Study On Land Use Transition And Functional Evolution Of The Rural Settlements In Suburban Beijing

The evolution of form and function of traditional rural settlements was the starting point of this study. In this paper, a typical study transect in suburban Beijing was selected to study the land use transition and functional evolution of the rural settlements. First, we identified the spatial differentiation of land use form of the rural settlements and analyzed its external factors and internal causes. Then, the temporal-spatial characteristics of visible and invisible land use transition were combined to explore the dynamic mechanism of rural settlements’ functional evolution. Finally, the rules of functional evolution were applied to the village renovation. A new mode of village renovation based on functional regulation was proposed to realize the sustainable land use of rural settlements and new rural residential urbanization strategy. The main conclusions are as follows:(1)The visible land use transition of rural settlements is mainly reflected on the spatial differentiation of land use structure. From the rural hinterland to the near-urban countryside, the diversity and complication of the land-use structure show a rising trend. The land use pattern in which rural residential land dominated, gradually changes into a coexisting pattern of rural residential land, non-agricultural industrial land, infrastructure land and so on. Besides that, the use change of rural housing also differs across the transect. Commercial, housing rental, manufacturing and tourist reception functions derive from residential use.The circle distribution of visible land use transition meets the rent-seeking model. The urban physical expansion and functional spillover turns out to be the key external factors to drive the land use transition of rural settlements. The efforts of minimizing the rent dissipation from both the collective economic organization and households are the endogenous power of the land use transition.(2)The invisible land use transition is mainly reflected on the de-collectivized of land use and the non-agricultural industrial upgrading. The de-collectivized of land use means the quit of "collective will" from rural construction land use. It implies a shift on the modes of allocating in the rural area. The non-agricultural industrial upgrading implies the diversification of economic outputs, due to the improvement of capital goods and product markets. It’s the expansion of rural settlement’s service scope.The invisible land use transition indicates that rural settlement gradually derives function of benefit, which also affects the farmers’ income structure and livelihoods.(3)Visible and invisible land use forms are the characteristics of functional evolution of rural settlements. The visible land use forms reflect changes on the economic production of a single village. While the invisible land use forms imply the transition of the role which the rural settlement plays in the resource allocation of the urban-rural system. As for the functional evolution of the rural settlement, the change form endogenous mode of rural industrialization and urbanization to exogenous mode, is the basic motive force. The case studies of three different kinds of villages (Hegezhuang, Beifaxin, and Shaziying) confirmed the spatio-temporal rules of functional evolution of rural settlements. The rules indicate that:differentiation of land use forms and functions in rural settlements is actually caused by the superposition of three driving forces in different time and scale, which includes traditional agricultural development, rural industrialization and urban functional spillover.Functional evolution of the rural settlement is a result of the "natural selection" by the environment. Land use form of the rural settlement is the expression of the "gene", which represents the function.(4) By analyzing the reconstruction process of the typical urban villages in Beijing, we formulated a framework for village renovation. A situation analysis based on the functional demand and a functional planning based on the rules of functional evolution, are preparatory work for functional regulation. Principles of this functional regulation include two aspects:protecting the functions in need and eliminating the functions that are no longer needed.