation or overutilisation of various interdependent and interacting factors poses a challenge to sustainable development and requires the development of an appropriate methodology to evaluate the sustainability of tourism development projects in rural Land (TDPRL). However, most previous evaluations of TDPRL sustainability are macro-oriented and ignore the entire project life cycle. This study focuses on the resilience characteristics of TDPRL and proposes a “sustainable resilience model” based on physical-mechanical theory, which analyses various factors influencing TDPRL resilience based on the three dimensions of tractive force, driving force, and internal dynamic, and constructs a qualitative evaluation index system through stakeholder meetings. Then the analytic network process (ANP) is used to assess the resilience of TDPRL quantitatively. The rationality of the evaluation index system is validated through an empirical analysis of three rural tourism projects in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. We found that the resilience of TDPRL depends first on the project fundamentals, which include population, industry, location, and infrastructure. Second, local elites are crucial to rural tourism revitalization. Third, the project team should have sufficient capacity to provide tourists with satisfactory products and services, ensuring the project’s sustainable operation, and meeting the core demands of stakeholders. This study provides a novel tool for the decision-making and improvement of rural tourist project development and land use planning over the project life cycle.

Commodification or the right to the island: The struggle against the construction of a hotel in La Tejita (Tenerife)

Tourism is an attractive means of economic growth for governments, private companies, and international organizations, especially in places on the periphery of world capitalism. This growth strategy goes hand in hand with the transformation of coastlines and their surrounding areas and the enclosure of common spaces. These trends are illustrated by ongoing processes in the Canary Islands. In the aftermath of the 2007–2008 economic and financial crisis, and in line with its island development model, the archipelago’s regional government boosted the urban development of rural land and the construction of new hotels along the coastline. In early 2016, a movement to prevent the construction of a hotel on the coast of La Tejita (Tenerife) was formed. This study analyzes the fight to halt the development project, together with key landmarks in the protest, and explores the hypothesis that the right to nature exists and is indeed upheld, expressed in turn as the right to the island. The analysis is based on participant observations, dialogue with activists involved in the protest, and media coverage.

A Comparative Analysis of Farmland Occupation by Urban Sprawl and Rural Settlement Expansion in China

The farmland loss caused by urban–rural land development has exacerbated China’s challenges of using limited farmland to feed more than 1.4 billion people. Earlier studies shed light on the impacts of urban sprawl and rural settlement expansion, separately. However, there is little quantitative understanding of which one has more severe impacts on farmland and its net primary productivity (NPP). Thus, this study used spatially explicit satellite data including land-use maps and estimated NPP data, as well as spatiotemporal analysis methods to conduct a comparative analysis of farmland loss due to urban sprawl and rural settlement expansion at different scales from 2000 to 2020 in China. The results show that during the study period, urban sprawl resulted in a loss of 49,086.6 km2 of farmland area and 8.34 TgC of farmland NPP, while the loss of farmland area and farmland NPP due to rural settlement expansion reached 18,006.8 km2 and 3.88 TgC. The largest gap between the total area of farmland loss due to urban sprawl and the total loss area due to rural settlement expansion was 12,983.3 km2 in Eastern China, while the smallest gap was 1291.1 km2 in Northeastern China. The largest gap between the loss of farmland NPP due to urban sprawl and the total loss due to rural settlement expansion occurred in Eastern China at 1.97 TgC. Spatially, the total loss of farmland and its NPP due to urban sprawl and rural settlement expansion occurred mainly in the eastern and central regions of China; the areas of farmland loss by urban sprawl were more concentrated than that by rural settlement expansion. The negative impacts of urban sprawl on farmland area and its NPP were greater in southern China than that of rural settlement expansion. Noticeably, the loss of NPP per unit of farmland due to rural settlement expansion was higher than that by urban sprawl, especially in the Yangtze River Delta and Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. The results highlight the non-negligible impacts of rural settlement expansion on farmland in China. It is necessary to improve farmland protection policies by optimizing the spatial allocation of urban and rural construction land.

Property rights and adjustment for sustainable development during post-productivist transitions in China

Since the 1990 s, the restructuring of the global economic system has ushered in worldwide ‘post-productivist transitions’ (PPTs) and triggered development in rural areas and agricultural adjustments for meeting the requirements of urban populations to consume ‘rurality’. While adaptive development of rural areas has occurred in Western countries, it is hardly possible in China, where strict land conversion controls over rural land exist. In China, an increasing need for construction in rural areas results in the overexploitation of existing built-up land. Taking the fragmented rights of homestead land and collectively operated built-up land into consideration, the deterioration of natural and built environments becomes inevitable and damages the sustainability of PPTs. By investigating two PPT cases in China, this study argues that land conversion controls over collective-owned rural land have stimulated denser, at times illegal, development in villages. The study also contends that fragmented use rights hamper environment-friendly development, possibly ending PPTs, as happened in Xiaozhou Village in Guangzhou. Given the practices in Wanfu Village in Chengdu, policies that end land conversion controls and encourage assembly could partially solve the problem by allowing sustainable rural land development. Preparing space for urban populations in a sustainable way helps avoid the illegal redevelopment of villages and protects the area’s rurality, allowing PPTs to evolve. This study advocates for institutional adjustment when designing a path for developing PPTs.

Elite Capture and Corruption: The Influence of Elite Collusion on Village Elections and Rural Land Development in China

AbstractThis article presents a qualitative empirical study of elite collusion and its influence on village elections and rural land development in China. Drawing on ethnographic data collected from two Chinese villages, it investigates how village cadres collude with other rural elites, using bribery, gift-giving and lavish banquets, to establish reciprocal ties with township officials and other public officials. Meanwhile, the officials make use of formal organizations to corruptly obtain profits and form alliances with village elites. The article examines how rural elites, especially village cadres, use this collusion to profit from the misuse of villagers’ collectively owned assets, the manipulation of village elections and the suppression of anti-corruption protests. It also offers new descriptive evidence of how recent reforms designed to strengthen the Party's overall leadership in rural governance may have actually facilitated elite capture and grassroots corruption.

Large-scale agricultural investment in Ethiopia: Development, challenges and policy responses

In 1991, Ethiopia’s development strategy positioned smallholder farmers in a vital role in increasing agricultural productivity that could serve as a growth engine for the overall economic development of the country. However, the incorporation of agricultural commercialization as a development strategy in 2005 brought an influx of large-scale agricultural investment (LSAI) in Ethiopia and took away the special role that smallholder farmers had previously played. This paper critically analyzes how rural land issues, LSAI, and development challenges are addressed by the agricultural policy and how gaps of institutional capacity with regards to LSAI in Ethiopia are managed and monitored. This qualitative study uses document analysis, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and personal observation methods to explore processes, activities, and events found in society; the study relies on Bacchi’s (2009) model of policy analysis known as ‘What is the Problem Represented to be’ (WPR). On the basis of this approach, failure to address ‘rural land rights’ has been determined as a core problem in the policy, which has resulted in competition for land use rights among smallholder farmers, pointing out the lack of preparedness and inability of the policy and all government institutions to handle socio-economic disruptions related to the expansion and development of LSAI in Ethiopia. Reconsidering constitutional and highly politicized land tenure security will be of paramount importance in bringing about agricultural transformation in Ethiopia.