Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment ›› 2017, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (1): 47-54.doi: 10.11934/j.issn.1673-4831.2017.01.007

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Estimation of Reasonable Scale of Rural Settlements in Plain Agricultural Areas: A Case Study of Yucheng, Shandong Province

GUO Lian-kai1,2,3, CHEN Yu-fu1,2   

  1. 1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resource Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
    2. Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
    3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2016-03-29 Online:2017-01-25 Published:2017-01-22

Abstract:

Analysis for prediction of future scenarios of land use in rural areas and reasonable scales of land use for rural settlements is the foundation for excavating the potential of land integration and optimizing the spatial pattern of rural land use. A case study of Yucheng of Shandong Province was performed to explore reasonable scales of land use for rural settlement in the future scenario of farming becoming a part-time job for most farmers from the aspect of optimization of the ratio of cultivated land to residential land. Results show:(1) The farming income is a major factor affecting the income of a farm household, and to predict a reasonable scale of land use for rural settlement, it is necessary to take into account comprehensively the scale of cultivated land in the region studied; (2) The current ratio of cultivated land to residential land in Yucheng is quite low or 3.9 on average and about 75% of the villages lingered in the range of 2-6, which indicates that it is essential or critical to raise or optimize the ratio; (3) In the future scenario of farming becoming a part-time job and its in-depth development, the reasonable ratios of cultivated land to residential land will be 9.95 and 15.99, respectively, and the reasonable scale of land use for rural settlement in Yucheng will be 6 638 and 4 278 hm2, respectively, with the potential of reclaiming 8 121 and 10 481 hm2 of vacated residential land; And (4) the study predicted that the realignment of rural settlements may expand the farmland by 55.02%-71.01% in Yucheng in 2020, but in reality, the potential depends by a large margin on development of urbanization and the strength of reformation of the land policy in the future.

Key words: land use, rural settlement, ratio of cultivated land to residential land, Yucheng City, plain agriculture

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