A Priority in Land Supply for Sustainable Transportation of Chinese Cities: An Empirical Study from Perception, Discrimination, Linkage to Decision

With the rapid development of China’s economy, alleviating the shortage of land resources has become a significant challenge. Transportation infrastructure is a channel connecting cities, which carries the flow of population and material circulation. The efficient allocation of land used for transportation is closely related to production and life. By investigating the main factors affecting the priority of the supply of land used for transportation, this paper evaluates the transportation condition of all cities in China from five aspects: dominance, dependence, coordination, accessibility, and land demand for transportation. Furthermore, this paper constructs a multi-objective decision support system for land supply, which aims to find out which cities are in urgent need of the supply of land for transportation and what types of transportation infrastructure need to be focused on. The results of this paper show that most of the cities with high land supply priority are non-provincial capital cities and are important growth poles of regional economic development. The construction of a comprehensive transportation system is the short-term goal of these cities. Most cities with low land supply priority are sparsely populated, in good ecological condition, and far away from the core areas of economic development. The preferred transportation mode of these cities is generally land transportation. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a comprehensive decision support system for the land management department to determine land supply priorities and achieve the sustainable use of land.

Government Competition, Land Supply Structure and Semi-Urbanization in China

Population urbanization is crucial to establishing a harmonious society. However, the phenomenon of population semi-urbanization is becoming an issue of ever-increasing concern in China. More and more immigrants from rural areas work and live in the city, but their roots remain in the rural area. This paper aims to analyze the influence mechanism of government competition on population semi-urbanization through land supply structure. The study’s theoretical analysis and empirical analysis results are based on the panel data of 105 key prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2017. The results demonstrate that: (1) land finance and land-motivated investment engendered by government competition lead to an imbalance in the land price structure, further increasing the rate of population semi-urbanization; (2) land finance does not lead to population semi-urbanization through the land area structure; and (3) land-motivated investment aggravates the imbalance in the land area structure, further leading to population semi-urbanization. It is found that government competition in terms of achieving performance indicators affects population semi-urbanization by adjusting the land supply structure. Efforts should be made to achieve the coordinated development of urbanization, given that the increasing rate of population semi-urbanization will almost certainly aggravate social instability.

The accountancy of marketisation: Fictional markets in housing land supply

This article investigates the performative role of accountancy in embedding market mechanisms in public services. Drawing on the work of Karl Polanyi, it argues that marketisation can be understood as a work of calculative modelling in which the fiction of a self-regulating market is propagated through the concealment of the social and political practices on which it depends. Exploring this thesis in the marketisation of housing land supply, the article provides a forensic study of an accountancy procedure called the Housing Delivery Test that modelled an ideal housing market in the English land-use planning system. The study points to the importance of Polanyi's analysis in theorising the performativity of calculative practices in the project of marketisation, not as creating the economy they describe but in fashioning a fictional market.

Inter-metropolitan land price characteristics and pattern in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, China

Land prices are the key problem of urban land management, with prices of residential land being the most sensitive and the strongest social reflection among the different land types. Exploring spatial and temporal variation of residential land prices and the effect of land market factors on residential land prices can help the government formulate targeted regulations and policies. This study analyzes the spatial and temporal evolution of residential land prices and the factors influencing the land market in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region based on land transaction data from 2014–2017 using exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. The results show the following: ① Residential land prices in Beijing and Tianjin are significantly higher than those in other regions, while Zhangjiakou, Chengde, and western mountainous areas have the lowest residential land prices. Over time, a development trend of residential land price polycentricity gradually emerged, and the locational correlation has gradually increased. ② Under the influence of the land finance model of local governments in China, three factors, namely, the land stock utilization rate, revenue from residential land transfers, and the growth of residential land transaction areas, have significantly contributed to the increase in residential land prices. ③ Under the land market supply and demand mechanism and government management, four indicators, namely, the land supply rate, the per capita residential land supply area, the degree of marketization of the residential land supply, and the frequency of residential land transactions, have suppressed the rise in residential land prices. ④ The overall effect of land market factors on residential land prices in the central and northern regions of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei is stronger than that in the southern regions, which may be related to the more active land market and stricter macromanagement policies in Beijing, Tianjin and surrounding areas.

Dynamic effects and spatial heterogeneity of land supply on housing price: evidence from Nanchang, China

Purpose Economic fundamentals are recognized as determining factors for housing on the city level, but the relationship between housing price and land supply has been disputed. This study aims to examine what kind of impact housing prices have on land supply and whether there is heterogeneity in different regional spaces. Design/methodology/approach This study collects the relevant data of land supply and housing prices in Nanchang from 2010 to 2018, constructs a vector autoregression (VAR) model, including one external factor and four internal factors of land supply to explore the dynamic effects and spatial heterogeneity of land supply on housing prices through regression analysis. Also, the authors use the geographic detector to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of housing prices in Nanchang. Findings This study found that the interaction between land supply and housing price is extremely complex because of the significant differences in the study area; the variables of land supply have both positive and negative effects on housing price, and the actual effect varies with the region; and residential land and GDP are the two major factors leading to the spatial heterogeneity in housing price. Research limitations/implications The dynamic effects of land supply on housing price are mainly reflected in the center and edge of the city, the new development area, and the old town, which is consistent with the spatial pattern of the double core, three circles and five groups in Nanchang. Originality/value This is a novel work to analyze the dynamic effects of land supply on house prices, instead of a single amount of land supply or land prices. Furthermore, the authors also explore the spatial heterogeneity according to the regional characteristics, which is conducive to targeted policymaking.

GIS Based Multi-Criteria Land Suitability Assessment for Future Urban Development in The Country Park Peripheries of Hong Kong

In recent years, land supply in Hong Kong has fallen sharply and fails to keep pace with the growth of population and number of households. Land shortage becomes urgent and dire. With the inadequate provision of residential land, housing supply is also adversely affected.Insufficient housing supply leads to surging property and rental price in the private market. According to the Rating and Valuation Department (RVD), the overall private domestic price index peaked in June 2017 at 336.1. Keen housing demand is also observed in the private rental market. RVD statistics showed that the domestic rental index also reached the peak at 183.6 in June 2017 and the vacancy rate of about 3.8% as at the end-2016, which is much lower than the average vacancy rate of 5% from 1996 to 2015 (Development Bureau, 2017).In addition, there is soaring housing demand in public housing. As at the end-December 2021, the average waiting time for general applicants was 5.7 years, which is nearly double of the Housing Authority’s target for providing the first flat offer to general applicants at around three years on average (Housing Authority, 2021). Identifying and securing sufficient land to meet both current and anticipated pressing housing demand becomes a key challenge of the government. In the light of this, the government has established a dedicated task force (Task Force on Land Supply) in September 2017 and appointed 30 professionals from different disciplines, such as planning, engineering, academia and think tank, to take a Marco-review on the land supply sources, look for feasible options as well as consider the pros and cons of various options. 18 land supply options were worked out for the public to make choices in the public engagement exercise. Among the 18 choices, the development area on the Periphery of Country Parks was regarded as one of the land supplies sources. This option does not only include the Hong Kong Housing Society’s studies on developing Two Pilot Areas on the Periphery of Tai Lam and Man On Shan Country Parks, but also include developing more areas on the periphery of Country Parks. The proposed option received overwhelming attention from the public and aroused debates in various perspectives. Its ecological value, recreational value, financial viability and even legitimacy were discussed. However, spatial analysis on the suitability of having residential development in Country Parks has not been conducted. Therefore, in this study, multi criteria GIS analysis is conducted to evaluate the geographic suitability of Hong Kong Country Parks for residential purpose with the consideration of various criteria.

Risk Perception of Rural Land Supply Reform in China: From the Perspective of Stakeholders

The reform of rural land supply market has a profound impact on the rural management and agricultural development. In this article, we want to explore risk perception of multi-subject land supply reform in China. The perception of potential risks from the perspective of stakeholders can evaluate the effect of a certain behavioral decision and provide a convincing explanation for further risk control. Based on theoretical analysis and practical investigation, we define the five stakeholders, namely collective economic organizations, farmers, local government, banks and land users, as the respondents of our questionnaire survey. Through in-depth interviews and literature review, we obtained the categories of risks with stakeholders. Data were obtained through questionnaire survey, a total of 307 surveys were conducted to analyze the probability of risk occurrence and the severity of consequences. Frequency analysis, risk matrix method, and Borda count method were used to analyze the survey results in order to determine the risk level and key risk. The research finds that the information asymmetry risk perceived by farmers and the market risk perceived by banks are key risks. In terms of stakeholders, famers and banks perceived the highest overall risks. It implies that the information-disadvantaged stakeholder is usually the one with a strong sense of risk.

Overcoming obstacles to parkland acquisition: an analysis of the City of Toronto's parkland acquisition tools, why they have failed the downtown, and what can be done about it

Since the mid-1900s, municipal parkland acquisition in North America has occurred largely through the development process. This paper asks how well Toronto’s existing acquisition tools and policies are meeting the needs of present and future populations in the downtown. Research was conducted through a review of the literature, policy and budgetary analysis, and twelve key informant interviews with municipal parks staff, councillors, developers, a planning consultant, and community advocates. The research finds that there are many factors that have impeded parkland acquisition in the downtown, including lack of a strong planning framework, historical disbursal of cash-in-lieu funds city-wide, governance challenges, underfunding of existing operations, limited land supply, a perception of land as overpriced, inability to purchase at market price and in a timely fashion, and limited knowledge of existing tools. The paper acknowledges what has worked and concludes with recommendations to improve the City’s parkland acquisition and development framework.

Beyond the Built Boundary: Could Developing Parts of the Whitebelt Actually Be Beneficial?

The development of rural lands along the urban fringe has remained an ongoing concern for both future growth and the protection of existing farmland. These lands are referred to as the whitebelt. It is a term used within the planning industry to refer to agricultural lands that are neither within a municipal boundary nor the Greenbelt. The lack of clarity surrounding the whitebelt has created a sharp divide in opinions around urban growth and the future of these lands. The purpose of this paper is to better understand opinions of the whitebelt through six stakeholder interviews and a case study. The recommendations presented are based on the responses of the participants to address gaps in the existing policy and how these lands will be treated during future urban expansions and growth. In doing so, the stakeholder interviews established that further research on the topic is essential. Keywords: Whitebelt, Land Use Planning, Urban Expansion, Development, Greenbelt, Land Supply