Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Mechanisms of Cultivated Land Use Transition in Jinzhong

Abstract

This paper examines the transition of cultivated land use in Jinzhong, Shanxi, under the combined pressures of urban expansion, agricultural restructuring, ecological restoration and national food-security policy. Rather than treating farmland change as a simple issue of area loss, the article conceptualizes transition as a multidimensional process involving quantity, quality, management scale and functional reorganization. Drawing on land use transition theory, Chinese rural restructuring research, policy documents, statistical yearbooks and existing remote-sensing findings, the paper develops a resource-process-institution framework to interpret the temporal stages and spatial differentiation of farmland change in Jinzhong. The analysis shows a pronounced contrast between intensive and highly protected plains, fragmented peri-urban margins, and ecologically oriented hilly counties where slope restoration and labor out-migration are reshaping production landscapes. Market forces and land-price gradients matter, but their effects are mediated by permanent basic farmland policy, high-standard farmland construction, water constraints and county-level governance capacity. The paper argues that future governance should move beyond acreage preservation toward differentiated regulation of production, ecological and landscape functions. By doing so, Jinzhong can better reconcile grain security, rural revitalization and environmental stewardship in a resource-constrained region.