How land acquisition compensation is implemented : a case in Northern China

Abstract

Land acquisition is the primary policy tool used by Chinese local governments to meet land demand for urban expansion and economic development. This thesis focuses on the compensation implementation of a land acquisition case in a fourth-tier city, demonstrating the evolution of compensation and the interplay among farmers, real estate developers and local governments. Cash and in-kind compensation (a resettlement apartment that cannot be transferred) make up "tangible" compensation. "Non-tangible" compensation includes social security, education resources, everyday budgeting know-how and other factors that can help farmers adjust from rural to urban living. This thesis evaluates monetary and non-monetary compensation in terms of value, distribution and other aspects. The findings indicate that the monetary land acquisition compensation in the selected case is higher than regional standards. However, there were ambiguities in both the monetary compensation value and distribution. As the case study was analyzed in greater depth, the importance of non-monetary compensation gradually came to the surface. Regarding this type of compensation, in considering the perspective of relocated farmers, this thesis demonstrates that relocated villagers are still subject to various uncertainties in their lack of social security, appropriate skills to participate in the urban labor market, education resources and everyday budgeting know-how. On the basis of this case study, I suggest that to deal with the problems in land acquisition, Chinese local governments should allow landless farmers to participate in the compensation scheme design and should provide a more comprehensive compensation package to help farmers' transition to urban life. In addition, I also propose that the government should encourage more community engagement when carrying out land acquisitions.