Rural land circulation models and benefits based on property rights in rapid urbanization areas:a case of Xiongkou Town in Hubei Province

In rapid urbanization areas where construction-land expansion and arable-land protection compete for limited land resources, arable land circulation has become an important measure to solve this problem. However,the process of arable land circulation was heavily impeded by unclear land ownership, changes of land use designation, conflicts of interest of parties involved in land transfer, and the lack of security of land transfer arrangements. Based on the theory of property rights combined with field interviews and a questionnaire survey, this study examined different land circulation models with respect to land properties, operation mechanism, land tenure, and benefits of land transfer in Xiongkou Town, Qianjiang City. Meanwhile, principal component analysis was used to analyze statistically the importance of each satisfaction indicator and level of satisfaction of farmers,government, and companies. The results show that: because of its rapid development, large- scale application,and ability to secure the gains of various stakeholders, the farmers + government + company model is the most accepted one among all the four types of land circulation models in Xiongkou. Indicators of farmer satisfaction have higher importance but the satisfaction level was lower, as compared to that of government and companies.Farmers' overall evaluation of land circulation, companies' risk control in land circulation, and stimulation of the local economy by land circulation obtained higher satisfaction among all 15 factors. Finally, some suggestions to the rural land circulation system were proposed.