Land use and social rights

Abstract

This thesis studies the themes of land use and social rights with special reference to the urban village, which is a special phenomenon in city-expansion in contemporary China. By conducting an extensive review of literatures on urban villages and boundary studies, the author studies land use and social rights from the perspective of boundary. The author also emphasizes boundary-making as a social construction process, which involves different stakeholders in this “game”. Further, the author reviews many historical documents and archives pertinent to land use and social rights in China and carries out a fieldwork in Nanjiao Village as a case study. Through qualitative analysis, this study answers the following research questions: 1) how are the diverse land uses arranged by boundary-making in the urban village; 2) how do the stakeholders maintain the order of the status quo for land use and the attained social rights in the urban village. The research found that different stakeholders are involved in the boundary-making of land use, which arranges the inclusion in and exclusion from the access to land use and the attainment of social rights in the urban village. The research concludes that through boundary-making of stakeholders, land use and social rights are inter-related and accessible for residents in the urban village. This research hopes to turn the spotlight on individuals’ social rights, when planners and interested parties make a plan of land use.