Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The process and driving forces of rural hollowing in China under rapid urbanization

  • Published:
Journal of Geographical Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Rural hollowing is a recent geographic phenomenon that has received significant attention in China, which is experiencing rapid urbanization. It has led to the wasteful use of rural land resources, and imposed obstacles on the optimization of land use and coordinated urban-rural development. Rural hollowing has various forms of manifestation, which refers to the neglect and vacancy of rural dwellings, both of which can lead to damage and ultimate abandonment of rural dwellings. Damaged dwellings have different degrees of destruction, ranging from slight, moderate to severe. The evolutive process of rural hollowing in general has five stages, i.e., emergence, growth, flourishing, stability, and decline. Based on the combination of both regional economic development level and its physiographic features, the types of rural hollowing can be categorised as urban fringe, plain agricultural region, hilly agricultural region, and agro-pastoral region. Especially, the plain agricultural region is the most typical one in rural hollowing, which shows the spatial evolution of rural hollowing as a “poached egg” pattern with a layered hollow core and solid shape. Furthermore, the driving forces behind rural hollowing are identified as the pull of cities and push of rural areas. In particular, this paper identifies contributors to rural hollowing that include rural depopulation in relation to rapid urbanisation and economic change, land ownership and land use policy, and institutional barriers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Cai Y S, 2003. Collective ownership or cadres’ ownership? The non-agricultural use of farmland in China. The China Quarterly, 175: 662–680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng L S, Feng W Y, Jiang L H, 2001. The analysis of rural settlement hollowizing system of the southeast of Taiyuan basin. Acta Geographica Sinica, 56(4): 437–446. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cho S H, Newman D H, 2005. Spatial analysis of rural land development. Forest Policy and Economics, 7(5): 732–744.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan Cindy C, 2002. The elite, the natives, and the outsiders: Migration and labor market segmentation in urban China. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 92(1): 103–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan S Y, Chen Z X, 1995. Discussion on the research contents for spatial structure of rural settlements. Economic Geography, 15(2): 44–47. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Fang Y G, Liu J S, 2008. Cultural landscape evolution of traditional agricultural villages in north China: Case of Qianzhai Village in Shandong Province. Chinese Geographical Science, 18(4): 308–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feng W Y, Chen X M, 2003. Analysis on the rural settlement expansion of the Jinzhong plain. Human Geography, 18(6): 93–96. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedberger M, 2000. The rural-urban fringe in the late twentieth century. Agricultural History, 74(2): 502–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu B, Zhu G L, Kang Y Y et al., 2004. The “hollow village” manages and rural environmental construction of Henan Province. Ecological Economy, 12: 50–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu B J, Zhuang X L, Jiang G B et al., 2007. Environmental problems and challenges in China. Environmental Science & Technology, 41(22): 7597–7602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia A I, Ayuga F, 2007. Reuse of abandoned buildings and the rural landscape: The situation in Spain. Transactions of the ASABE, 50(4): 1383–1394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gude P H, Hansen A J, Rasker R et al., 2006. Rates and drivers of rural residential development in the Greater Yellowstone. Landscape and Urban Planning, 77(1/2): 131–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo X D, Niu S W, Liu Z G et al., 2008. Research on rural settlement development and spatial expansion charac ters in loess hilly area: Taking Qin’an county of Gansu Province for example. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment, 22(12): 17–23. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lichtenberg E, Ding C, 2008. Assessing farmland protection policy in China. Land Use Policy, 25(1): 59–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu X W, Zhang D X, Chen B M, 2008. Characteristics of China’s town-level land use in rapid urbanization stage. Acta Geographica Sinica, 63(3): 301–310. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y S, 2007. Rural transformation development and new countryside construction in eastern coastal area of China. Acta Ceographica Sinica, 62(6): 563–570. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y S, Liu Y, Zhai R X, 2009. Geographical research and optimizing practice of rural hollowing in China. Acta Geographica Sinica, 64(10): 1193–1202. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y S, Wang L J, Long H L, 2008. Spatio-temporal analysis of land-use conversion in the eastern coastal China during 1996–2005. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 18(3): 274–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y S, Wang J Y, Long H L, 2010. Analysis of arable land loss and its impact on rural sustainability in southern Jiangsu Province of China. Journal of Environmental Management, 91(3): 646–653.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long H L, Heilig G K, Li X B et al., 2007. Socio-economic development and land-use change: Analysis of rural housing land transition in the transect of the Yangtse River, China. Land Use Policy, 24(1): 141–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long H L, Liu Y S, Wu X Q et al., 2009. Spatio-temporal dynamic patterns of farmland and rural settlements in Su-Xi-Chang region: Implications for building a new countryside in coastal China. Land Use Policy, 26(2): 322–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu X H, Zhu S F, Zhang Z H, 2006. The empirical analysis on migration scale of rural population between urban and rural areas in China. Chinese Rural Economy, (1): 35–41. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang C X, Yao S M, Chen C H, 2005. Empirical study on “village hollowing” in China. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 25(3): 257–262. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang H L, 2005. Analysis on forming reasons and solving countermeasures of hollowing village. Rural Economy, (9): 21–22. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Weekley I, 1988. Rural depopulation and counter urbanisation: A paradox. Area, 20(2): 127–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • White E M, Morzillo A T, Alig R J, 2009. Past and projected rural land conversion in the US at state, regional, and national levels. Landscape and Urban Planning, 89(1/2): 37–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu S H, 2004. The integral regimes and countermeasure study on hollow-oriented houses in rural regions. Territory & Natural Resources Study, (1): 11–12. (in Chinese)

  • Xue L, 2001. Study on the inner-decaying village and the countermeasures with Jiangsu province as the case. City Planning Review, 25(6): 8–13. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y L, Huang Z H, 2008. Review of research on the migration of rural labor force in China. China Rural Observation, (1): 69–79. (in Chinese)

  • Zhang Z, 1998. On the theory of vacant village in Hebei Province. Journal of Hebei Normal University (Natural Science), 22(4): 573–576. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, CAS, Beijing, 100101, China

    Yansui Liu, Yu Liu, Yangfen Chen & Hualou Long

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yu Liu & Yangfen Chen

Authors
  1. Yansui Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yu Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yangfen Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hualou Long
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yansui Liu.

Additional information

Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.40635029; No.40871257; Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.KSCX-YW-09; No.KZCX2-YW-QN304

Author: Liu Yansui (1965–), Ph.D and Professor, specialized in land use, sustainable agriculture and rural development.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Liu, Y., Liu, Y., Chen, Y. et al. The process and driving forces of rural hollowing in China under rapid urbanization. J. Geogr. Sci. 20, 876–888 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-010-0817-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-010-0817-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation