| Urbanization, being an unavoidable trend in social and economic development and the most important social and economic phenomenon, not only dramatically effects the economic and social changes and growth, but also leads to alternations in urban and rural industrial structure, population configuration, employment composition, and land demand and supply. Urbanization ultimately brings changes to farm land utilization. The nature of the changes in farm land utilization in the process of urbanization is that land as a factor of production, if properly managed and efficiently used, is to a great extent bound to produce external profits, to increase social wealth, and ultimately to augment original land proprietor's welfare. However, due to the urban and rural dual land proprietary structure found only in China, farmers'land rights and interests are not adequately protected in the process of industrialization and urbanization. It is not uncommon to see farmers' land rights and interests are negatively affected in urbanization. Thus, the cultivation of long-term mechanism ensuring farmers'land rights and interests, through which encroachments on farmers'land rights and interests can be effectively minimized during urbanization, becomes both a real need in pushing forward the sound development of industrialization and urbanization, and a strategic need by the integrated development of urban and rural areas and the high-level realization of a moderately prosperous society in an all-around way. Current studies concerning the protection of farmers'land rights and interests are defected in that the studies are narrowly focused on a small range, lacking systematic research and full analysis on such theoretical issues as implications of farmers'land rights and interests, related power and function structure, and changed values associated with rights and interests during urbanization. Set in the above, this dissertation starts from formulating regular patterns about changes of farm land utilization within the framework of land proprietary theories, and then proceeds to make a comprehensive analysis on the issue of farmers'land rights and interests in urbanization by applying theories and working on samples.The dissertation first briefly makes an introduction of the background, contents, and related basic concepts of the concerned issue, as well as the structure, research methods and data sources of the whole paper. It reviews the available domestic and overseas studies on the changes of farm land utilization, implications of farmers'land rights and interests, encroachments on farmers'land rights and interests and its consequences, and reasons behind various encroachments and concisely comments on the said studies. In the following, related theories about property rights, land proprietary rights, land proprietary system, and equality and efficiency are examined. A framework is then laid out to analyze the protection of farmers' land rights and interests in urbanization, within which studies are carried out in four fields:â… . Analysis on regular patterns derived from changes of farm land utilization and changes of farmers' land rights and interests during urbanization.â…¡. Analysis on changes of farmers'land proprietary structure and evolvement of farmers' rights and interests during urbanization. The analysis is conducted by applying land proprietary theories to four types of changes in farm land utilization:farm land requisitioned for non-farm uses, demolishment of farmers' settlements, farm land converted into non-farm uses and collective construction land transfer.â…¢. Analysis on cases of and reasons behind encroachment on farmers' land rights and interests during urbanization. First, the encroachment on farmers' land rights and interests are dynamically defined on the basis of manifested implications of property right theory and farmers' land rights and interests. Secondly, four kinds of changes in farm land utilization are detailed to draw patterns in which farmers' land rights and interests are encroached during urbanization. Finally, social and economic reasons are examined in the perspectives of farmers'characteristics, local government behaviors, business behaviors, and farm land proprietary system, etc.â…£. Sample analysis:by investigating and analyzing the changes of land rights and interests of suburbs farmers in Nanjing, this paper examines current situation, manifested forms, and inherent reasons of encroachments on land rights and interests of farmers in urbanization. First, analysis on changes in farm land utilization in Nanjing suburbs is made through studies on such issues as farm land requisitioned for non-farm uses, demolished farmers' settlements converted to town/township construction land, structural changes of farm land utilization, attesting to the basic laws governing the changes in farm land utilization. Secondly, examination on changes of both farmers'power and function structure and land rights and interests is made in light of the discovery of basic laws governing farm land utilization.Main conclusions are drawn from the above studies:â… . Changes in farm land utilization are inevitably effected in urbanization primarily due to alternation in industrial structures, changes in urban and rural population, changes in consumption composition, and urban sprawling. Three regular patterns are manifested in changes in farm land utilization during urbanization:1. conversion of farm land to non-farm construction land.2. internal structural changes of farm land utilization and inclination to intensive management on a large-scale basis.3. changes in transfer and usages of collective farm construction land. Furthermore, changes in farm land utilization can be classified as requisition of farm land by the state, demolished farmers' settlements for requisition, farm land converted and transferred for non-farm uses within collective organizations, structural changes of farm land utilization, intensive management on large scales, etc. Changes in farm land utilization become ever more evident with the process of urbanization going forward. â…¡. With social progress and farmers'increasing awareness of caring their own rights, farmers' land rights and interests come under more and more protection in urbanization. However, serious encroachments on farmers'land rights and interests still exist. Such encroachments in urbanization not only compromise farmers' economic profits, but also damage farmers' political and social benefits. Damages on farmers' land rights and interests, existing in farm land requisition and transfer, demolishment of farmers'settlements, farm land's conversion to non-farm uses, actually can be found to different extents in the whole process during which changes in farm land utilization take place.â…¢. Farmers'individualities, local government behaviors, and prevalent land proprietary system are primary causes that lead to damages on farmers' land rights and interests. As far as farmers'individualities are concerned, because farmers are hardly allowed to decide on and participate in the distribution of land profits derived from the changes in farm land utilization, farmers are so competitively disadvantaged that their rights and interests are compromised. Farmers' collective campaigns to guard their rights and interests, on the contrary, actually exacerbate the damages on the very rights and interests. The economic activities in land administration and management by local governments and organizations are conducted in a way favoring GDP growth, which unwittingly incurs damages on farmers'land rights and interests on a wider scale and to a deeper extent. Farm land proprietary system is another factor that causes damages on farmers'land rights and interests because it is flawed by indistinctness of collective farm land ownership, partial failure of power and function of collective farm land proprietary rights, and ambiguities in disposal right derived from collective farm land use right.â…£. Sample analysis on changes of land rights and interests of farmers in Nanjing suburbs attest the truth of the logical conclusion drawn from the theoretical part of the dissertation. Results of sample analysis argue that:1. The creation and transfer of collective construction land provide farmers with more economic profits than what farm land can offer, but in the same process farmers are in a position to benefit from the profits smaller than the profits generated from the conversion of farm land to non-farm land uses or land transfer, because farmer's voice on the issue can hardly be heard and oversight power is absent.2. The household economic incomes and consumption ability of the farmers in Nanjing suburbs decrease noticeably whereas family expenditures increase after requisition of farmers'land and demolishment of their houses, leading to the downgrade of farmers' living standards and reducing farmers'satisfaction with life.Based on the theoretical researches and sample studies, the dissertation lastly makes relative policy suggestions on the reform of farm land proprietary system, the innovation and reform of farm land requisition and transfer systems, the cultivation of integrated urban and rural markets, the transformation of government functions, the improvement of administration capabilities, the innovative mechanism by which farmer can benefit from rising land profits, and the protection mechanism to guard farmers' rights.
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