Rural green gentrification: Reconstruction of rural areas around national parks in China

Protected-area expansion can revalue inhabited rural landscapes, yet green gentrification under collective tenure remains poorly understood. This article examines conservation easements in the Baishanzu National Park pilot in Zhejiang, China, where collective forest ownership coexists with dispersed household management rights. Based on policy documents, administrative records, and semi-structured interviews, we trace conservation agreements and associated changes in governance and livelihoods. State and village institutions assembled a collective contracting agent, translated land-use restrictions into compensated agreements, and opened channels for ecological value realization. We conceptualize this institutional process as state-engineered agency (SEA) and interpret these patterns as an emerging, state-mediated form of rural green gentrification characterized by differentiated incorporation and selective functional displacement, without documented widespread residential displacement. The case distinguishes conservation-market formation from its uneven social effects and extends green gentrification research to collective tenure.