Structural Change, Land Use and the State in China: Making Sense of Three Divergent Processes

Abstract

This article uses the case of Chinese economic growth to interrogate the implications of changes in land-use patterns within the context of structural transformation. It argues that although land-use change is an important underlying dimension of the structural transformation accompanying economic growth the dominant theoretical literature on structural change is not cognizant of this fact. It does so by looking at arable land conversion in coastal provinces, the ‘Grain for Green’ program and ‘wasteland’ reclamation. It also argues for an integrated analysis that recognizes that land has a type of scarcity that arises from its location and not just its total availability at the national level. This article shows that the transition of land in China between its uses defies the dominant linear and unidirectional narrative. The processes discussed show that land moves in different directions and purposes as determined by state vision of progress and development.