GeoJournal 30.4 435-440 435 © 1993 (Aug) by Kluwer Academic Pqblishers

Urban Land Use Transformation and Determinants of Urban Land Use Size in China

WeL Yehua, University of Akron, Department of Geography and Planning, Akron, OH 44325, USA

ASTRACT: Recent economic reforms and shifts in land use planning in China have greatly changed the size and structure of urban land use. In this paper, an overview of the problems in urban land use and the impacts of economic reforms and planning policies on rapid urban land expansion and structural transformation is outlined. This is followed by statistical analyses to reveal determinants of urban land size. The study shows that urban land use in China has been improved, and urban land use size is related to urban reforms, urban land use adjustment, as well as to population growth and economic development.

Introduction

Urban land in China increased very slowly in the first three decades after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 partially as the result of the policy to control urban growth. Recent economic reforms have markedly enhanced the nation's economic develop- ment and raised the level of urbanization (Lo 1987). Rapid economic growth and urbanization have simultaneously promoted the expansion of urban land and the restructu- ring of urban land use (Gan 1990). The transformation of urban land use has also been facilitated by the changes in urban planning and development policies. China has under- taken a wide range of measures such as urban planning and reforms of land systems to solve problems in urban land use and promote the efficient and rational use of urban land. The shortage of urban land has been alleviated to some extent, while more and more suburban land was lost. On the other hand, per capita urban land use remains at a low level due to the rapid increase of urban population.

This study attempts to analyze the problems and changes in urban land use in China. We want to identify the important factors underlying urban land. It is hypothesized that urban land use size is associated with population growth, economic development, land use adjustment, and economic reforms. The analysis of the factors determining the expansion of urban areas not only provide a useful model for projecting future urban land, but also facilitate the formation of effective policies.

Problems in Urban Land Use

Adjusting urban land use has been one of the important components in China's urban development policies. This

adjustment attempts to solve the following problems in urban land use and satisfy the rapid economic and population growth.

1. Shortage and Low Efficiency. In the beginning of the reform period, there commonly existed problems of the shortage of urban land use and overcrowded conditions in Chinese cities. In 1980, the average per capita land use was about 72 m 2. Cities, especially large cities, were usually overcrowded. Ma (1980) depicted the serious crowd of urban population in some Chinese large cities. Land for residential use and transportation was even more unavailable.

Four factors contributed to the urban land shortage problem. First, China had controlled the expansion of urban areas. Second, Chinese city planners had not altered the overcrowded older core of cities, which otherwise could have provided additional land for redevelopment (Pannell and Ma 1983). Third, in order to ensure supplying sufficient vegetables for urban residents, strict regulations had been laid down to prevent encroachment on suburban farm land for urban development (Fung 1986). Lastly, the low proportion for urban housing investment and the increase of construction cost (Lee 1988) also affected urban land development.

On the other hand, urban land often had been wastefully consumed or misused (Fung 1981). Many units requisitioned an excessive amount of land but left it idle and vacant. China had maintained land rent at a very low rate under the belief that the land in a socialist country should be a social welfare provision (Gan 1990). The policy of low land rent contributed to the inefficiency of urban land use. Another factor was the Chinese industrial allocation policy. The Chinese government had encouraged decentralizing industrial allocation throughout the suburbs of cities for the national defence

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Tab 1 Proportion of productive 1) and living 1) land use (1950s-1980s)

purpose. Under this policy, factories usually occupied land in excess of their needs.

2. Unproportional and Intermixed Land Use. Socialist China stressed industrial development and paid little attention to improve living conditions regarding their land use and housing needs ("production first, living conditions later") (Lo 1987). As a result of this policy, the proportion of productive land use 1) grew rapidly (Tab 1). Industrial land occupied a large proportion of urban land. However, the land for living use such as residential land and green space was allocated only a small proportion.

Intermixed residential and industrial land use was common in Chinese cities. Plants established in earlier years were usually situated in city centers or inner residential areas. Plants established in the 1960s and the 1970s were often dispersed around the periphery of cities without city planning. Those intermixed urban land uses caused traffic problems, waste of land, and environmental pollution.

The first factor contributed to this problem was that Chinese cities experienced unplanned expansion and allo- cation. Urban planning had long been disputed. There was no specific guideline or regulation for allocating land for urban development (Kung 1981). The second factor con- cerned the low rent policy. The competition for the opti- mum location choice did not act in Chinese cities (Gan 1990).

Impacts of Economic Reforms

Rural reforms, as the initial step of economic reforms, introduced the "responsible system" in 1978. In the new system, farmers have more flexibility in deciding their economic activities as long as they can fulfil the quota of grain production required by the government. They are permitted to sell surplus products at market prices and undertake non-agricultural activities.

Rural reforms have raised rural income and changed the income structure. More and more rural labors have been engaged in non-agricultural activities in the cities (Kim 1988), and farms have earned greater income from

off-farm jobs associated with nearby urban centers (Veeck and Pannell 1989). Rising rural income and rapid rural development have provided more capital available for urban development and stimulated the farmer's longing for better living conditions in urban areas.

Since 1984, rural workers have been permitted to apply for the status of "urban households" if they can provide their own food. A large number of rural surplus labors have moved to cities to search for jobs and a better life. Many of them have bought private housing and lived in the cities, but at the same time, they have placed heavy burden on urban transportation, housing and other public services. Urban land use expansion is related to the growth of urban population mainly resulted from rural inmigrants.

Urban reforms were initiated in 1984. Under urban reform policies, Chinese cities have received more autonomy in land expropriation, housing development, and factory expansion. Rapid urban economic develop- ment benefitted from urban reform has provided more capital available for land development. To provide living areas for urban residents and space for factory expansion, more and more suburban land has been acquired. These activities have resulted in a quick increase of urban land.

The "open door" policy is a component of economic reforms in China. In the early stage of the "open door", four Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were designated as places with preferential treatments for foreign investment and for the development of export industries. Later, 14 coastal cities, and currently, the entire coastal region and many inland cities and regions have been opened to foreign investment. To attract foreign investment and develop export industries, many cities have made great efforts to improve urban infrastructure, and developed special areas to promote export-oriented production.

Productive land use, as defined by the Chinese government, refers to land for productive purpose, eg, industrial, warehouse, transportation; living land use refers to land use related to living conditions, eg, residential, green space, public facilities, urban

roads.

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Urban Land Use Adjustment

Adjusting urban land use has been carried out to solve urban land use problems, facilitate economic development, and promote residential convenience. Full and rational utilization and avoidance of wasteful use of urban land have been the basic principles guarding urban land use adjustment. Strategies for adjusting urban land use include increasing the amount of urban land and reorganizing urban land use structure. Main measures supporting those adjustment have been the raising of urban land rent, the adoption of land use laws, and more strict government administration over urban land use.

To solve the adverse urban land-shortage problem and satisfy the demand in urban development, much land was acquired. This land came from occupying rural agricultural land, establishing new cities and towns, aggrandizing urban administrative areas, and by clearing up idle or waste land in cities to provide for full utilization. The major source has been the conversion of rural agricultural land for urban use.

"Land use should be adapted, green areas and public sports accommodations should be enlarged" (Urban Plan- ning Regulation 1984, in Middelhoek 1988, p. 49). New policies have advocated to ameliorate urban living condi- tions. The expansion of green space, the improvement of public facilities, and the development of transportation networks have resulted in the growth of urban areas.

The functional-division approach has changed traditional single core structure into multiple districts, which usually include a core area, a residential area, an industrial area, and a suburban area. New residential areas were developed to provide housing for urban residents. New industrial districts were established in the suburban areas with housing and services built for workers to alleviate commuting demand. A newly established district for technical development and foreign investment is also developed in many large cities. These efforts have partially alleviated intermixed land use and traffic congestion, and changed the traditional monocentric spatial structure to a polycentric pattern, but simultaneously led to the expansion of urban land use.

After recent urban land use adjustment, the proportion of industrial land use has declined in comparison with

other land use (Tab 2). Green space, land for transportation use, and land for public service purposes have increased. Chinese cities have experienced a gradual increase in land, although per capita volume still stays at a low level owing to the rapid growth of urban population (Tab 3). Dynamic improvement has taken place in urban land use through China's urban land adjustment and reforms in recent years.

Determinants of Urban Land Use Size

Urban land will arise with economic activity and the occurrence of human population (Alig and Healy 1987). We expected that urban land size was related to urban reforms and urban land use adjustment, as well as urban economy and population. Data for this research came from Urban Statistical Year Book of China (The Statistical Bureau of China 1989), including all of the 433 officially recognized cites (Shiqu) in China by the end of 1988, the tenth year of economic reforms. Eight variables were chosen for the study (Tab 4). These variables included indices of population (POP, SURPOP), economic activities (GVIO, INV), urban reforms (SGVIO, FINV), and indices of urban land use adjustment (GLAND), which we considered as the possible factors determining urban land use.

Built-up area (LAND) data was chosen as a dependent variable representing size of urban land use. High percentage of residential land, industrial land and other land uses in China are covered by a structure, in contrasting with a low percentage in developed countries (Alig and Healy 1987). Built-up areas well represent urban land in China.

Urban built-up area is hypothesized as a function of urban settlement patterns, represented by population of central cities and areas outside central cities (Alig and Healy 1987). Chinese cities have an urban district (Shiqu) and surrounding rural areas. Urban non-agricultural population are relatively comparable for analysis (Ma and Cui 1987), thus the data used are based on urban district and urban non-agricultural population (POP). In some cities, especially the cities in the eastern region, policies permit cities exercising authority over surrounding counties to improve urban and rural relationship (Ma and Noble 1986; Xu and Li 1989). Surrounding areas have close

Tab 2 Urban land use changes in Hangzhou, 1980-87

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Tab 3 The change of land use in different sized cities (per capita square meters), 1981-88

integration with central cities (Fan 1988). Population in surrounding counties or areas affect urban land use (Alig and Healy 1987). Data of non-agricultural population in surrounding areas (SURPOP) was included to measure this effect.

Investment and economic development data were included because of the hypothesis that urban land is a good, so that land consumption rises with the rise of urban economic power. We chose gross value of industrial output (GVIO) because it is the most used indicator in measuring China's urban economic development. We included investment in fixed assets (INV) to represent urban investment activity. Urban green space (GLAND) was chosen to represent the urban land adjustment which tends to raise the proportion of green space. These variables were expected to have positive influence on urban land size and its expansion.

Attracting foreign investment has been one of the major purposes of urban reforms. Foreign investment (FINV) was included to estimate the impact of foreign investment on urban land expansion, which was hypothesized as positive. Urban reforms have accelerated the growth of collective and private industries more quickly than state industries. Gross value of industrial output in state-owned enterprises (SGVIO) was hypothesized negatively associated with size of urban land use.

Two statistical analysis methods were performed to analyze the relationship between urban built-up area (LAND) and the selected variables. Correlation analysis was performed to measure the relationship between

LAND and selected variables. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed the significant predictors of LAND, and the result suggested no autocoUinearity and heteroscadasticity present.

The result of correlation analysis was presented in Tab 5. Urban built-up area (LAND) was related strongly to urban population (POP), green space (GLAND), invest- ment in fixed assets (INV), gross value of industrial output (GVIO), and gross value of industrial output in state- owned enterprises (SGVIO). LAND is significantly related to INV and SURPOP though relationships were weak.

Population was related very strongly to urban land use. This finding confirmed that population is an important factor in association with urban land use. Non-agricultural population in surrounding areas was positively but weakly related to urban land use, indicating that settlement patterns have some influence on urban land. Gross value of industrial output was also positively related to LAND, suggesting industrial development resulted in the growth of urban land. Green space was related strongly and positively to urban land, indicating that urban land use adjustment affects urban land use. The increase of green space is an important factor for urban land expansion.

Collective and private economic sectors have benefitted from economic reforms, and produced increased proportion in industrial output. Gross value of industrial output in state-owned enterprises (SGVIO) was negatively associated with LAND. LAND was related positively but weakly to foreign investment (FINV). These findings tend to display that urban reforms have had certain influences on urban land size.

Tab 4 Variables used in the analysis Tab 5 Correlation of LAND with other variables

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Tab 6 Results analysis

of multiple regression

The stepwise regression analysis revealed five significant predictors (Tab 6). The explanatory power of the regression equation was high, with 90.55 % of variance in LAND explained by explaining variables. F values were all significant at the 0.01 level. Non-agricultural population (POP) contributed the most to LAND; followed by green space (GLAND), investment in fixed assets (INV), and non-agricultural population in surrounding areas (SURPOP). Gross value of industrial output in state- owned enterprises (SGVIO) was negatively related to urban land use size.

Urban population was the most important variable in explaining LAND. SURPOP was significant, indicating that suburban population affected urban land use in central cities, and variation in the type of settlement patterns made a difference in urban land use. These findings confirm some conclusions of previous research.

Increasing green space has been one of the goals in urban land use adjustment. GLAND was positively associated with urban land use, indicating that urban land use adjustment had influence on urban land expansion.

Investment in fixed assets was significantly and positively associated with LAND, suggesting that more investment activities did result in the increase of urban land. We found state-produced industrial output (SGVIO) was significantly but negatively associated with urban land use. The increasing collective and private industrial output played a certain role in urban land expansion. These findings supported the hypothesis that urban reforms have impacts on the increase of urban land use size.

Foreign investment was not significant in explaining urban land use, indicating that foreign investment did not play an important role in urban land development, which is consistent to the findings revealed by correlation analysis that foreign investment only played a weak role in urban land expansion. But in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), the average per capita urban built-up area is 296 m 2, which is much higher than the national average of 89 m 2 per capita. This data seems to adduce that foreign investment plays an important role in urban land expansion in SEZs.

Industrial output value was not significantly related to land expansion at 5 % level, but it was significant at 10 % level. This finding was also consistent with the weak association revealed in the correlation analysis, indicating that gross value of industrial output, although as the most important indicator of urban economic productivity in China, is not the important measurement of urban land development activities.

To further measure the association of urban land and population, we run regression with LAND as dependent variable and urban population (POP) as a predicting contributor. POP was related strongly and positively to urban land use, which explained 87.45 % of variance in LAND (Tab 7). Urban population was a very important variable in determining urban land size. This finding confirms the strong association between urban land use size and urban population.

The results confirm that size of urban land use is associated with economic activities and urban population in China. We have also found that China's urban reforms

Tab 7 Results of regression analysis

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and urban land use ad jus tment play impor tan t roles in urban land expansion.

Conclusion

China faced serious urban land use p rob lems at the beginning o f the reform period. Low rent and the lack of planning policies cont r ibuted most to the problems. Urban land use ad jus tment in combina t ion with urban reforms and deve lopmen t policies has been adopted. As a result , u rban land expanded rapidly and urban land use structural t ransformat ion occurred.

Statistical analyses revealed that urban land use size was associated with urban population, urban economic acti- vities, urban reforms, and urban land use adjustment . The regression model of urban land expansion presented in this

paper provides a useful tool for both analyses and predict ion.

There still exist some urban land use p rob lems in China. The increase of urban land is difficult in keeping pace with the rapid urbanizat ion, result ing in the cont inuing low level of per capita land use. The renewal o f city cores has been ignored in many Chinese cities, and many ne ighborhoods in city cores remain highly popula ted with low standard of housing and traffic congest ion. The quick expansion Of cities without the proper policy guidance resul ted in land waste.

Intensifying existing urban land use by adjusting land use structure, renewal o f o lder areas and bui lding upward to avoid over expansion is an acceptable way of deve lopment . G ove rnme n t regulat ions and policies are impor tan t ins t ruments to guide urban land expansion. Considerable a t tent ion should be paid by the Chinese government concerning urban land expansion and the preservat ion o f agricultural land.

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