Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Compulsory land acquisition is an inevitable phenomenon in the process of urbanization in
developing countries. To respond to the establishment of Economic Development Zone and
the rapid expanding of urban area, lots of land has been acquisitioned in the recent decades in
China, as a result of which, large amount of farmers lost their land for agricultural production
and living, and have to seek for jobs in non-agricultural sectors.
In order to understand the impacts of compulsory land acquisition on farmers’ livelihood in
China, the study, based on the cases at two places in China, could represent the general
situation herein. One case is from Xiema Town which is located in Chongqing Municipality,
the other is the fieldwork in Dongfanghong Town which is situated in Changsha City. The
studies apply both the quantitative and qualitative methods together to explore the situation of
affected farmers’ livelihoods before and after the compulsory land acquisition.
The influences of compulsory land acquisition on farmers’ livelihood are multi-dimensional.
Though the affected farmers’ in the two cases demonstrated largely different attitudes to
compulsory land acquisition and the degree of satisfaction about livelihood after compulsory
land acquisition, there are common impacts on their livelihood, such as unsuccessful
employment, low social welfare, lack of supporting social network due to the compulsory
land acquisition. Meanwhile, the results revealed that the compensation plays a vital role in
their livelihood temporarily after compulsory land acquisition, however, their sustainable
livelihood is still worth due consideration.