Research On Urban Farmland Conversion Under The Change Of Land Use System

Abstract: With the development of economy, people have gradually speeded up land development process, in which more land was developed for non-agricultural use such as housing, transportation, industry and commerce while less land was used as cultivated land and recreation space. In the process of urbanization and industrialization, urban farmland conversion has become a global phenomenon inevitably. Therefore, the reasonable control of farmland conversion rate and the effective utilization and protection of land have also become an unavoidable issue in the worldwide economic development. As a backward developing country, China is facing the same problem as well. Since the reform and opening up, especially after the reform of urban land use system launched in 1987, China's urban space has achieved unprecedented development and a large number of peri-urban farmland has been converted into non-agricultural land. In recent years, the gradual prominence of "three-dimensional rural issues", the fierce competition among cities, and the urgent need to build a harmonious society have made farmland conversion and protection a focus of theoretical and practical issues. Currently, China's urbanization is in rapid growth stage of development, and farmland conversion will continue for a longer period of time. Therefore, the relationship between economic development, institutional changes and farmland conversion needs an in-depth and detailed analysis to explore theory problem and operation mechanism, which has important theoretical significance and important practical value.Based on the above background, this paper will carry a systemic study on urban farmland conversion issue during rapid economic development in accordance with the "process - mechanism - effect - feedback" logical thought process, tring to understand institutional changes, operation mechanism and economic impact in it and then put forward some policy feedback to regulate it. The main body of this paper proceeds as follows: The paper begins with a review of China's land use system change, revealing the urban-rural dual land use system and the formation of arbitrage space (Section 1). Section 2 analyses institutional designs and operation results in the urban farmland conversion process to explain incentives and interest behind it. Section 3 presents an econometric analysis of effects which the provision of construction land has had on unrban economic growth, in response to the motives behind the urban farmland conversion process. On the basis of the above analysis, Section 4 puts forward some recommendations for improving land policies.Based on the above analysis, this paper concluds as follow: although China's land use system reform has been a gradual advance in depth,but urban and rural land use structure rooted in the planning system still remains. Compared with other countries and regions, China's local governments involve in land development process too much, and the land market is still not fully configured, so the supply of land for economic development in China has strong binding and influence. Under the current system, land supply has become an important policy tool to seek economic growth, and the city governments and local officials have actually played the role of land developers in the process of farmland conversion who have benefited a lot. Quantitative analysis confirms that the supply of land has indeed promoted the urban economic growth, which proves the effectiveness of land supply as an important policy tool. Therefore, in the present system design, the city government not only has strong motivation, but also has enough ability to futher accelerate farmland conversion to promote faster economic growth. For the effective coordination of farmland protection and economic development,as well as the rational regulation of farmland conversion speed and extent,this paper puts forward five regulatory measures, including the realization of state-owned land and collective equal land rights,the establishment of a unified urban and rural construction land market,the comprehensive reform of the current land expropriation system,the exploration of effective institutional arrangements to protect arable land, the design of stable and sustainable land tax system and the promotion of the land and the household registration system joint reform.