Land consolidation and rural revitalization in China: Mechanisms and paths

Land consolidation has multi-functionality. Most of the existing researches focus on the supplementary function of cultivated land, but lack of systematic research on its function of promoting the sustainable development and revitalization of rural areas. In the context of the current global rural decline, land consolidation has been endowed with the connotation of promoting rural revitalization and regional sustainable development. This study systematically reviewed the evolution history of land consolidation in China, and then explored the current status, characteristics and potential impact of land consolidation as well as the driving mechanism of land consolidation promoting rural revitalization, and finally explained the feasible way to revitalize countryside by land consolidation in a typical case. Results showed that China's land consolidation has played an irreplaceable role in stabilizing the dynamic balance of arable land and ensuring food security. It has made or is moving towards supporting the development of modern agriculture, poverty alleviation and rural revitalization as well as regional sustainable development. Land consolidation is gradually favored in promoting rural development and revitalization because of its social, economic and ecological benefits, and it can provide a platform and inject new vitality for rural revitalization by solving the difficulties of lack of fund, land, technology, talent and industry. Comprehensive land consolidation helps to promote the overall revitalization of rural industry, ecology, organization, culture and talent. However, it also needs to be alert to the eco-environmental risks and negative effects brought by land consolidation projects. The problem-solving oriented land consolidation is needed in the process of promoting rural revitalization and regional sustainable development. The internal logic of rural decline at different development stages varies across countries, and the strategies to promote rural revitalization through land consolidation also need to be adjusted in time.     

Land consolidation in the Netherlands

One of the major structural problems in Dutch agriculture has been the fragmentation of land holdings. This article reviews the history of land consolidation in the Netherlands, from the early negotiations between individual farmers, through the involvement of both government and landowners in national consolidation projects, to the present situation where decisions have been put entirely in the hands of politicians.     

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.     

Land reallocation reform in rural China: A behavioral economics perspective

Based on prospect theory, we develop a theoretical framework to unify divided views on land reallocation reform in China. Our theoretical framework and empirical verification explain the driving forces behind the success of the rural land reallocation reform in China. We find that rural land reallocation reform in China is characterized by induced and imposed institutional changes. The relationship between induced and imposed institutional change is complementary instead of competing. The decision and frequency of land reallocation are affected by both local endowment and central government policy. Empirical findings also suggest that land reallocation reform in China is incremental, with interim policy targets from different stages taking gradual effect. The incremental implementation of the “No Reallocation” policy is the reason behind the widespread, diversified land reallocation practices across the country; this policy also contributes to the success of rural land reform in China. The theoretical model can be used to study a wide range of government-led institutional changes in China, such as affordable housing schemes and the National New-type Urbanization Plan (2014–2020).     

农村“双置换”的适用条件分析

农村"双置换"能够推进农村城镇化,实现农村土地规模化经营,提高农村土地利用效率,缓解城市用地的需求压力,促进当地经济发展。结合我国"双置换"的实施情况,针对"双置换"出现的问题,提出保证农村"双置换"实施的4个适用条件,即当地应具有较强的财政支撑能力,城市对当地农村应有较强的辐射能力,农民有较高程度的自愿性,农民应具备从事非农产业的能力。     

Economic policy for rural and regional Australia

The efficiency and equity effects of economic policies affecting the quarter of Australians who live in rural and regional Australia (RARA) are reviewed. For the most part it is argued that economy-wide policies, rather than region or industry specific policies, are appropriate. Progressive income taxation, means-tested social security payments and government funded education, health and other services directly and efficiently redistribute to support equity. Subsidies for particular industries in RARA, such as dairy, and input subsidies targeted at RARA, such as community service obligations, misallocate resources and are ineffective in meeting equity goals. Better property rights and procedures for allocating most natural resources, especially water, are necessary.     

Towards sustainable rural development in Central and Eastern Europe: Applying land consolidation

Over the past twenty years, social and economic decline in rural areas has intensified in the Central and Eastern European countries. A precondition for the reversal of this decline is the implementation of new policies in relation to the fundamentals of land ownership and management. In addition to addressing the problems of land ownership fragmentation, these should include measures to improve agricultural production and employment, taxation policy, and legislation to protect land ownership rights, within the context of acknowledging environmental and sustainability considerations. In Europe, the requirement for readjusting unfavourable land fragmentation and promoting the appropriate use of land combining with positive environmental solutions is expected to create new sustainable land management systems. The consolidation of land ownerships may be an effective and active land management instrument which not only addresses the problems of land fragmentation, but also, if applied sensitively, may be an instrument for delivering sustainable rural development in a wider context. The aim of this research is to investigate land consolidation as an essential tool to create sustainable rural areas in Lithuania.     

Land market regulation: market versus policy failures

This paper reviews the role of market failures in land markets, evidence as to their quantitative significance and the impact of land use policies designed to offset for such failures. Policies of containment and densification limit the supply of land for all urban uses. When applied as stringently as in Britain, a full net welfare evaluation shows the increased costs of space for housing substantially exceed the value of amenities generated. There is also evidence that constraints on land supply impose costs on productive uses of land in both office and retail use. Although the estimates are that these costs are considerable they relate only to the gross costs. Three possible policy changes are identified which could preserve the role of regulation in offsetting for problems of market failure while greatly relieving the costs of policy-imposed supply restrictions.     

Land consolidation in inland rural Galicia, N.W. Spain, since 1950: An example of the formulation and use of questions, criteria and indicators for evaluation of rural development policies

This paper examines whether the land consolidation (LC) practised since the 1950s in Galicia, N.W. Spain, has had the desired effects. To achieve this aim, we have adopted the methodology drawn up by the European Union for evaluation of its socioeconomic programmes, and we have adapted it as required by the subject matter and by the long-term historical perspective of this study. Our results suggest that, during the study period, LC has in general made a positive contribution to slowing rural depopulation.     

Limits to policy: Land use control in the USA

This article uses two different approaches to examine both the relationship between land and the law and the limits to policy for land use in the US. The first approach considers ways to circumvent the status of rights in land, and looks at their basis in traditional social attitudes and assumptions —factors no longer supported by scientific knowledge and changing concepts of public interest. The second concerns the feasibility of general laws to reflect changing perceptions of rights over land through declarations of national policy. Each approach reveals complexities that pose great difficulties to any effort to achieve a legally defined set of principles for land use that would reinforce a basic stewardship ethic for the land throughout the US.     

Land degradation in the Lao PDR: Discourses and policy

While there is an important body of research on environmental discourses and policy in Southeast Asia, the situation in the Lao PDR remains understudied. This paper builds on debates related to environmental change and knowledge production and examines the socio-political construction of the current mainstream discourse on land degradation in Laos. It highlights that, despite significant uncertainties as regard the extent and severity of the issue, land degradation in the uplands is represented by the Laotian authorities and many of their development partners as a major and imminent threat to the development of the country. The paper also examines the way this perspective is translated into policies specifically aimed at resolving the upland issue and proposes an alternative reading of this process where mainstream discourse and associated policy appear partly shaped by the subjectivities and political economic projects of Laos’ policy-makers. Finally, drawing on the case of Laos, the paper provides a critical reflection on conventional approaches to assessing socio-environmental issues and defining policy interventions.     

服务于社会主义新农村建设

国家粮食局局长聂振邦同志在全国粮食局长会议上指出:谋划“十一五”时期的粮食工作,必须深刻领会中央的精神,着眼社会主义新农村建设这个大局,找准粮食工作的定位。一是粮食流通工作的基础在农村,粮食收购活动的主要对象是农民。粮食流通的根本任务就是服务于农业,服务于农村,     

Land contamination risk management in Cameroon: A critical review of the existing policy framework

Land affected by contamination from human activities has been identified as a major environmental problem in developed countries and there are established mechanisms for identifying, prioritising, characterising, assessing and remediating the land so that risks to human health and environmental receptors are minimised. However, comparative mechanisms and approaches for sustainable land management are often lacking in developing countries such as Cameroon. This paper presents a critical review of the existing policy framework in Cameroon in relation to environmental management, particularly land contamination.It is established that in Cameroon, there is an acute lack of comprehensive information on land contamination from economic development and industrialisation, inadequate legal and institutional framework, weak enforcement capacity and unsatisfactory coordination between various stakeholders towards sustainable land management practices. The coastal town of Douala, which has the highest level of industrial activity in the sub region is used to demonstrate how dealing with land contamination is a public health priority and requires attention in the context of sustainable development. The United Kingdom (UK) regulatory policy framework on land contamination risk management is used to show how land contamination issues and risk management approaches, including conceptual site models, could be introduced into the sustainability discourse in Cameroon. A number of recommendations including proposals for a radical overhaul of the current regulatory policy framework are formulated and presented. Specifically, the creation of an independent Cameroon Environment Protection Agency (CEPA) that will be the main regulatory body responsible for developing and implementing the policy proposals in this paper is advocated.     

A paradigm for persistence: a vital challenge for the agricultural academy

The further economic development of modern, multi-functional and responsible agricultural and food systems must be set within a global context of ecological sustainability and social responsibility. This presents all of those who are concerned with such development, with a much more complex challenge than that posed by the relatively straightforward goals of the Green Revolution to increase production of staple grains in the pursuit of food security on a national scale. It is thus crucial that leaders within institutions of research and higher education in agriculture and related disciplines across the entire world come to terms with the intellectual, moral, practical and political challenges that are fundamental to this systemic change of focus. The situation demands nothing less than a paradigmatic revolution in education, research and extension with implications for the adoption of a very different strategic role for universities with respect to how they critically engage with the multi-stakeholders of entire agri-food systems.