Land Use Policy is an international and interdisciplinary journal, published by Elsevier, concerned with the social, economic, political, legal, physical and planning aspects of urban and rural land use. Recently, a themed issue on “Land Use Policy in China” has been published in Volume 40 of this journal. Under the guidance of the journal editor Professor Guy Robinson from University of South Australia, Professor LONG Hualou acted as the guest editor in compiling this themed issue. Sixteen papers included in this themed issue are organized around four main areas of interest to both researchers and policymakers: nation-wide land use issues, the Sloping Land Conversion Program, land engineering and land use, and land use transitions. More than 50 scientists whose research interest focuses on land use contributed to this themed issue, and they came from six countries including Australia, the United States of America, Germany, New Zealand, Netherlands and China.

In his editorial, Professor LONG Hualou emphasized that China is a nation with strong rural roots, and has transformed rapidly since the initiation of economic reforms and an open-door policy in 1978. Tremendous land use changes have occurred since then, which has also transformed development in both rural and urban areas. Accompanying this rapid urban–rural transformation, various land use issues have occurred, giving rise to formulation of new policies directly affecting land use. To some extent, these have contributed to new land use problems due to the nature of the policies and the difficulties in policy implementation constrained by the special ‘dual-track’ structure of urban–rural development in China.

In view of this, this themed edition makes a compelling call for more systematic research into the making and implementation of land use policy, aiming at the new development phase in China. The smooth implementation of China’s new-type urbanization strategy will rely on the challengeable innovations in relevant policy, mechanisms and mode concerning land use. Meanwhile, the volatility and complexity of land use policy in China, doomed by the rampant urban–rural transformation and the special ‘dual-track’ structur e of urban–rural development, will present ongoing challenges for further research.

This themed issue of Land Use Policy builds mainly on papers presented at the international conference on ‘Land Use Issues and Policy in China under Rapid Rural and Urban Transformation’, convened by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, in October 2012, under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

Land Use Policy in China - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02648377/40