Land use policy in China: Introduction

Hualou Long

Institute of Geographic Sciences and NaturalResources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11ADatun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China

This themed issue of Land Use Policy builds mainly on papers presented at an international conferenceon ＆Land Use Issues and Policy in China under Rapid Rural and Urban Transformation＊, convened by theChinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, in October 2012. The conference set out to share andpromote new scientific findings from a range of disciplines that advance research on land use policy inChina. The contributions to this themed issue provide conceptual每theoretical and empirical takes on thetopic, around four main areas of interest to both researchers and policymakers: nation-wide land useissues, the Sloping Land Conversion Program, land engineering and land use, and land use transitions.Various land use issues have been associated with rapid urban每rural transformations in China, giving riseto formulation of new policies directly affecting land use. However, these have contributed to new landuse problems due to the nature of the policies and the difficulties in policy implementation constrainedby the special ＆dual-track＊ structure of urban每rural development in China. In view of this, this themededition makes a compelling call for more systematic research into the making and implementation ofChina＊s land use policy. It also emphasizes the challenges for further research on land use policy in China.

Keywords: Land use issues and policy; Land use transition; Sloping Land Conversion Program; Land engineering; Urban每rural transformation development; China

Long Hualou. Land use policy in China: Introduction. Land Use Policy, 2014, 40: 1-5.