WT54 – Land management and land ownership policies

Workshop presentation

Land, in the strict sense of the term, is the base of any workshop. It is at the same time, in spite of modern technical developments, the basic condition of all farming, and therefore of all subsistence. It is also the physical support for all other human activities: housing, infrastructure and transport, economic activity, public amenities, leisure. Because of this it is subject to a great deal of competition and its allocation, as well as the related rules for its use, to the different activities and the different sectors of society is the basis of social cohesion, the subject of arbitration and conflicts, an essential sector of public and private law, and a major sphere of public policies.

It follows from this that, in both China and Europe, these policies have two dimensions: one is aimed at ensuring the quality and fertility of the land for the agricultural production of tomorrow and finding ways of allocating it to farmers that allow social equity, economic efficiency and long-term maintenance of this decisive factor of production. Because of this, agrarian policies have throughout history been at the heart of the organisation of European and Chinese societies. The second dimension, particularly important in urban land policies and planning, is aimed at ensuring land allocation to the different economic and social activities by regulating the conditions of competition between the various uses and by preserving it for the future.

In Europe, the form of ownership and of agricultural land use as well as the forms of urban land management vary from one country to another, offering a vast range of different experiences. In China, the law passed at the beginning of 2007, introducing a right to private ownership of land, introduces a new disruption. Furthermore, China’s very rapid economic and urban development, unrivalled by anything experienced in the European Union, is exacerbating the competition for land use and is the source of a great many social conflicts.

The aim of the workshop will be to compare European and Chinese experiences, to identify those which are most positive in terms of the future and to define the forms of cooperation that will be most promising in these fields in the decades to come.