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Property Rights Redistribution, Entitlement Failure and the Impoverishment of Landless Farmers in China

Author

Listed:
  • Shenjing He

    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China, shenjing.he@gmail.com)

  • Yuting Liu

    (School of Architecture, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, ytliu@scut.edu.cn)

  • Chris Webster

    (School of City and Regional Planning, University of Cardiff, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WA, UK, webster@cardiff.ac.uk)

  • Fulong Wu

    (School of City and Regional Planning, University of Cardiff, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WA, UK, WuF@cardiff.ac.uk)

Abstract

Within the process of urban expansion through land requisition in China, farmers' de facto rights to collective land, including farmland and housing plots ( zhaijidi ), are forcibly acquired by the state and thereafter redistributed to private developers, to facilitate urban-based economic growth. Deprived of a secure livelihood, some landless farmers become trapped in poverty. Others find that the property rights restructuring in urbanised villages gives them an opportunity to earn rental income. However, the opportunities are not equally distributed and the processes are, in general, stacked against the interests of villagers. This paper analyses the impoverishment of farmers caught up in China's relentless urban expansion programme, using the perspectives of property rights and entitlements. It presents case studies of two villages in Xi'an to illustrate how farmers' entitlement sets and vulnerability to poverty have changed as a result of changes in land rights.

Suggested Citation

  • Shenjing He & Yuting Liu & Chris Webster & Fulong Wu, 2009. "Property Rights Redistribution, Entitlement Failure and the Impoverishment of Landless Farmers in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(9), pages 1925-1949, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:46:y:2009:i:9:p:1925-1949
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098009106015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Banner, Stuart, 2002. "Transitions between Property Regimes," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(2), pages 359-371, June.
    2. Anderson, Terry L & Hill, Peter J, 2002. "Cowboys and Contracts," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(2), pages 489-514, June.
    3. Ho, Peter, 2005. "Institutions in Transition: Land Ownership, Property Rights, and Social Conflict in China," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199280698.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Guoliang Xu & Yi Li & Iain Hay & Xiuqing Zou & Xiaosong Tu & Baoqiang Wang, 2019. "Beyond Place Attachment: Land Attachment of Resettled Farmers in Jiangsu, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-12, January.
    3. Ling Hin Li, 2015. "State or market: the role of the government in urban village regeneration in China," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 157-167, July.
    4. Lu Zhang & Hongru Du & Yannan Zhao, 2016. "Game Behavior Analysis between the Local Government and Land-Lost Peasants in the Urbanization Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-15, November.
    5. Hoang Linh Nguyen & Jin Duan & Guo Qin Zhang, 2018. "Land Politics under Market Socialism: The State, Land Policies, and Rural–Urban Land Conversion in China and Vietnam," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Yongchun Yang & Deli Zhang & Qingmin Meng & Corrin McCarn, 2015. "Urban Residential Land Use Reconstruction under Dual-Track Mechanism of Market Socialism in China: A Case Study of Chengdu," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-17, December.

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