A Preliminary Study on the Problems and Improvement of the Latest Land Use Classification System in China

Qiuju WU, Zisheng YANG

Institute of Land Resources and Sustainable Development, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming 650221, China

Abstract The establishment of a unified land use classification system is the basis for realizing the unified management of land and sea, urban and rural areas, and aboveground and underground space. In November 2020, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China issued the Classification Guide for Land and Space Survey, Planning and Use Control of Land and Sea (for Trial Implementation), which aims to establish a national unified land and sea use classification system, lay an important foundation for scientific planning and unified management of natural resources, rational use and protection of natural resources, and speed up the construction of a new pattern of land and space development and protection. However, there are still some obvious shortcomings in the Classification Guide. This paper analyzes some problems existing in this classification standard from three aspects of logicality, rigorousness and comprehensiveness, and puts forward some suggestions for further improvement. This has important practical significance to better guiding the practice of land use and land resources management, and then to achieving the goal of unified management of natural resources.

Key words Land use, Classification system, Existing problems, Suggestions for improvement

1 Introduction

In November 2020, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China issued the

Classification

Guide

for

Land

and

Space

Survey

,

Planning

and

Use

Control

of

Land

and

Sea

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) on the basis of integrating the original

Classification

of

Land

Use

Status

,

Urban

Land

Classification

and

Standards

for

Planning

and

Construction

Land

Use

, and

Sea

Area

Use

Classification

. The guide integrates land and sea, urban and rural areas, and aboveground and underground space into one classification system for the first time, which is a bold innovation in the history of land use classification in China. Prior to this, China has successively launched a number of land use classification systems, which have basically met the requirements of land management in land use status survey, land use planning and land use control. However, the establishment of the Ministry of Natural Resources means that China has entered a new stage of integrated management of land, space and natural resources, and unifying the land use classification system is the first and key step in this new stage. As the implementation of the

Classification

Guide

for

Land

and

Space

Survey

,

Planning

and

Use

Control

of

Land

and

Sea

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) is an exploratory attempt, on the whole, there are still some problems in the classification system that need to be discussed in depth.

2 Main problems existing in the latest land use classification system

The

Classification

Guide

for

Land

and

Space

Survey

,

Planning

and

Use

Control

of

Land

and

Sea

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) hereinafter referred to as the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) include 24 first-level classes, 106 second-level classes and 39 third-level classes. This paper analyzes some problems existing in the Classification Guide from three aspects of logicality, rigorousness and comprehensiveness.

2.1 Confused relationship between levels reflects the lack of logic of classification

The hierarchy of land use classification system reflects the induction process of land classes with similar properties, and the superior land type should be a high summary of the lower land type. However, the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) has 24 first-level classes, which are low in generality, confused in the relationship between the same levels, and short of logicality in classification.In

Land

Use

Status

Classification

(

GB/T

21010-2007

)and

Land

Use

Status

Classification

(

GB/T

21010-2017

), "land used for public facilities" is classified as secondary land under "land for public management and public service", while "land used for public facilities (13)" is classified as level I in the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

), in parallel with "land for public management and public service (08)". This practice actually ignores the inclusive relationship between the two. According to the definition of "land used for public facilities" in the new classification guide, this kind of land has strong features of "publicness" and "service", which is more suitable to be under "land for public management and public service" as a secondary land class. The practice of classifying it as the first-level land class separately makes the first-level land class more jumbled, lacking generality and logicality. Similarly, "green space and open space land (14)" in the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) also has strong features of "publicness" and "service". It is also unreasonable to put it as a first-level class, juxtaposed with "land for public management and public services (08)".

"Land for agricultural facilities construction (06)" is the sixth first-level land class in the new classification guide, which has not only the restriction of "agricultural facilities", but also the restriction of "construction land". Compared with "cultivated land", "woodland" and "garden land", this land class is more specific and does not have the highly general characteristics of the first-level land class, so it is not suitable to be determined as the first-level land class. There is also a great controversy over the second-level land classification. There is an essential difference between "rural road land (0601)" and "land for planting facilities construction (0602)", "land for livestock and poultry breeding facilities construction (0603)" and "land for aquaculture facilities construction (0604)". Although this kind of land has the function of serving rural production and life, its function of passage and transportation is more prominent, which is far from the concept of "agricultural facilities". It is more abrupt to put it under "agricultural facilities construction land (06)".

2.2 Flawed land classification reflects the lack of rigorousness in classification

"Blank land (16)" is a new kind of land set up in the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

). It is defined as "land that has not been clearly planned within the scope of towns and villages determined by land spatial planning, not developed during the planning period or developed under specific conditions". From this definition, the standard of land classification is neither the main mode of land use, nor the characteristics of land operation, the characteristics of land cover, but the classification of land according to land use planning. This classification rule contradicts the "2.1 classification rule" proposed in the guide. As far as the present situation is concerned, this kind of land can be any kind of land. Obviously, this is the phenomenon of excessive division of land classes caused by imprecise classification, and the removal of this land class from the first-level land will not affect the integrity of the classification system.There is also a phenomenon of misclassification in the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

). The guide adds "trunk canals (1311)" and "hydraulic facilities land (1313)" to "land used for public facilities (13)" as second-level land class. "Gan Zhi Dou Nong" is the division of ditches in agricultural irrigation system, and it is a proper term in water conservancy projects. If water conservancy facilities are classified as part of public facilities on the basis of function, then the water surface of reservoirs, ditches and artificial canals also belong to water conservancy facilities, so why not include them? If it is divided according to the coverage characteristics, then "trunk canal (1311)" and "hydraulic facilities land (1313)" are more suitable to be included in "terrestrial waters (17)". However, the current division method is controversial in terms of logical rigorousness. In contrast, the

Land

Use

Status

Classification

(GB/T 21010-2017) defines this type of land more clearly.The second-level land class "facility agricultural land" in the

Land

Use

Status

Classification

(GB/T 21010-2007) and

Land

Use

Status

Classification

(GB/T 21010-2017) is classified as the first-level land class "agricultural facilities construction land (06)" in the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

). It is defined as "rural road land for agricultural production and rural life, as well as construction land for planting facilities, livestock and poultry breeding facilities, aquaculture facilities,

etc.

, which will cause damage to the surface tillage layer to a certain extent". As a result, for the land occupied by agricultural facilities that can still be restored to their original use after the removal of agricultural facilities without destroying the plough layer, such as soilless cultivation farms, hydroponic vegetable factories, three-dimensional cultivation, mushroom greenhouses and other types of land, no way to be classified as "land for agricultural facility construction". Although the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) adds "including the land for greenhouse, plastic film and other heat preservation and moisturizing facilities directly using the surface tillage layer" to the classification criteria of "cultivated land", however, soilless cultivation farms, hydroponic vegetable factories, three-dimensional cultivation, mushroom greenhouses and other agricultural production methods do not directly use the surface tillage layer for cultivation, so it is not suitable to be classified as "cultivated land". In the end, this kind of facility agricultural land which neither destroys the tillage layer nor directly uses the surface tillage layer for planting finds no category to fall within.

2.3 The classification is not comprehensive and difficult to apply to land use planning and land use control

Before the implementation of the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

), China’s land use status classification system and land use planning classification system are two different and interrelated classification systems. The present land class reflects the "present status" of land use dominated by the land itself, while the planned land class reflects a human-led limitation of "land use" in the future. The

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) tries to unify the two and unify the classification standards, but in fact, the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) does not achieve the real "two-in-one". It is pointed out in the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) that "in principle, the overall land space planning is mainly based on the first class, and it can be subdivided into the second class", which means that the land space planning will no longer follow the classification standard of "three major classes". Instead, the planned land is classified according to the guide. From the nomenclature of the first-level land class, we can see the essential difference between the "three major classes" and the new 24 first-level land classes. "Agricultural land", "construction land" and "unused land" reflect the human-oriented land use and can better reflect the planning characteristics. The new 24 first-level land classes are more inclined to the current status classification, and are difficult to reflect the strict control of the planning over the conversion of "agricultural land" into "construction land".The

Land

Management

Law

revised in 1998 clearly points out that "the state implements the land use control system". This system strictly controls the transformation of land use by defining land use areas and formulating control rules in different areas, in order to achieve the purpose of protecting agricultural land and controlling construction land. On the basis of the classification of planned land according to the new 24 first-level classes, how to implement the land use control system is also a big problem. The definition of the land use area is based on the planned land class, and each use area is obtained by merging the land class. As the planned land class has changed greatly, the original land use classification system is difficult to meet the needs of existing land class merging. For example, the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) include the sea into the scope of classification, and the land space planning based on this should also incorporate the sea for overall management. However, before that, the examination and management of sea area use was separated from that of land use, and the land use control system was only for land, not including the sea area use control system. Under such circumstances, the land use classification system and land use control rules should be adjusted to meet the needs of land and spatial planning.

3 Suggestions for further improving the land use classification system

The implementation of the

Classification

Guide

for

Land

and

Space

Survey

,

Planning

and

Use

Control

of

Land

and

Sea

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) marks the change from chaotic to unified land use classification standards in China, and provides a reliable method for solving departmental data confusion and implementing unified management of natural resources. In order to better apply the classification standard to the practice of land resource management, in view of the above problems, combined with the requirements of the new round of land and spatial planning, the following suggestions are put forward for the further improvement and perfection of the land use classification system.

3.1 Enhancing the logicality of classification

It is suggested that "land used for public facilities (13)" and "green space and open space land (14)" be put under "land for public management and public service (08)". "Land for agricultural facilities construction (06)" should inherit the classification in

Land

Use

Status

Classification

(GB/T 21010-2017) and it should be adjusted into "other land (23)". At the same time, "rural road land (0601)" should be adjusted into "transportation land (12)" as the second-level land class.

3.2 Improving the rigorousness of classification

The "blank land (16)" is redundant, and the removal of "blank land (16)" from the classification system will not affect the integrity of the classification system. It is suggested that a new second-level land class be set to supplement the missing type of land that neither destroys nor directly uses the tillage layer for planting, and it is included in the second-level land class of "other land (23)" alongside "land for agricultural facilities construction (06)". The second-level land class "trunk canal (1311)" should be adjusted under "ditch (1705)" as the third-level class, and "hydraulic facilities land (1313)" should be adjusted under "terrestrial waters (17)" as the second-level land class.

3.3 Adding "three major classes" and formulating a land and sea use control system to improve the comprehensiveness of classification

The classification system of the

Land

and

Sea

Use

Classification

Guide

(

for

Trial

Implementation

) actually belongs to the current status classification system. In order to reflect the "planning" nature and to strictly control the conversion of agricultural land into construction land, it is necessary to add a first-level land class, including three types of land, "agricultural land", "construction land" and "unused land". In addition, in order to realize the overall management of land and sea, it is necessary to add a sea area use control system and formulate a land and sea use control system on the basis of the current land use control system.