Disordered Land Rent Competition in China's Peri-Urbanization

Land development for non-agricultural uses in China's peri-urban areas has been driven by the rapid urbanization which makes the areas an intense mixture of both urban and rural activities. Taking of land rent differentials derived from land use change also makes up a strong driving force for land conversion. Besides formal land developments, informal and quasi-formal land developments are induced by the institution of incomplete and ambiguously delineated collective land rights which facilitate disordered land rent competition. Urban land uses permeate extensively into the agricultural territory of villages. Spatially uncoordinated land conversion and disorganized physical development result in substandard, inferior and deteriorating habitations. Land utilization becomes suboptimal, and land values are depreciating in a worsening environment. Land rents dissipate as a result. This mode of peri-urbanization is deemed unsustainable for the low-income developing country with high population density and scarce land resources