An Empirical Study on the Mismatch Phenomenon in Utilizing Urban Land Resources in China

Abstract

Effective land use contributes to sustainable urban development. However, there are various reports suggesting that urban land resources used mismatch to different extents in many Chinese cities. This study measures the degree of the mismatch phenomenon in utilizing urban land resources from a supply–demand perspective, and a mismatching coefficient, namely land resource mismatch (LRM), is adopted as the measurement. The data used for the empirical analysis are from a sample of 35 cities in China. The empirical study shows the effectiveness of employing the mismatching coefficient LRM model in evaluating the degree of the mismatch phenomenon in utilizing urban land resources. The research findings suggest the following: (1) Overall, the mismatch phenomenon in utilizing urban land resources is significant in China in the form of either supply shortage or over-supply. (2) The degree of the mismatch phenomenon is different between different types of land, with the land for administration and public services showing more serious mismatching and the land for commercial and business facilities showing less mismatching. (3) There are significant differences both in the type and the degree of land use mismatch among different cities, which are contributed largely by the intensity of local government’s controlling and planning role on land resources and the maturity of applying market mechanisms. The results from this study can inform the government of the importance and necessity of adopting effective policy measures for mitigating the mismatch phenomenon in utilizing urban land resources. The research method applied in this study can be applied in a larger context internationally for understanding the effectiveness of utilizing urban land resources.