Land Degradation Caused by Construction Activity: Investigation, Cause and Control Measures

Shubing Dai, Yulei Ma () and Kuandi Zhang ()
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Shubing Dai: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China
Yulei Ma: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China
Kuandi Zhang: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 23, 1-14

Abstract: The rapid expansion of construction land has been a common phenomenon worldwide, which resulted in the loss of high-quality arable land and severe land degradation. Here, a statistical analysis, together with a field investigation, was carried out in China to address the challenges. This study has gathered data on the reduction of land amount and quality caused by construction activities and has collected the relevant policies to control land deterioration caused by those activities. The increasing amount of farmland and open space are occupied by construction use. The annual growth of construction land from 2001 to 2017 was 43.64 × 10 4 hm 2 , with an annual average of about 38 × 10 4 hm 2 of cultivated land being converted to construction land in China. Construction activities usually cause a deterioration of the physico-chemical properties in and around construction site soils. The organic matter of post-construction soil was lower than the pre-construction by 257.4~879.8%. A lack of strong economic incentives for developers, limited effectiveness of measures to control land degradation, and weak requirements and enforcement of relevant laws and regulations allow land degradation from construction activities to remain at a significant level. For more efficiency and success, the study proposes effective measures to control the hazards that occur so widely in China.

Keywords: land degradation; soil erosion; construction activity; policy suggestions; control measures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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