Urban Land Use Efficency in China: Spatial and Temporal Characteristics, Regional Difference and Influence Factors

The methods of GIS spatial analysis and Theil index decomposition from the perspective of spatial and dynamic factor were employed in this paper to analyze the Spatial and temporal characteristics of urban land use efficency and its change trend of the gap and intrinsic motivation. The results show that:(1) urban land economic density shows a similar rising trend in the three regions of China.(2)Theil index, in this paper, which shows the economic density gap among Chinese provincial built-up area decreased from 1999 to 2011. So the gap of urban land economic density shows a trend of convergence. Regional difference contribution degree decreased from 52.37% to 26.19% from 1999 to 2011, while the difference in the regions has been becoming more and more important these years.(3) Capital, labor input and farmand scarcity are good for enhangcing urban land use efficency, but the method of urban land use is not useful for urban land efficency. This suggests that government should take the differences in regions into account in making national energy strategies. Meanwhile, both Middle and Western China are suggested to enhance the ability to attract investment and to improve the capacity of resource efficiency as well as to advance the marketization of elements. In order to enhance the efficency of urban land use, a more effective incentive and restraint mechanisms should be established to change the current land use method. Meanwhile, external constraints(such as cultivated land protection) are supposed to be noticed.