Driving Forces Analysis of Land Use Change in Bohai Rim
环渤海地区土地利用变化的驱动力分析

According to remote sensing data, 30% of the total land area in terms of use patterns had changed in Bohai Rim during 1985-1995.Cultivated land change was the most important type, which was mainly transformed to rural dwelling land, forest, grassland, urban land, orchard and water area. Based on the analysis of cultivated land transformation and its relation between population and agroeconomic development, this article clarifies that land management policy, increase of per capita living space, adjustment of agricultural production structure and urbanization are the major driving forces of land use change in the region. Among the driving forces, the land management policy, especially the policy for cultivated land preservation was the most important factor that affected the regional land use change which facilitated the transformation of other land-use types into cultivated land through balancing those occupied. Population growth did not necessarily bring the increase of cultivated land. The even lesser cultivated land through improving crop yield could still satisfy the increasing demand for food. Population growth, variation of population density had no crucial affection on land use change but the increase of per capita living space could exert greater impact on regional land use change. Agroeconomic development incurred the adjustment of production structure and made cultivated land be transformed to orchard, water area and forest/grass land with the consideration of ecological environment. Urbanization drove land use change in aspects of both cultivated land quality and level of labourers.