Yongjun Zhao, China’s Disappearing Countryside: Towards Sustainable Land Governance for the Poor

Excerpt

While China impresses the world with its remarkable economic growth, the cost associated with this growth is alarming: loss of arable land, growing urban–rural income disparities, and increasing social unrest, to name a few. Maintaining economic growth while minimizing the cost of growth has become a daunting challenge for Chinese leaders. As economic reforms proceed, capital and labor become mobile and the temptation for local governments to use land to generate revenue is increasing. With this incentive embedded in the governing institutions, how politicians can fulfill the incredible mission of moving 250 million rural residents into urban areas without damaging their livelihoods becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible. Zhao examines the evolution of land tenure systems in China and their impact on village governance and rural development a timely topic of great importance. He argues that a land tenure system can only be sustainable when it is compatible with the overall biophysical, social, political and economic conditions. …