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Land Consolidation in Rural China: Life Satisfaction among Resettlers and Its Determinants

Author

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  • Weiming Tong

    (College of Economics, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
    Department of The Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands)

  • Kevin Lo

    (Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China)

  • Pingyu Zhang

    (Northeast Institution of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
    College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China)

Abstract

The Chinese government has pursued rural land consolidation under the Building New Rural Communities (BNRC) initiative. The consolidation projects aim to address the hollowing village problem, improve the living standards of rural dwellers, and promote urban-rural integration. Rural villages with small populations and poor infrastructure are merged into a centralized rural community, and their inhabitants are resettled. The newly vacated buildings are then converted to agriculture land, which allows cities to expand under the “no net loss” land-use policy. Despite the significance of the initiative, both in terms of the scale of operation and the impacts on the affected households, there are few empirical studies that scrutinize this form of rural restructuring. Drawing on data collected via surveys and interviews, this paper examines the processes of land consolidation and its impacts on villagers. From a development-as-modernization perspective, we outline three main processes of land consolidation: village mergers and resettlement, land circulation to rural cooperatives, and rural industrial development. Overall, the effects of land consolidation on the livelihood of resettled villagers are positive. This system generally improves housing and living conditions through increased levels of off-farm employment and income, but there are a number of barriers that may hinder a villager’s ability to find different employment. Housing and neighborhood characteristics have significant effects on the life satisfaction of villagers.

Suggested Citation

  • Weiming Tong & Kevin Lo & Pingyu Zhang, 2020. "Land Consolidation in Rural China: Life Satisfaction among Resettlers and Its Determinants," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:9:y:2020:i:4:p:118-:d:345298
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    12. Marina Bravi & Marta Bottero & Federico Dell’Anna, 2024. "An Application of the Life Satisfaction Approach (LSA) to Value the Land Consumption and Ecosystem Services," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 2988-3013, March.
    13. Li, Jing & Lo, Kevin & Zhang, Pingyu & Guo, Meng, 2021. "Reclaiming small to fill large: A novel approach to rural residential land consolidation in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    14. Yanxu Li & Zhenfa Xie & Bo Li & Muhammad Mohiuddin, 2022. "The Impacts of In Situ Urbanization on Housing, Mobility and Employment of Local Residents in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-21, July.
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    16. Yuyao Zuo & Chaoxian Yang & Guixin Xin & Ya Wu & Rongrong Chen, 2023. "Driving Mechanism of Comprehensive Land Consolidation on Urban–Rural Development Elements Integration," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-19, November.

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