IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i11p3932-d179067.html

Transforming the Peri-Urban Fringe in China: The Example of Xi’an-Xianyang

Author

Listed:
  • Guy M. Robinson

    (Department of Geography, Environment and Population, School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia)

  • Bingjie Song

    (Department of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Chang’an Campus: No. 620, West Chang’an Avenue, Changh’an District, Xi’an 710119, China)

Abstract

Rapid urbanization in the past four decades has transformed the hinterlands of China’s major cities. While urban growth has consumed large quantities of farmland, many of the remaining farms in the country’s peri-urban fringes have responded to the nearby presence of a fast-expanding and wealthier urban market by changing the farm enterprise to cater directly for this market. The various responses are exemplified herewith, for the metropolis of Xi’an-Xianyang (13 million population), in north-west China’s Shaanxi Province. Based on participant observation and structured interviews with a sample of farmers from three peri-urban fringe villages, the study charted changes in ecosystem services as a quantitative measure of change between 1986 and 2017. An additional Delphi approach focused on the chief technological innovations during this period. The survey revealed the growing multi-functionality of those villages that had switched from traditional grain production to horticulture, supported by various government-funded programs. A significant development has been the introduction of farm-based tourism catering for urban-based tourists. The physical appearance of the fringe now resembles the so-called desakota landscape associated with south-east Asian cities, as massive new urban-industrial complexes sit alongside villages amidst islands of intensive farmland. The conclusion addresses key issues regarding the overall sustainability of agriculture within this fast-changing process of rapid urbanization.

Suggested Citation

  • Guy M. Robinson & Bingjie Song, 2018. "Transforming the Peri-Urban Fringe in China: The Example of Xi’an-Xianyang," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:3932-:d:179067
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/3932/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/3932/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Nijkamp & Robert Stimson & Patricia Van Hemert, 2010. "Human Capital As Knowledge Resource For Regional Development," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 101(5), pages 491-493, December.
    2. Bithas, Kostas, 2011. "Sustainability and externalities: Is the internalization of externalities a sufficient condition for sustainability?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(10), pages 1703-1706, August.
    3. Lee Liu, 2006. "Impacts of Market Location on Rural Poverty and Income Inequality in China," Chinese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 64-78, May.
    4. Jianjun Tang & Henk Folmer & Jianhong Xue, 2016. "Adoption of farm-based irrigation water-saving techniques in the Guanzhong Plain, China," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(4), pages 445-455, July.
    5. Tuzin Baycan & Peter Nijkamp & Roger Stough, 2017. "Spatial Spillovers Revisited: Innovation, Human Capital and Local Dynamics," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 962-975, November.
    6. Tang, Jianjun & Folmer, Henk & Xue, Jianhong, 2015. "Technical and allocative efficiency of irrigation water use in the Guanzhong Plain, China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 43-52.
    7. George CS Lin & Amy Y Zhang, 2015. "Emerging spaces of neoliberal urbanism in China: Land commodification, municipal finance and local economic growth in prefecture-level cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(15), pages 2774-2798, November.
    8. Qiuhao Huang & Jiancheng Lu & Manchun Li & Zhenjie Chen & Feixue Li, 2015. "Developing Planning Measures to Preserve Farmland: A Case Study from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-18, September.
    9. repec:gig:chaktu:v:43:y:2014:i:4:p:143-174 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Xiaobing Wang & Futoshi Yamauchi & Jikun Huang, 2016. "Rising wages, mechanization, and the substitution between capital and labor: evidence from small scale farm system in China," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(3), pages 309-317, May.
    11. Deng, Hengshan & Huang, Jikun & Xu, Zhigang & Rozelle, Scott, 2010. "Policy support and emerging farmer professional cooperatives in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 495-507, December.
    12. Graeme S. Cumming & Andreas Buerkert & Ellen M. Hoffmann & Eva Schlecht & Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel & Teja Tscharntke, 2014. "Implications of agricultural transitions and urbanization for ecosystem services," Nature, Nature, vol. 515(7525), pages 50-57, November.
    13. Kostas P. Bithas & M. Christofakis, 2006. "Environmentally sustainable cities. Critical review and operational conditions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(3), pages 177-189.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Song, Bingjie & Robinson, Guy M. & Bardsley, Douglas K. & Xue, Yanlong & Wang, Bing, 2023. "Multifunctional agriculture in a peri-urban fringe: Chinese farmers’ responses to shifts in policy and changing socio-economic conditions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    2. Chun-Lin Lee & Chiung-Hsin Wang & Chun-Hung Lee & Supasit Sriarkarin, 2019. "Evaluating the Public’s Preferences toward Sustainable Planning under Climate and Land Use Change in Forest Parks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-18, June.
    3. Irena Niedźwiecka-Filipiak & Justyna Rubaszek & Jerzy Potyrała & Paweł Filipiak, 2019. "The Method of Planning Green Infrastructure System with the Use of Landscape-Functional Units (Method LaFU) and its Implementation in the Wrocław Functional Area (Poland)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-23, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hisatoshi Hoken & Qun Su, 2018. "Measuring the effect of agricultural cooperatives on household income: Case study of a rice‐producing cooperative in China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 831-846, October.
    2. Xiaowen Wang & Huanjie Cai & Liang Li & Xiaoyun Wang, 2020. "Estimating Soil Water Content and Evapotranspiration of Winter Wheat under Deficit Irrigation Based on SWAP Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-29, November.
    3. Péter Batáry & Róbert Gallé & Dávid Korányi & Tamás Lakatos & Balázs Deák & Nikolett Gallé-Szpisjak & Melinda Kabai & Csaba Koszta & Dorota Kotowska & Riho Marja & Brigitta Palotás & Borbála Szabó & A, 2025. "Biodiversity and human well-being trade-offs and synergies in villages," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 8(8), pages 894-904, August.
    4. Diana IGNATIUC, 2024. "Republic Of Moldova Economic And Ecological Competitiveness Of Urban Agglomerations And Clustering Policy In The Context Of Sustainable Development," European Journal of Accounting, Finance & Business, "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava, Romania - Faculty of Economics and Public Administration, West University of Timisoara, Romania - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 12(3), pages 103-113, October.
    5. Dan Pan & Jinlong Zhou & Yi Yu & Shengdong Chen, 2024. "Rural Collective Property Rights System Reform and Urban-Rural Income Gap: A County-Scale Big Data Analysis in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, August.
    6. Takeshima, Hiroyuki & Hatzenbuehler, Patrick L. & Edeh, Hyacinth O., 2020. "Effects of agricultural mechanization on economies of scope in crop production in Nigeria," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    7. Helen Lawton Smith & Rupert Waters, 2019. "Universities, graduates and local labour markets," Working Papers 41, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Feb 2021.
    8. Hao, J., 2018. "Cooperative member commitment, trust and social pressure -- the role of members’ participation in the decision-making," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275881, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Duy X. Tran & Diane Pearson & Alan Palmer & David Gray, 2020. "Developing a Landscape Design Approach for the Sustainable Land Management of Hill Country Farms in New Zealand," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-29, June.
    10. Zhang, Fengtai & Xiao, Yuedong & Gao, Lei & Ma, Dalai & Su, Ruiqi & Yang, Qing, 2022. "How agricultural water use efficiency varies in China—A spatial-temporal analysis considering unexpected outputs," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    11. Momeni, Marzieh & Zakeri, Zahra & Esfandiari, Mojtaba & Behzadian, Kourosh & Zahedi, Sina & Razavi, Vahid, 2019. "Comparative analysis of agricultural water pricing between Azarbaijan Provinces in Iran and the state of California in the US: A hydro-economic approach," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 1-1.
    12. Zhongping Wang & Xiaoying Tian, 2025. "From Greenwashing to Sustainability: The Mediating Effect of Green Innovation in the Agribusiness Sector on Financial Performance," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-26, June.
    13. Dai, Xuhuan & Li, Bo & Zheng, Hua & Yang, Yanzheng & Yang, Zihan & Peng, Chenchen, 2023. "Can sedentarization decrease the dependence of pastoral livelihoods on ecosystem services?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    14. repec:plo:pone00:0218599 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Verena Preusse & Nils Nölke & Meike Wollni, 2024. "Urbanization and adoption of sustainable agricultural practices in the rural‐urban interface of Bangalore, India," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 72(2), pages 167-198, June.
    16. Qinghao Wang & Chentao Zhang & Mingyue Gong & Beiqi Zhu, 2024. "Village Organization and Sustainable Growth of Farmers’ Income: An Empirical Study Based on Dynamic Survey Data of the Labor Force in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-25, October.
    17. Wang, Huaiyu & Bin, Bing & Pede, Valerien O., 2023. "Adoption of ratoon rice and its impact on technical efficiency of rice farming in China," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335541, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Bhattarai, Madhusudan & Joshi, Pramod Kumar & Shekhawa, R. S. & Takeshima, Hiroyuki, 2017. "The evolution of tractorization in India’s low-wage economy: Key patterns and implications," IFPRI discussion papers 1675, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Feifei Chen & Zhigang Xu & Yufeng Luo, 2023. "False prosperity: Rethinking government support for farmers’ cooperatives in China," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(3), pages 905-920, September.
    20. Xiaomeng Guo & Li Wang & Qiang Fu & Fang Ma, 2024. "Ecological Function Zoning Framework for Small Watershed Ecosystem Services Based on Multivariate Analysis from a Scale Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, July.
    21. Sun, Yong & Tang, Lixia & Jiang, Xingling, 2025. "Combating over-commercialization in ecotourism through collaborative governance: A game-theoretic modeling analysis," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 508(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:3932-:d:179067. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.