Urban Spatial Development in China's Pro-Land Policy Reform Era: Evidence from Beijing (Working Paper)

Author(s): Ding, Chengri
Publication Date: July 2003

32 pages; Inventory ID WP03CD1; English


Urban Spatial Development in China's Pro-Land Policy Reform Era: Evidence from Beijing	813 KB

Abstract

This paper examines the characteristics of urban spatial development in Beijing and identifies to what extent these characteristics can be attributed to the emerging land market in Beijing as well as the impact of land policy reform. Based on the observations of land use rights grants from 1993 to the first half of 2000 in built-up areas of Beijing, empirical analyses illustrate that both land prices and land development density decrease with distance from the city core. It further provides evidence that the slope of the land rent curve also depends on land use types. These analyses lead to the conclusion of the influence of the land market in land development decisions and urban form. Another conclusion is that the slope of the land rent curve and the elasticity of land-capital substitution change over time. The former declines, as expected, since Beijing’s massive investments in transportation reduce transportation costs, which in turn shifts the land rent curve, and the latter rises. Both changes in land rent function and the elasticity of the land-capital substitution point to the maturing of the Beijing land market. In addition, there are enormous land developments outside the land market (land development on administratively allocated land) that can significantly distort urban land use patterns portrayed in this study.