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Institutional change and diversity in the transfer of land development rights in China: The case of Chengdu

Author

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  • Chen Shi

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University, China)

  • Bo-sin Tang

    (The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

Abstract

Rapid urbanisation in China has led to a substantial decrease in agricultural land. To address this unsustainable form of urban development, the Chinese government has implemented the ‘Linkage’ Policy ( Zengjian Guagou ), which requires any increase in new urban land by local governments to be compensated for with an equivalent amount of new arable land. This paper examines the institutional changes and the implications for China’s land production and development arising from this mechanism of transferring land development rights from the rural to the urban sectors. Using Chengdu as a case study, our research concludes that this institutional mechanism has conferred commodified and tradeable development rights on rural land, leading to the emergence and direct involvement of new players in village land consolidation, resettlement of affected villagers and, indirectly, in the supply of new urban land. Process efficiency has been improved with the local governments, developers and village collectives capitalising on their niches in village improvement projects. The conventional state-led model of land production is enriched with bottom-up market initiatives, and villagers have more choices to realise their land property rights under the dual land market. Land use efficiency has been enhanced by the reallocation of construction land potential. However, infringements of villagers’ interests and negative impacts on balanced regional development under this policy were also found.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen Shi & Bo-sin Tang, 2020. "Institutional change and diversity in the transfer of land development rights in China: The case of Chengdu," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(3), pages 473-489, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:3:p:473-489
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098019845527
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    15. Chen, Huirong, 2022. "Linking institutional function with form: Distributional dynamics, disequilibrium, and rural land shareholding in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    16. Sailiu Miao & Hong Tan, 2025. "The Construction of Collaborative Governance Mechanisms for Green Space in Megacities: Evidence from China," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(1), pages 21582440251, March.
    17. Lin Jiang & Yani Lai & Ke Chen & Xiao Tang, 2022. "What Drives Urban Village Redevelopment in China? A Survey of Literature Based on Web of Science Core Collection Database," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-16, April.
    18. Chris Hamnett, 2020. "Is Chinese urbanisation unique?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(3), pages 690-700, February.
    19. Weilai Ding & Jiao Rao & Hongbo Zhu, 2024. "Analysis of the Evolution of the Policy of Linking the Increase and Decrease in Urban and Rural Construction Land in China Based on the Content Analysis Method," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-15, March.
    20. Andrew EG Jonas, 2020. "China’s urban development in context: Variegated geographies of city-regionalism and managing the territorial politics of urban development," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(3), pages 701-708, February.
    21. Shan Liu & Mingxia Yang & Yuling Mou & Yanrong Meng & Xiaolu Zhou & Changhui Peng, 2020. "Effect of Urbanization on Ecosystem Service Values in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration of China from 2000 to 2014," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-15, December.
    22. Renhao Yang & Qingyuan Yang, 2020. "Restructuring the State: Policy Transition of Construction Land Supply in Urban and Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    23. Jingeng Huo & Zhenqin Shi & Wenbo Zhu & Hua Xue & Xin Chen, 2022. "A Multi-Scenario Simulation and Optimization of Land Use with a Markov–FLUS Coupling Model: A Case Study in Xiong’an New Area, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-20, February.

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