Distribution patterns and driving mechanisms of land use spatial conflicts: Empirical analysis from counties in China

Abstract

Conflict between environmental protection and human development is inevitable given China's explosive socio-economic growth. Diagnosing land use conflicts (LUCs) and exploring their driving forces are prerequisites for alleviating land disputes. Based on the land use remote sensing monitoring data in 2020, this study established a conceptual framework and mathematical model of potential LUCs according to the suitability criteria by using multi-factor superposition method, analyzed the types, intensities and spatial pattern characteristics of LUCs in Chinese Mainland. Furthermore, the driving factors of spatial conflicts were investigated using spatial econometric and geographically weighted regression models. The results showed that the spatial distribution of the three types of land suitability in China was seriously mismatched. At the grid scale, about 70.07% of the regions in Chinese Mainland were in a state of potential LUCs. Bounded by the Hu Huanyong Line, the conflict type in the west was mainly agricultural-ecological land, while in the east conflict was mainly agricultural-construction land. At the county scale, 1176 counties were in a state of potential high-intensity conflict, and the conflict index showed a polarized distribution of “high in the East and low in the West” in space. The spatial agglomeration pattern of LUCs was the aftereffect of the combined action of natural and social factors. It should be pointed out that regional dominant factors played different or even opposite roles in different spaces. The logical framework and results of this study can provide a scientific basis for the comprehensive layout of different types of land in the preparation of national spatial planning.