China's Disappearing Countryside: Towards Sustainable Land Governance for the Poor : Routledge : 9781409428213 : 1409428214 : 28 Mar 2013 : While China's hybrid rural land tenure system has contributed to agricultural development, it is interwoven with rising farmland loss and social conflicts.This book examines the linkages between land tenure, development and governance in the context of China's development transformation. Drawing on empirical studies, it advocates the exploration of innovative land tenure systems that address the wider determinants: institutions, power, politics and social development. It argues that a land tenure system can only be sustainable when it is compatible with the overall biophysical, social, political and economic conditions. This new institutional lens into the conditions and dynamics of land tenure systems marks a paradigm shift away from those focusing on the narrow meaning of land rights and tenure security strengthening, as these approaches can para