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Land
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Land Use Transition Pathways: Governance, Resources, and Policies
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Land Use Transition Pathways: Governance, Resources, and Policies

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Socio-Economic and Political Issues".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 2209

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dingde Xu

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Guest Editor
College of Management, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Interests: land use policy; food security; sustainable development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Long Qian

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Guest Editor
Institute of Food and Strategic Reserves, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210023, China
Interests: land use policy; food security
Dr. Yanfeng Jiang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Public Policy and Management, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Interests: land use policy; rural development; mulitifunctional land use
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Land use transitions constitute a critical interface of human activities and environmental systems, profoundly influencing ecological integrity and societal well-being across scales. These transitions—whether from agrarian to urban landscapes, from degraded to restored forests, or toward sustainable resource governance—are propelled by intricate dynamics among institutional frameworks, resource constraints, and policy instruments. Their centrality to contemporary sustainability agendas lies in addressing pressing global challenges, including climate change, biodiversity erosion, and food–water–energy security. In an era of rapid environmental change, deciphering the pathways of land use change is indispensable for designing resilient and equitable futures.

Scientifically, land use transitions are characterized by nonlinear trajectories shaped by socio‑ecological feedback and socio‑technical innovations. Depleting resources may trigger corrective responses, while novel governance approaches or technological breakthroughs can accelerate shifts toward sustainability. This complexity calls for integrative research that bridges ecology, economics, political science, and planning. Moreover, land use decisions directly affect carbon stocks, hydrological regimes, and livelihood resilience, thereby underpinning global goals such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. A deeper understanding of how governance architectures, resource endowments, and policy mixes interact is thus vital for steering transitions toward sustainability.

This Special Issue of Land, titled “Land Use Transition Pathways: Governance, Resources, and Policies,” aims to advance theoretical and empirical knowledge by addressing key questions: Through what mechanisms do governance systems enable or constrain transition pathways? How do resource availability and distributional issues shape transition patterns and outcomes? What policy designs and instruments effectively promote just and sustainable land use transitions? We welcome contributions that offer novel insights through comparative case studies, methodological innovations, systematic reviews, and theoretical advancements. By synthesizing state‑of‑the‑art research from diverse geographical and institutional contexts, this issue seeks to inform policy and practice while identifying critical research frontiers.

We invite original research articles, reviews, and policy analyses that critically examine these dimensions, fostering a robust dialogue on pathways toward sustainable land systems.

Dr. Dingde Xu
Prof. Dr. Long Qian
Dr. Yanfeng Jiang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • land use transition
  • land governance
  • land use policy
  • sustainable land management
  • land use change

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 1655 KB  
Article
Transition Pathways of Poverty Alleviation Relocation Communities into New Urbanization in China: A Policy Tool Perspective Based on 38 Policy Texts
by Zhimin Qin and Kanxuan Huang
Land 2026, 15(5), 845; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15050845 (registering DOI) - 14 May 2026
Viewed by 160
Abstract
As a policy-driven land use transition initiative bridging poverty eradication and sustainable development, China’s Poverty Alleviation Relocation (PAR) program exemplifies how state-led resettlement can reconfigure land use patterns while balancing immediate livelihood security with long-term community capacity development. The integration of large-scale PAR [...] Read more.
As a policy-driven land use transition initiative bridging poverty eradication and sustainable development, China’s Poverty Alleviation Relocation (PAR) program exemplifies how state-led resettlement can reconfigure land use patterns while balancing immediate livelihood security with long-term community capacity development. The integration of large-scale PAR communities into new urbanization is a critical postrelocation task that is essential for consolidating poverty eradication achievements and enhancing endogenous development capacity. This study examined how the configuration of policy instruments shapes the endogenous development capacity of PAR communities during their transition to new urbanization. Employing a “tool–goal” analytical framework, we conducted a content analysis of 38 provincial-level policy documents (2021–present) using NVivo 20 software. The findings reveal that while local governments have established a preliminary policy system, structural imbalances persist: (1) uneven deployment of policy tools, (2) underutilization of demand-based policy tools, (3) tool–goal misalignment, and (4) insufficient market/societal participation in government-led measures. The discussion further reveals that the land use transition in the PAR program emphasizes the “living mode” (housing and public services) over the “livelihood mode” (productive resources and nonagricultural employment), creating structural dependency and leaving industrial land underutilized—as evidenced by weak policy support for industrial development (14.83%) and labour outmigration from resettlement areas. Drawing on the sustainable livelihoods framework, we further demonstrate how this exogenous-dominated policy mix disproportionately enhances physical and financial capital while constraining the accumulation of human and social capital—the very foundations of endogenous development capacity. To address these issues, we propose three key recommendations: (1) optimizing the policy mix to strengthen the endogenous development capacity of PAR communities; (2) realigning policy tools with objectives to achieve diversified yet coordinated goals; and (3) addressing implementation gaps to better leverage market mechanisms and social forces in promoting the sustainable urban integration of resettlement areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Transition Pathways: Governance, Resources, and Policies)
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19 pages, 237 KB  
Article
Rural Collective Land Expropriation in China: Historical Evolution, Institutional Attributes, and Reform Pathways
by Ziyan Hua and Yansong He
Land 2026, 15(4), 663; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15040663 - 17 Apr 2026
Viewed by 669
Abstract
Land expropriation remains an important instrument for industrialization and urbanization in developing countries, but its extensive use often generates fiscal dependence, social conflict, and governance strain. This article argues that these outcomes are rooted in the political and economic logics embedded in land [...] Read more.
Land expropriation remains an important instrument for industrialization and urbanization in developing countries, but its extensive use often generates fiscal dependence, social conflict, and governance strain. This article argues that these outcomes are rooted in the political and economic logics embedded in land governance. Using China’s rural collective land expropriation as the principal case, it traces how a century of institutional change produced a system that serves both political consolidation and economic accumulation. This configuration has fostered path dependence on land-based revenue, expanded the scope of expropriation, distorted the distribution of land value gains, and marginalized affected farmers. The article further argues that reform requires coordinated adjustment in four dimensions: narrowing expropriation to genuinely public purposes, aligning it with the market entry of collectively owned commercial construction land, moving compensation toward a more market-relevant standard, and strengthening procedures around participation, disclosure, and review. Together, these reforms offer a more systematic path for transforming land expropriation from a development tool into a mechanism of sustainable governance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Transition Pathways: Governance, Resources, and Policies)
27 pages, 614 KB  
Article
Farmland Transfer, Land Use Transition, and Grain Production Capacity: Spatial Evidence from China
by Xia Zhao, Lei Ji and Yijia Liu
Land 2026, 15(4), 605; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15040605 - 7 Apr 2026
Viewed by 408
Abstract
As a crucial pathway for optimizing land factor allocation, farmland transfer plays a pivotal role in implementing the “storing grain in land and technology” strategy and safeguarding national grain security. Based on panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning 2009 to 2023, [...] Read more.
As a crucial pathway for optimizing land factor allocation, farmland transfer plays a pivotal role in implementing the “storing grain in land and technology” strategy and safeguarding national grain security. Based on panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning 2009 to 2023, this study employs a two-way fixed effects model and a Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to systematically examine the mechanisms, heterogeneity, and spatial spillover effects of farmland transfer on grain production capacity. The results indicate that: (1) Farmland transfer significantly enhances grain production capacity, and this conclusion remains robust after multiple robustness and endogeneity tests. (2) Farmland transfer boosts grain production capacity by promoting cultivated land connectivity and facilitating the substitution of machinery for labor; however, the accompanying non-grain tendency and land governance disputes exert inhibitory effects on capacity release. (3) Transfers to farming households and professional cooperatives, as well as the adoption of leasing and informal exchange arrangements, exhibit the strongest positive effects on production capacity, and the scale-efficiency gains of farmland transfer are particularly pronounced in major grain-consuming areas. (4) Improvements in a region’s farmland transfer level drive the enhancement of grain production capacity in neighboring regions through the diffusion of management experience and the sharing of social services. This study provides empirical evidence and policy insights to optimize farmland transfer mechanisms and safeguard food security. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Transition Pathways: Governance, Resources, and Policies)
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18 pages, 1138 KB  
Article
Peers, Collective Irrigation, and Farm Efficiency: Plot-Level Evidence from Jiangsu, China
by Zongyao Yang, Yueqing Ji and Yongbing Yang
Land 2026, 15(3), 427; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15030427 - 5 Mar 2026
Viewed by 411
Abstract
Land use transitions increasingly hinge on how governance arrangements shape resource use efficiency and knowledge diffusion in agricultural systems. Collective irrigation, as a key institutional form of water governance, has been widely promoted to improve irrigation performance, yet its potential linkages with peer [...] Read more.
Land use transitions increasingly hinge on how governance arrangements shape resource use efficiency and knowledge diffusion in agricultural systems. Collective irrigation, as a key institutional form of water governance, has been widely promoted to improve irrigation performance, yet its potential linkages with peer effects in agricultural production remain insufficiently understood. Using plot-level panel data from Jiangsu Province, China, for 2015 and 2019, this study examines how peer effects and collective irrigation affect the technical efficiency of rice production. A time-varying stochastic frontier production function is employed to estimate technical efficiency, while a linear-in-means model is used to capture peer effects and compare their effects across different irrigation types. The results indicate that peer effects play a significant role in improving technical efficiency in rice-growing areas. These effects are more pronounced under collective irrigation arrangements. Moreover, peer effects under collective irrigation are stronger in villages without public technology extension services, among farmers with lower grain production capacity or without off-farm employment, and on smaller plots. Mechanism analysis indicates that peer effects under collective irrigation operate partly through input decisions, especially pesticide use. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of considering both peer interactions and irrigation institutions when improving agricultural production efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Transition Pathways: Governance, Resources, and Policies)
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