Converting Land to Nonagricultural Use in China’s Coastal Provinces

Since the mid-1980s, the conversion of land to nonagricultural use in China has been arguably the most widespread in the country’s history, and in no region has the process been more intense than in China’s coastal provinces. Among the more important factors that have contributed to the conversion of land to nonagricultural use are rural-urban migration, rapid economic growth, and increased investments in roads. A study of Landsat photographs of one south Jiangsu region reveals that because rural settlements are scattered and use a large amount of land and because urbanization and industrialization have occurred in a decentralized fashion, the shift in land use has not been restricted to a few major cities but has been widely dispersed. The article concludes by arguing that while the conversion of land to nonagricultural use in the coastal provinces is bound to continue, its pace will be slower than in the recent past.