Scenario Analyses of Land Use Conversion in the North China Plain: An Econometric Approach

Table 1

Land use structure of the North China Plain in various years (unit: ten thousand hectares).

Land use type	1988	1995	2000	2005	2010	Change rate during 1988–2010 (%)
Cultivated land	2448.81	2410.86	2402.01	2372.28	2346.51	−4.18
Forestry	467.01	472.01	470.82	471.05	471.48	0.96
Grassland	375.12	363.34	363.48	356.25	355.51	−5.23
Water area	310.09	312.74	315.28	317.84	321.02	3.53
Built-up area	1137.88	1187.64	1197.93	1237.09	1263.32	11.02
Unused land	40.20	32.50	29.58	24.59	21.25	−47.12

Change rate during (𝑅) 1988–2010 is calculated based on following formula: 𝑅=(𝐵−𝐴)/𝐴∗100%; 𝐴 represents the area of each type of land in 1988, and 𝐵 represents the area of each type of land in 2010.