Transformative Aspects of Agricultural Modernization and Its Land Use Requirements: Insights from Chinese Case Studies

Jian Liu, Yaowu Li (), Hui Bai, Kai Shang, Yixiu Deng and Junsong Mao
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Jian Liu: School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Yaowu Li: School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Hui Bai: College of Architecture and Engineering, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, China
Kai Shang: School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Yixiu Deng: School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Junsong Mao: School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-23

Abstract: Sustainable agriculture has been proposed by the United Nations as a key indicator of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It presents diverse features and rich connotations in the transformation towards modernization. However, for a long time in China, transformations of agricultural modernization have not been the concern of spatial planning, nor the emerging land use requirements of agricultural modernization under the trends of urban–rural integration, such as the application of modern technologies for the mechanization of agricultural production, the coexistence of multiple forms of business entities with agricultural enterprises as the main body, the extension of the industrial chain from the primary to the secondary and the tertiary, and the concentration of industrial spaces, as well as specific land use due to those transformations. This paper constructs an analytical framework of “business entity, business model, production technology, and production space” based on the literature studies and selects eight representative agricultural cases from Beijing, Zhejiang, and Yunnan to conduct field investigations and case studies to reveal the transformative aspects of agricultural modernization in China and its land use requirements, enriching the understanding of modern agriculture from the perspective of spatial planning. This study finds that the transformation of agricultural modernization has generated new requirements for the construction of necessary production facilities, but these requirements cannot be met in terms of land use due to the constraints imposed by China’s current land use regulations. The paper advocates for the development of agricultural parks, the optimization of land use regulations, and the allocation of agricultural land use in spatial planning in line with the trends of agricultural modernization, thus supporting the sustainable development of agriculture.

Keywords: agricultural modernization; land use regulation; agricultural land; spatial planning; controlled environment agriculture land (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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