The evolving concepts of land administration in China: Cultivated land protection perspective

This paper presents a holistic method by integrating three concepts (land resources management, assets supervision and political governance for sustainability) for investigation of land administration in China, taking into consideration of cultivated land protection for a testimony with econometric method. Theoretically, in this self-organizing integrated method, land resources management focuses on the productivity of land; land assets supervision centralizes on the realization of land usufruct rights in land transference; land political governance for sustainability concentrates on harmonious linkage of economic efficiency, social stability and environmental safety of land use. Their interrelations are complex. Methodologically, the results indicate that the theoretical model is feasible to explain variations of cultivated land protection with these three concepts. Cultivated land decreases with increasing land value increment multiples, and is positive with political governance concept, but not in a linear fashion. Finally the results suggest that roles of government in land administration need to be changed and strengthened, supporting complete compensation for land expropriation and modification to policies of cultivated land.     

Inequity of land valuation in the highly developed city of Taipei,Taiwan

Taiwan has a wealth of experience in employing a graded, or split-rate, property tax. It is believed that a graded property tax can increase the capital intensity of improvements to land, and thus improve economic activities. In order to achieve this, land value needs to be extracted from the price of an improved property. Despite the long history of a graded property tax in Taiwan, the accuracy and corresponding equity issues of land valuation have so far received scant attention. This study adopts a linear regression model with data sets of both vacant land and improved property to separate land and structure values. This approach solves the common problem of scarce land sales and the empirical results turn out satisfactorily. The empirical findings suggest that the ratio of land value to total property price varies across property types and age of property. In addition, the current practice is likely to contribute to assessment inequity, and consequently tax inequity. All these observations call for the need to overhaul the present property assessment system.     

The forest transition: Towards a more comprehensive theoretical framework

Building on the contributions of Mather and others, this paper offers an approach for developing a more comprehensive theory of the forest transition. We argue that long-run changes in forest cover in a country or region cannot be separated from the overall pattern of land use changes. Moreover, this pattern is determined by relative land values; forest cover changes over time as the value of one land use relative to the value of its competing use changes over time. However, the actual values that are used to allocate land may be far from optimal; that is, the presence of market, policy and institutional failures can distort economic and political incentives that can lead to bias in favour of one type of land use over the other, and may ultimately explain why a forest transition may be delayed unnecessarily in some countries and regions.     

Introducing property tax in China as an alternative financing source

Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has been involved in active discussion on the introduction of the property tax. Yet the current land management system is unsustainable mainly because land supply is limited. This is because the system of lump sum grants produces distorted interests among suppliers and consumers of land. The property tax can be both a cure for these problems and create an alternative financial source of revenue for local governments. We suggest a theoretical model that proves the superiority of a property tax over lump sum grants.     

Property taxation in Israel: a non ad valorem approach

The arnona, the system of property taxation in Israel, is a unique form of taxation being based on a property's size (m²) and not on its discrete open market value. The actual use of the property (residential versus non-residential), its location in the municipality, type of property and its age are the determining factors for tax liability. In order to test for equity within the current system, the methodology adopted was to investigate the effect of population size, remoteness and population makeup with respect to some 80 municipalities on the levels of arnona. Although the thresholds of arnona for individual municipalities are approved by a committee of the Knesset, the present analysis indicates that the current differences in per capita amount of arnona collected by local authorities do reflect factors that would normally be expected to influence an ad valorem property tax in a market economy. It is argued that whilst the arnona is an accepted form of local authority property taxation, there are a number of fundamental weaknesses. Its application could be improved by incorporating elements of an ad valorem property tax, which would more fully reflect the socio-economic level of taxpayers and the physical condition of the built environment. However, the arnona, not being based directly on a property's market value should be of interest to countries (e.g. transitional countries of Central and Eastern Europe) who are presently introducing property taxes within an environment where property markets are not as yet fully developed.     

The significance of different realms of value for agricultural land in Sweden

The demand for additional agricultural land is expected to rise by approximately 50 per cent by 2050 on a global level, and agricultural land of high quality needs to be preserved to ensure future food security. However, agricultural land per capita is decreasing. One of the main reasons for this in the EU and globally is the building of houses or infrastructure on agricultural land. There is a possibility that the Swedish agricultural sector will grow in the future and supply more regions than its own territory with food due to, e.g., climate change. Although appropriate regulations exist to support local decision makers in protecting agricultural land in Sweden, the potential to provide such protection is not fully utilised. This paper aims to contribute to explaining why Swedish municipalities build on agricultural land through an analysis of the values behind the arguments for preserving and exploiting agricultural land at the municipal level and the implications of these values for the preservation of agricultural land in Sweden. Assuming value pluralism, we analyse 30 municipal comprehensive plans through a framework of nine realms of value. We find that municipalities deploy at least eight of the nine realms of value to motivate the preservation of agricultural land, but the economic realm is more dominant among arguments to exploit agricultural land. Most plans do not consider food security. Municipalities could become better prepared to handle unexpected events if they worked with longer-term future scenarios. Further research is needed regarding how different values are weighed against each other in actual exploitation issues.     

土地税费政策参与宏观调控的实践研究

通过分析耕地占用税、城镇土地使用税、土地增值税、新增建设用地有偿使用费（简称新增费）、土地闲置费等土地税费政策参与宏观调控实践效果,反应出我国土地税费政策参与宏观调控过程中存在税制结构不尽合理、土地取得环节税负偏低、保有环节征税范围过窄、流转环节税费政策实施难度大等问题。对策建议：优化土地税制设计,加强调控作用;在土地取得环节实行差别化税额标准;提高土地保有环节的税负;在土地流转环节加强税费征管。     

Changes resulting from a land consolidation project (LCP) and its resource–environment effects: A case study in Tianmen City of Hubei Province,China

Land consolidation (LC) is essential for ensuring rural development and for increasing land use effectiveness. LC has been implemented in China since the mid-1990s in an attempt to increase available cropland area, reduce fragmentation and promote agricultural production capacity. The purpose of this study is to identify the changes resulting from the land consolidation project (LCP) implementation, and to develop a parametric approach to assess the resource–environment effects. This study could promote the LCP planning, and provide the support for the decision-making of the LC authorities. The Tianmen land consolidation project in Hubei Province of China was chosen as a case study. The results of the case study showed LCP implementation results in great changes in land use types and their proportions, connectivity of field-roads, irrigation systems and drainage systems, plot numbers, plot shape and plot size. These changes bring both positive and negative effects to region environmental and economic system. Positive effects were demonstrated in agricultural production capacity and agricultural production cost and the negative effects were expressed by the ecosystem services value, landscape diversity and human disturbance intensity.     

精准扶贫与土地利用区划创新融合的实证研究

[目的]土地利用区划研究不仅对土地资源可持续利用有重要作用,也是扶贫开发的重要抓手。文章试图探索如何将扶贫因素纳入土地利用区划标准,实现扶贫开发与土地利用区划的创新融合,并选取云南省芒市这一典型贫困地区进行实证研究。[方法]运用文献综述法分析二者融合的内在机制;综合分析法和分区单元归并法进行综合分区;演绎法划分实施扶贫开发战略的土地利用保障区;空间迭置法构建芒市土地资源利用与扶贫开发统筹协调发展的措施体系。[结果]最后将芒市划分为4个土地利用区,即:Ⅰ东北部低山盆地区,Ⅱ东南部中低山河谷区,Ⅲ西南部低山盆地区和Ⅳ西北部中低山地区4个土地利用区域。[结论]理论探讨精准扶贫与土地利用区划的创新融合,为精准扶贫提供了新的切入点;通过实证研究,尝试提出各综合区精准扶贫与土地资源利用统筹协调发展的措施体系,对芒市乃至类似地区土地扶贫开发利用具有一定的理论价值和现实意义。     

Taxing land for urban containment: Reflections on a Dutch debate

Excessive land use regulations aimed at containing urban sprawl have been criticised, because they may overcompensate for the external effects of uncontrolled greenfield development and contribute to stagnation in house building. Taxes on building in green spaces may be an instrument for balancing urban growth and the protection of the landscape. This paper discusses development tax and puts it in the context of other planning instruments. It reviews a recent policy debate in the Netherlands relating to the introduction of an open space tax and the research into this tax. It also investigates the policy process, which resulted in the tax not being introduced. Finally, conclusions are drawn as to whether the taxation of development may be a useful instrument to complement other planning measures.     

基于产能理论的耕地资源资产经济价值核算路径探讨 ——以江西省为例

研究目的:探索基于产能理论的耕地资源资产经济价值核算路径,并以江西省为例进行试算。研究方法:Thornthwaite Mernoriae模型、指数和法、逐级修正法、收益还原法和比较研究法。研究结果:(1)耕地产能是耕地资源资产经济价值形成的重要基础,基于产能理论开展耕地资源经济价值核算可以有效反映耕地资源资产的经济价值水平;(2)价值整体空间分布与耕地质量和产能大体相同,呈现出中部鄱阳湖流域向周边逐步递减的趋势,高值区集中在鄱阳湖平原地区,符合江西省耕地资源开发利用实际;(3)本文核算结果与基于耕地流转租金收益的传统收益还原法核算结果无显著差距。研究结论:基于产能理论的耕地资源资产经济价值核算路径不仅能有效反映出耕地质量和产能对价值形成的基础作用,还可以客观反映出研究区域耕地资源资产经济价值的整体空间分布特征,可为完善耕地资源资产经济价值核算方法提供理论和实践参考。     

明代四川州县田赋征收考察

本文立足于四川州县研究，运用省内外地方志史料，采取横向与纵向比较方法，探讨明代农业的发展和田赋征收，从而揭示明代前、中、后三个时期中，四川的平均每亩征粮额仅次于苏、松二府而位居全国前列，是重要的产粮省区。四川的田赋征收以中央政策为指导原则，由于州县经济发展的不平衡性，平原与丘陵、汉区与少数民族地区实行不同的田赋征收政策；民田多，官田数较少，因此明中期受土地兼并风潮影响较小，田土和征粮数下降幅度低于全国平均下降幅度；明中期全国出现一系列简化赋役征收的改革措施，四川也出现“一把连”等征收之法。诸项新变革皆是万历年间张居正“一条鞭法”改革的先声，也是其推行的基础；四川征收的财赋，起运多为边仓，有力地巩固了西南边疆的稳定，促进了与藏区的茶马贸易，对发展民族地区经济具有积极意义。     

Socioeconomic drivers of forest loss and fragmentation: A comparison between different land use planning schemes and policy implications

Forest loss and fragmentation, which generate various negative environmental and ecological consequences, have become widespread phenomena across the globe. Motivation to investigate the underlying drivers is essential for land use planning and policy decision making. This paper characterizes forest loss and fragmentation from 1979 to 2014 in the Ningbo region (China) using multitemporal satellite imageries and a set of landscape metrics (area-weighted mean patch area, edge density, area-weighted shape index, Euclidean nearest neighbor distance, effective mesh size and total area); and then quantifies the responsible socioeconomic drivers (economy, social activities, science and technology, culture and policy, demography) under different land use planning schemes (urban and non-urban) using multivariate linear regression. Results show that the two zones present identical trend of intensifying forest loss and fragmentation but differ in changing magnitude and speed. More specifically, forest loss and fragmentation in the non-urban planning zone occurs at a significantly higher pace and magnitude. For the urban planning zone, population pressure, economic growth and fruit consumption are the primary drivers of forest loss, while forest fragmentation is mainly driven by economic openness, cash crop consumption and environmental protection consciousness. For the non-urban planning zone, income increases, fruit consumption and infrastructure development are the primary drivers of forest loss, while infrastructure and tourism development are the major drivers of forest fragmentation. Besides, forest loss and fragmentation in the two zones are both heavily subjected to land use policy. The variance partitioning analysis highlights that the policy driver is the most influential one and economic driver also has strong effect on forest loss and fragmentation in the urban planning zone. For the non-urban planning zone, the influence of policy driver is the strongest and social activity is also very powerful. These results provide compelling evidence that land use planning fails to play an efficient role in protecting forest resources in the Ningbo region. The failure should be attributed to several issues associated with land use planning and forestry governance that widely exist in China. We finally propose some pertinent implications and suggestions for China’s land use planning and forest policy. This study is believed to advance the understanding of the socioeconomic drivers of forest loss and fragmentation. It therefore provides some new insights in land use policy.     

Is Oregon's land use planning program conserving forest and farm land? A review of the evidence

Planners have long been interested in understanding ways in which land use planning approaches play out on the ground and planning scholars have approached the task of evaluating such effects using a variety of methods. Oregon, in particular, has been the focus of numerous studies owing to its early-adopted and widely recognized statewide approach to farm and forest land protection and recent experiment with relaxation of that approach in 2004 with the passage of ballot Measure 37. In this paper we review research-based evidence regarding the forest and farm land conservation effects of Oregon land use planning. We document the evolution of methods used in evaluating state land use planning program performance, including trend analysis, indicator analysis, empirical models, and analysis of indirect effects on the economic viability of forestry and farming. We also draw on data documenting Measure 37 claims to consider the degree to which Measure 37 might have altered land use and development trends had its impacts not been tempered by a subsequent ballot measure – Measure 49. Finally, we provide a synthesis of the current state of knowledge and suggest opportunities for future research. Common to nearly all of the studies we reviewed was an acknowledgement of the difficulty in establishing causal relationships between land use planning and land use change given the many exogenous and endogenous factors involved. Despite these difficulties, we conclude that sufficient evidence does exist to suggest that Oregon's land use planning program is contributing a measurable degree of protection to forest and farm land in the state.     

Whereto land fragmentation–land grabbing in Romania? The place of negotiation in reaching win–win community-based solutions

The present study seeks to discuss and advance the understanding of land fragmentation and land grabbing within Romania's economic historiography landmarks, depicting how the origins of the land property issues are deeply embedded politically, socially, and culturally in history and still strongly exist in today's collective mind. Scientific evidence on the perceptions and behaviors of land owners regarding land grabbing was obtained through a non-probabilistic survey. The data collection instrument was a structured questionnaire, which was applied through face-to-face interviews to a sample of 52 Romanian land owners from various regions of the country. The results show that in the land owners’ perception, if land is sold to foreigners, national security is the most vulnerable aspect. Regarding the preference for the nationality of the land buyer, the majority of the people investigated prefer to sell to a Romanian buyer, thus making a clear statement in favor of the Romanian ownership of the land. The empirical results are placed in the context of a bottom-up approach—negotiation, with a high potential, unexplored in Romania, for implementing win–win agricultural solutions. Negotiation is valued as part of the answer to land fragmentation–land grabbing, a “back and forth” matter. The study recommends several measures for land use policy, tailored according to specific Romanian conditions, such as using an open access electronic registry of foreign land acquisitions, establishing a threshold for these acquisitions, and securing the preservation of the agricultural destination of land. In a political and economic context where land fragmentation and grabbing are two realities that are hard to deny and separate, a significant implication of the research is the enrichment of knowledge related to the sources of the “chronical” nature of fragmentation and to land owners’ attitude toward land grabbing, thus contributing to the design and implementation of future integrative land use solutions.     

Land use policy in China: Introduction

This themed issue of Land Use Policy builds mainly on papers presented at an international conference on ‘Land Use Issues and Policy in China under Rapid Rural and Urban Transformation’, convened by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, in October 2012. The conference set out to share and promote new scientific findings from a range of disciplines that advance research on land use policy in China. The contributions to this themed issue provide conceptual–theoretical and empirical takes on the topic, around four main areas of interest to both researchers and policymakers: nation-wide land use issues, the Sloping Land Conversion Program, land engineering and land use, and land use transitions. Various land use issues have been associated with rapid urban–rural transformations in China, giving rise to formulation of new policies directly affecting land use. However, these have contributed to new land use problems due to the nature of the policies and the difficulties in policy implementation constrained by the special ‘dual-track’ structure of urban–rural development in China. In view of this, this themed edition makes a compelling call for more systematic research into the making and implementation of China's land use policy. It also emphasizes the challenges for further research on land use policy in China.     

Local support among arctic residents to a land tenure reform in Finnmark,Norway

Claims for indigenous rights to land and resources are influencing land use policies worldwide. The public’s support for such land tenure arrangements has rarely been investigated. We present a unique case from the Norwegian Arctic, where land claims made by the indigenous Sami people have resulted in the transfer of land tenure and resource management from the government to the residents of Finnmark in 2005. Based on indigenous land claims, a management agency was established, the Finnmark Estate (FeFo), which on the operational level provides Sami and non-Sami users the same services. Public debates and conflicts among politicians and the public framed the political process leading up to this establishment. Based on a survey and interviews in Finnmark, we explored the public’s support for the new land tenure arrangements. We use the term diffuse support to investigate whether residents conform to FeFo’s basic ideas, values and principles, while specific support refers to the supportive attitudes for management actions carried out by the institution. We conclude that there is a general low diffuse support for FeFo among the residents in Finnmark, but a relatively high specific support for the policies and management actions implemented by the estate among those who have experiences with FeFo. We explain the gap between diffuse- and specific support by the historical, social and political processes which led up to the establishment of the land tenure arrangements.     

Ideal type theories and concrete cases in land science: A multi-step appraisal of the evolutionary theory of land rights in Madre de Dios,Peru

The relationships of regional integration, land tenure and land use have all received substantial previous attention. Nonetheless, existing theoretical frameworks tend to presume ideal types of land tenure in understanding the impacts of regional integration on change in institutions and land use. We therefore evaluate the evolutionary theory of land rights (ETLR) for the case of Madre de Dios, Peru. This is a useful case since tenure for agricultural lands is private individual as the ETLR theorizes, but other characteristics, such as the presence of forest extractivism, depart from the assumptions of the ETLR. We pursue a multi-step analysis of key relationships of the ETLR, focusing particularly on the linkages between highway paving as an indicator of regional integration, titling as a measure of tenure formality, multiple indicators of land market engagement, and land uses with diverse ramifications for ecological sustainability. Findings for the different steps partially support the ETLR for the case of Madre de Dios. Disconfirmation however sometimes occurs due to geographic accidents rather than due to truly contrasting findings. We conclude by discussing the need to identify characteristics of empirical cases that do and do not fit the expectations of theories in order to better evaluate the applicability of theory for analysis and policy.     

Scenario simulation of land system change in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

Urbanization-induced land use problems have been haunting China’s urban agglomerations ever since the beginning of this period of unparalleled economic progress. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region is no exception, where coordinated development planning has been implemented by the central government to further resolve attributed problems. Land use simulation models can be used to help governments and planners understand how planning and policies affect the future landscape, by developing sustainable land use strategies which may reasonably balance urbanization and eco-environmental protection. In this paper, we explored the characteristics of historical land use dynamics from 2000 to 2015 in the BTH region and simulated its future land use patterns for 2030 by combining the Dyna-CLUE model with a Markov model to deal with some short comings of existing land use models. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The figure of merits (FoM) based on the method of three-map comparison reached 85.89 %, which indicated that the simulation model has satisfactory accuracy. (2) Land use structures and spatial patterns differed significantly under business as usual (BAU) scenario, cropland protection (CP) scenario and ecological security (ES) scenario, respectively, owing to the variation of the major objectives designed for different scenarios. (3) By scenario analysis and through tradeoffs, the land use mode under the ecological security scenario might be the optimal solution for future coordinated development in the BTH region. These results will provide theoretical basis and meaningful guidance for regional land optimal allocation.     

Renewal of land-use term for urbanization in China: Sword of Damocles or Noah’s Ark?

Since early 2016, the expiration of a part of the land-use rights in China has elicited widespread public concern because of the ambiguous interpretation of relevant legal clauses. Land-finance-based urbanization is the primary fiscal source of Chinese local governments, but it has been considered unsustainable by many scholars. Numerous studies have been conducted on these two issues, but a comprehensive study that combines both issues is needed. This study attempts to analyze the relations between the two concepts from the perspective of demographic change in the following decades. It proposes a compensatory mechanism based on land-use term and property tax to deal with the renewal of land-use term and the unsustainability caused by land finance. Results provide an alternative approach for the local government to realize sustainable urbanization in the future.