Expanded Residential Lands and Reduced Populations in China, 2000–2020: Patch-Scale Observations of Rural Settlements

Fangqin Yang, Jianwei Sun (), Junchang Yang and Xiaojin Liang ()
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Fangqin Yang: School of Economics, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Jianwei Sun: School of Geographical and Environmental Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China
Junchang Yang: School of History and Ethnic Culture, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Xiaojin Liang: Guangzhou Urban Planning & Design Survey Research Institute, Guangzhou 510060, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: The spatiotemporal transformations of rural residential lands and populations reflect changes in rural human–land relations. This study uses high-precision rural residential land patches and population distribution data to detect the area, population density, and spatial heterogeneity of newly added rural residential land (NARRL) in China from 2000 to 2020 through spatial local clustering and geographically weighted regression. The patch results were summarized into county-level units for regional comparison, spatial clustering identification, and policy recommendations. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The total rural residential area increased by 13.86% between 2000 and 2020. The average population density of NARRL (APDNARRL) at patch scale is 701.64 person/km 2 , significantly exceeding the 507.23 person/km 2 of the remaining patches. (2) There are obvious spatial differences in the distribution of APDNARRL as per county-level statistics. There are significant differences in APDNARRL on both sides of the Hu Huanyong Line; the APDNARRL on the left is significantly lower than that on the right. (3) Spatial heterogeneity was found to be among the driving factors of APDNARRL. This study also detected the number and location of hollowing counties; it is significant for monitoring dynamic changes in rural residential lands, revealing their spatial distribution patterns and driving factors, thus improving the optimization of rural land resources.

Keywords: rural residential land; population density; patch scale; geographically weighted regression; spatial local clustering; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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