Macro-analysis on the driving forces of the land-use change in China

Land use is one complex system, which is affected by many factors, including both socio economic elements and natural resources and environment This paper firstly established a framework for macro analysis on the driving forces of land use change in China, in which economic welfare, environmental welfare, the need for food security and the advancement of science and technology are the main forces contributing to the land use changes Then the paper analyzed the basic contradictions in the land use change in recent years on the basis of current situation of land use and economic development in China In the third section, according to the analytical framework established firstly and the basic contradictions in the land use change, and on the basis of the land use data and other related socio economic documents in recent years, this paper analyzed and computed the indexes of the driving forces of the land use change and represented their spatial distribution in China By the distribution of these driving forces, the whole China can be seen as three distinct sub areas: Tibet southwest sub area, central northwest sub area and east sub area, each of which takes on different features in respect of the driving forces of land use changes As indicated in this paper, the economic welfare is the fundamental impetus to the land use changes, and the environmental welfare and the need for food security are also important factors in China The future land use change is ultimately decided by the performance of these factors and their interactions