How Do Industrialization and Urbanization Affect Land Use?

Rapid industrial development and urbanization transfer more and more land away from agricultural production and affect the patterns of land use intensity. This chapter analyzes the determinants of land use by modeling arable land and sown area separately. An inverse U-shaped relationship between land use intensity and industrialization is explored both theoretically and empirically. The findings highlight the conflict between the two policy goals of industrialization and grain self-sufficiency. Several policy recommendations are offered to reconcile the conflict.