Spatio-temporal variation of land consolidation projects in Sichuan Province

Land consolidation has developed into a strategic national deployment. Analysis of the distribution characteristics of land consolidation projects can provide a reference for decision-making on developing new plans and optimizing spatial patterns of future land consolidation. Based on 2011-2015 data on county-scale land consolidation projects in Sichuan Province combined with coefficient of variation analysis, gravity center model, and spatial auto-correlation analysis, the paper analyzed spatio-temporal variation of land consolidation in Sichuan Province. The novelty of the study was in the analysis for the balances in land consolidation activities in different periods at different spatial scales. Multi-scale land consolidation has gained considerable attention in recent time. There was a negative trend in total land consolidation projects number in Sichuan Province for the period 2011-2015. By calculating standard deviation and coefficient of variation of land consolidation projects, absolute differences were found among land consolidation projects in each district or county with a general declining trend for 2011-2015. The absolute scale of land consolidation projects in each district or county and the relative difference also declined, which indicated a balanced development trend in the districts or counties. Remarkably different features were noted at different spatial scales. At regional scale, land consolidation projects were concentrated in agricultural land consolidation region in basin hilly area. The realization of the macro-objectives of land consolidation should be based on regional natural conditions. At city-scale, land consolidation projects were mainly concentrated in Chengdu and Yibin Cities, with less distribution in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Panzhihua City. The number of land consolidation projects was positively correlated with population concentration. Gravity centers of land consolidation projects were mostly in agricultural land consolidation region in basin hilly area, with basicaly balanced spatial variation of the projects. The gravity center of land consolidation projects moved eastward compared with the standard gravity center (102°41'29.92"E, 30°37'44.83"N). It was found that the spatial patterns of land consolidation projects had strong spatial autocorrelation. High-high concentration areas were mainly in the northeastern region of the agricultural land consolidation region in basin hilly area. On the contrary, low-low concentration areas were in the ecological rehabilitation region in Northwest Plateau of Sichuan. In general, due to the socio-economic, demographic, terrain and policy conditions of the project area, the spatial and temporal patterns of land consolidation projects needed further improvement. This study explained the focus of land consolidation planning on agricultural land consolidation in hilly areas of Sichuan Province. Timely and appropriate execution of land consolidation projects in agricultural land remediation in mountain valley area of Southwest Sichuan was also explained. Ecological rehabilitation region in Northwest Plateau of Sichuan was the direction of future land consolidation development. It was conducive to optimize landscape development and utilization patterns in Sichuan Province.