Anthropogenic factors in land-use change in China

The author analyzes five anthropogenic driving forces of land-use change in China: population growth, urbanization, industrialization, changes in lifestyles and consumption, and shifts in political and economic arrangements and institutions. The intention is to demonstrate the broad range of factors other than biogeophysical conditions that will affect future land-use patterns in China. A first set of statistical data was collected to analyze these demographic and socioeconomic trends. The author also includes new estimates on China's cultivated land area, indicating that it is more seriously underreported in official statistics than previously acknowledged.