Planning for social inclusion: The impact of socioeconomic inequities on the informal development of farmland in suburban Beijing

Informal development on farmland is not only a major problem facing thousands of people, but also a major challenge to land use planning. In the rapidly growing literature on informal land development in China, most authors claim that ambiguous property rights and the dual land tenure system are the primary factors involved. As a result, existing state-led land use planning responses to informal development are solely focused on strengthening the legal regulation of land development. This paper challenges this approach, on the basis of the theory of urban informality. By examining many illegal gated communities in suburban Beijing, the paper argues that the informal development of farmland on the urban fringe is the result of local grassroots groups spontaneously responding to socioeconomic inequities in the context of transition to a market economy. These inequities mainly concern distributive inequity, procedural inequity and contextual inequity in relation to land use. It appears that the ongoing market-oriented initiatives of the state government could worsen informal land development unless these socioeconomic inequalities at the local level are tackled. The growing civil society is another change to the state's control of informal land development in China's cities. A new land use planning system which has more concern for social inclusion rather than focusing on centralized control is imperative in China.     

Developing a spatial planning information package in ISO 19152 land administration domain model

Cities establish and maintain Land Administration Systems (LAS) to manage information about the land and urban space. Recognizing the importance of the urban space for sustainable development, information from spatial planning will affect land administration and vice versa. Therefore, every aspect that influences land use, both from spatial planning and land administration should be identified, documented, and standardized as they contain legally binding rules for governments and citizens. The Land Administration Domain Model (LADM), ISO standard 19152:2012, offers guidelines to ensure interoperability in the representation of Rights, Restrictions, and Responsibilities (RRRs). LADM is also capable of standardizing multi-dimensional representation, including the temporal capability for documenting and visualizing all legal aspects of land use or space. This paper discusses how to construct interoperable information between the spatial plan and land administration. We present the standardization of spatial planning information and land administration as subsets of land-related information. The paper proposes the development of a spatial planning package within the existing LADM standard.     

中国城镇低效用地再开发的现实困境与理性选择

研究目的:深入分析城镇低效用地再开发面临的问题,总结地方实践创新经验,提出进一步推进城镇低效用地再开发的建议。研究方法:文献研究法和对比研究法。研究结果:中国城镇低效用地再开发面临资金短缺、产权复杂等现实困难,主要原因是规则的制约和缺失,对广东、浙江、辽宁3个省份集体建设用地管理、违法用地处理、出让方式改进等方面的创新进行了总结。研究结论:城镇低效用地再开发既是现实需要,又有一定的政策空间,应在全国层面完善集体建设用地管理、违法用地处理、土地出让和强制力运行等规则,按照科学规划、市场导向、利益共享的原则推进工作。     

新型城镇化进程中集约利用土地资源的对策建议

新型城镇化进程中,集约利用土地资源是建设资源节约型和环境友好型社会的基本要求,是缓解用地矛盾的有效手段,是优化土地配置的重要手段。然而当前我国仍存在土地利用粗放,集约化程度低;土地利用结构不合理;耕地被大量占用,农民土地权益受损;土地利用规划流于形式等问题。对策：制定合理的城镇发展规划,并严格执行;合理利用土地置换政策,优化土地利用结构;加强法律监督,建立合理的奖惩考核机制;加强公众监督制度,保护耕地和农民权益。     

生态文明背景下的北京新型城镇化问题研究

为贯彻落实十八大关于生态文明建设的精神,北京市提出在二道绿隔地区开展新一轮的平原造林建设,并以此为契机,全面推进该地区的新型城镇化建设。该文在空间布局分析的基础上,概述了北京市城镇化发展的阶段特征,并从现实角度出发深入分析了生态文明建设对新型城镇化建设的要求,包括科学布局城镇体系、节约集约利用土地资源、推动基础设施绿色低碳化以及大力整治城镇环境4个方面。同时,该文基于规划、土地利用、资金支持、农民利益、绿色产业等多方面分析了新型城镇化建设中的制约因素,并针对性提出了具体的政策建议,即从空间布局入手,优化人口与产业的结构;从规划入手,制定新型城镇化建设的顶层规划设计;从政策入手,确保农民全面、持续、高标准增收的权利;从土地入手,促进绿地产业的发展;从产业入手,打造生态与经济双赢的优势产业;从资金入手,创新资金筹集的渠道,等等。     

Customary land allocation,urbanization and land use planning in Ghana: Implications for food systems in the Wa Municipality

Food insecurity remains persistent in the Global South due to constraints in food production capacities and intricate land tenure systems that stifle investment in agriculture. In the urbanized regions, uncontrolled urbanization and non-compliant land use systems have further worsened the potentials for urban food production. This research is based on a case study of the Wa Municipality in order to assess the influences of customary land allocation and peri-urbanization on land use planning and foods systems in Ghana using explorative and narrative research approaches. The study identified that customary stakeholders responsible for allocating such lands in the Wa Municipality were indiscriminately converting large tracts of hitherto agricultural lands to urban land uses. Statutorily prepared land use plans are hardly enforced and the planning priorities are on residential and commercial land uses that command higher land values to the detriment of agricultural lands. Weak institutional linkages also characterize the mandated planning and land administration institutions, with a planning system that is reactive rather than proactive in addressing development control challenges across the country. There is the need for planning authorities to adopt participatory land uses planning together with customary landholders and educating them on the essence of comprehensive land use planning approaches. Based on the findings, local governments need to partner landowners to identify and reserve high potential agricultural land for sustainable urban food production.     

Can farmers extend their cultivation areas in urban agriculture? A contribution from agronomic analysis of market gardening systems around Mahajanga (Madagascar)

The rapid urbanization in developing countries implies an increasing pressure on urban agriculture for production. As most perishable food products come from this agriculture in close proximity to population concentrations, we analysed from an agronomic point of view how market-garden farmers can meet this increasing urban demand. This work took place in the case of Mahajanga, a secondary city with high increasing demographic rate on the Northwest coast of Madagascar. Based on preliminary surveys to characterize the farming systems (on a sample of 91 farms), 11 market-garden farmers chosen in the three main agricultural zones of the urban area were surveyed during two years. Surveys aimed at understanding their decision rules in crop choices, crop allocation to land and resource management, and to estimate their room for manoeuvre to increase their leafy vegetable areas under cultivation. The wholesalers and retailers who buy the farmers’ produce were also surveyed. A previous model of decision rules regarding crop location on farm territory was used to analyse the on-farm surveys and cartographic methods (GIS and on-farm manual representations) were used to quantify the land use. We highlight the following major points. (1) The leafy vegetable production in the surveyed farms already intensively uses land: farmers have complex decision rules largely depending on the water dynamics in the two main environments (lowlands and lakesides) where leafy vegetables are cultivated during the dry season. (2) The scarcity of farmers’ resources (labour money and water) leads to very little internal room for manoeuvre to increase the leafy vegetable production in the farms. (3) At territorial level however, some land reserve exist in one of the lowlands, but not on lakesides. The water availability for agriculture must be better informed through specialized hydrologic studies, as one of the main constraints nowadays to extend the agricultural area. An extrapolation to other cases of urban agriculture is then discussed as well as the role of agronomy to help urban planners to consider the place of agriculture in the urban development.     

Encountering the state through legal tenure security: Perspectives from a low income resettlement scheme in urban India

Tenure security systems—which determine who lives where and under what terms and conditions—are processes of governance that make and effect the relationship between those who confer tenure security and those on who tenure security is conferred. Yet, in dominant analyses of land and housing tenure security, and in policy recommendations for property rights and legal tenure security in developing countries, governance implications are overlooked in favour of analyses of the relative merits of different tenure systems mainly in terms of security, livelihood and economic impact. Using interview data and observations from a resettlement scheme in Ahmedabad, India, this paper empirically examines citizen-state relations in the context of a major shift from de facto (in practice) to legal tenure security and asks how do citizens who have recently come to live under legal tenure security encounter the state and make sense of it. I find a bureaucracy of tenure security that exerts control over low income citizens largely through fear. However, such control is incomplete and acts of resistance suggest an emerging ‘paralegal’ space to renegotiate tenure rules. I conclude by examining the findings through a conceptual framework that explains the relationship between state power and legal tenure security. I also discuss the need for greater scrutiny of the political effects of urban land and housing tenure systems on poor people.     

我国农村土地整治的发展态势与重点研究领域

土地整治是为提高土地生产承载能力而实施的一项涉及到资源环境、社会经济、政策制度等多方面持续、动态的系统工程.从国家的战略部署、目标的现实转变、统筹城乡与促进农业现代化、社会经济发展阶段等方面对土地整治提出了战略需求,指出了当前土地整治应从完善整治规划编制体系、建立监测-评价-调控系统、推进整治制度创新、加强生态景观建设整治等4个领域来重点研究.结果表明:在土地管理从数量向数量、质量、生态管护转变中,土地整治越来越趋于综合化发展.     

国家法与习惯法之协调融合——民国时期广东耕地租佃法律制度探究

文章基于考证民国时期国家租佃法制与广东地方习惯规则之协调融合的关系,探析广东耕地租佃法律制度的基本特点;再结合台湾与大陆农地制度的改革历程,试探借鉴当前《物权法》立法理念下农地使用制度改革创新的可行途径及政策建议。     

Sustainable urban agriculture: stocktake and opportunities

This paper reviews research on urban agriculture which relates to the three dimensions of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. We propose that urban agriculture has three elements: urban agriculture in isolation; its interface with the people and environment within which it is situated; and its contribution to the design of built form. Additionally, we consider its scale: micro, meso and macro. The analysis draws attention to legal, social and economic constraints and opportunities. It suggests that future priorities for research should be directed towards (i) strategically identifying principles of sustainable urban agriculture that help policy makers to design resilient cities, e.g. using flood-prone areas for food and employment, and (ii) operationally trialling innovative institutional mechanisms, e.g. differential land taxes to support sustainable urban agriculture or payments for environmental services provided by urban agriculture such as carbon sequestration.     

Perceptions about land use

Although there are only a limited number of rigorous research papers focussed specifically on land use perceptions, there is an extensive literature on: environmental attitudes in general and urban growth in particular, as well as on the land use perceptions of farmers and on public perceptions about the use of land for the production of food and raw materials. A number of key themes emerge. First, the urban public are resistant to urban growth and have an ingrained and deep attachment to ‘traditional’ and romanticised visions of rural land use. Second, farmers, the main managers of land use, have proved resistant to concepts of multifunctional land use. Third, there is a perception gap between the practice of food production as a damaging land use exercise and consumer ignorance about the realities of how food and other raw materials are produced. However, consumers support the ideas of farmers being paid to use their land in a more environmentally friendly way. Fourth, there is a value-action gap between people's perceptions of the land use damage they are doing and their lack of willingness to actually change their behaviours. The drivers behind these perceptions are likely to change as carbon reduction policies begin to impact. So the paper concludes with a discussion about future perceptions and possible behavioural change.     

梯度养老:渐进城市化中的农民养老模式及农地角色分析——一项基于嵌入理论视角的田野研究

强调农地社保的“乡土养老话语”与强调土地流转的“社保养老话语”对农民养老与农地制度改革关系争论激烈。本文以河南省L村一组为田野案例,以动态嵌入为分析框架,审视农民养老与农地制度关系问题,考察当下养老议题中老年农民、农地制度、市场及三代家庭之间的互动机制。研究发现,在经济性增强的同时,老人种地行为更深度地嵌入“渐进城市化”的新家庭核心任务之中;农民养老过程呈现“梯度养老”模式:不同年龄层次的老人以土地双重市场价值为基础,利用市场层级格局,积极融入子代家庭城市化的代际合力之中,形成相应社会性养老支持体系;除了精神依托及社保功能之外,农地还具有使老人保持与市场良性互动、支持子代家庭城市化的积极功能。农地制度及养老政策需围绕老年农民在家庭“渐进城市化”中的新角色及“梯度养老”模式,针对具体养老问题做好制度供给与政策兜底。     

Endogenizing the Planning Horizon in Urban fringe agriculture

To evaluate the nature of farm operation longevity in urban fringe agriculture, this paper develops a model that endogenizes planning horizon and estimates an empirical model whereby anticipated longevity in farming is regressed against farm, farmer, regulatory and land market related variables. The results suggest that the length of the planning horizon is directly related to farm profitability and confirm the impermanence syndrome hypothesis that land values are inversely related to the planning horizon. Contrary to farmers’ claims that periodic land disposal provides an internal source of credit to support long-term viability, the disposition of portions of the farmland is found to shorten the planning horizon. Innovative farmers are found to have longer planning horizons while experiences with Right-to-Farm conflicts are found to result in decreased planning horizon. Given the expected continual increase in land values and the growing physical closeness of farmers to their non-farm neighbors, significant concerns remain about the long-term survivability of urban fringe farmers. This study suggests the importance of considering farmers’ planning horizon as a key component in farmland retention programs.     

韩国土地管理法律制度

系统介绍了韩国主要的土地管理法律制度及其内容 ,如土地利用计划管理制度、土地交易管制制度、土地征用管理制度、农地管理制度、土地租税征管制度、土地开发管理制度等 ,并对这些制度执行过程中的经验和教训等进行了深刻分析 ,为中国土地管理法制建设提供了借鉴和参考。     

农村宅基地流转模式成因分析

运用博弈理论和演绎归纳等分析方法,建立农村宅基地流转模式博弈决策模型,以期认识宅基地流转模式的成因及其发展方向。研究表明,农村宅基地流转模式的博弈均衡受地理区位、农民宅基地物权属性认知、中央政府宅基地流转政策取向等诸多参数的影响与制约。鉴于当前地区经济发展水平、农民权益诉求等差异,农村宅基地流转制度设计应因地制宜。但不论采取何种配置方式,宅基地流转模式选择与演进都应遵循利益平衡,尤其要保护腾地农户利益。而长期来看,切实实现土地收益均衡分配和农民权益保障,需要将农村宅基地市场化流转、构建城乡统一建设用地市场作为农村土地制度的改革方向。当然,建立城乡统一建设用地市场也需要多种制度协同完善以保证政府与农民联合决策下预期博弈结果的实现。     

Voters’ Acceptance of Land Use Policy Measures: A Two-Level Analysis

Sustainable spatial planning has become increasingly important during the last decades. Politics tries to counter land use related challenges such as urban sprawl by the implementation of policy measures. In a direct democracy, the implementation of policy measures requires citizens’ acceptance. This paper examines determinants of voters’ policy measure acceptance in the area of spatial planning. The study analyses 18 popular votes on spatial planning measures between 1984 and 2008 in Switzerland. A Bayesian multilevel modelling method is used to estimate both determinants at the individual level as well as the contextual level. Results show that the main individual factor for voters in Switzerland to accept spatial planning measures in a broad sense are the party affiliations of voters. Another important factor for the voting decision is being a homeowner. In contrast, whether voters live in urban or rural areas does not influence such voting decisions. At the contextual level, policy measures which contain incentive and market-based instruments have a higher probability to be accepted than bans and rules. Moreover, the degree of organisational capacity and conflict capability of interests concerned seem to influence democratic acceptance of spatial planning measures.     

Agronomic considerations for urban agriculture in southern cities

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UA) provide a significant contribution to the total food requirements of cities, especially in southern cities of the developing world. Increasing food production in UA is therefore a necessity for increasing the food security of the urban poor. Urban environments are inherently different from rural environments and these differences in environmental conditions are expected to impact differently on crop growth. This review describes agronomic issues that are unique to UA and identifies possible interventions to address them. The constraints that can significantly differ include temperature, air quality, solar radiation and climate. The growth-limiting and growth-reducing factors that affect actual production in UA include water availability, nutrient supply, soil degradation, pests and soil pollution. The interventions addressing these constraints require action at both field level, and municipal or regional levels. The food security of the urban poor will therefore require coordinated efforts and cooperation between the farmers who produce food and the planners and policy makers who manage the supporting systems such as markets, inputs and land registration.     

Information,motivation and resources: the missing elements in agricultural pesticide policy implementation in Ethiopia

To promote pesticide governance that protects the environment and human health, Ethiopia has developed a legal framework for pesticide registration and control. However, in Ethiopia, pesticides are still registered, traded and used inappropriately. This research analyses how Ethiopia's pesticide policy is implemented and identifies the barriers for an effective implementation of this policy. With a theoretical framework based on the information, motivations and resources of relevant actors, data are collected from state pesticide experts, traders and end users (farmers) through in-depth interviews. The overall result reveals that major gaps exist between pesticides policy on paper and its implementation in practice. The key policy actors scored low on each of the three characteristics: they have poor information available, have low motivation to implement policies and lack sufficient resources. Involvement of and collaboration with private actors is likely to improve the implementation of pesticide governance, and contribute to sustainability in agricultural and food systems in Ethiopia.     

‘If I want safe food I have to grow it myself’: Patterns and motivations of urban agriculture in a small city in Vietnam’s northern borderlands

Urban agriculture literature regarding the Global South reveals important knowledge gaps concerning spatial variations of food gardens across cityscapes, gardener motivations, and tensions with urban planning regulations, especially in locales beyond sub-Saharan Africa. In Vietnam, urban agriculture is growing in popularity and gaining media attention but there is little research as to why urban agriculture is practiced in smaller Vietnamese cities, especially those close to rural hinterlands. In this paper we investigate small-scale urban agriculture – or food gardens – in Lào Cai, a small upland city located on the Sino-Vietnamese border. We find a complex diversity of garden sizes and land management arrangements where gardens are built, including on state institutional land, thanks to informal arrangements. Gardener motivations focus predominantly on food safety concerns, contrasting with key motivations found elsewhere in the Global South. Throughout the city, albeit more so in newly urbanising sectors, this urban practice remains precarious due to irregular land access and confusing city authority regulations. We thus examine how urban residents are working to access safe food and contribute to their city’s urban food system while state officials tend to focus their priorities elsewhere.