Rural Housing Land Consolidation and Transformation of Rural Villages under the “Coordinating Urban and Rural Construction Land” Policy: A Case of Chengdu City, China

The rapid urbanization and industrialization of China have led to a substantial reduction in farmland and the rapid expansion of urban-rural construction land, with the introduction of economic liberalization reforms in 1978. At present, scarcity of construction land for development has become the lead limiting factor in constraining economic growth. Rural housing land consolidation under the “coordinating urban and rural construction land” policy (CURCL) is an effective means of providing urban construction land for economic development, as well as controlling the amount of rural construction land. To better understand rural housing land consolidation in China, this paper, which takes Chengdu as a case study, has examined the implementation status. From this we conclude that although the rural housing land consolidation of Chengdu ostensibly changes only farmers’ place of residence, it actually involves changes in rural society, economy and organizational function. Through extensive interviews, this study indicates that although local governments are still the main body responsible for implementing rural housing land consolidation, external investment also plays an important role by improving the resettled farmers’ economic condition and promoting the transformation of their production modes and lifestyles to some extent.