Growing Populations, Changing Landscapes Studies from India, China, and the United States (2001) / Chapter Skim
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4. Findings and Observations of the Tri-Academy Project
4. Findings and Observations of the Tri-Academy Project
Pages 61-72
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From page 61... ...
In each of the study regions, population rose during the period 19501990. Most of the increases could be attributed to births minus deaths, but in the Pearl River Delta and South Florida, the rate of migration (or immigration)
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From page 62... ...
The Pearl River Delta, the historic frontier of China, had few industries and a low growth rate until 1978, when it was declared a special economic zone (see Chapter 9~. To stimulate economic growth, the government allowed foreign investment and the conversion of collective farms to industrial uses, with individual farmers permitted to retain some of the proceeds.
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From page 63... ...
Presently, agricultural development in the region is limited by the uniquely strict environmental laws that prohibit settlement in the interior Everglades ecosystem that covers nearly half the region. As a result of these conditions, the transformation in South Florida was sensitive to government land use policies.
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From page 64... ...
Yet another example illustrates the complex relationship between population growth and the environment. The city of Zhuhai, located in one of the special economic zones designated by the Chinese government in the Pearl River Delta, has benefited from its status and special policies for stimulating economic growth since August 1980.
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From page 65... ...
The Pearl River Delta saw its proportion of built-up land grow faster than population during the early 1980s; forests also increased while grassland, barren land, and water declined. Population increases in South Florida are associated with significant declines in natural areas grassland, wetland, and forest and with increases in built-up areas, especially since the 1950s.
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From page 66... ...
Only in the litai Basin were changes in crop or livestock production but not gross agricultural area related to changes in consumption. None of the study regions produces agricultural products exclusively for the local population; each produces its share of cash crops.
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From page 67... ...
Policies that have affected land use include environmental policies, population policies, foreign investment regulations, economic price controls on agricultural inputs and outputs, resettlement incentives, taxation, privatization, and reforestation programs. The Pearl River Delta was transformed more by the Chinese government's decision to open up that area to foreign investment than by any
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From page 68... ...
government's environmental policy, which directly constrained the forces of population pressure; by immigration policies, particularly those for Cuban immigrants; and by state income tax laws, which encouraged population growth. Kerala's unique combination of social, education, land reform, and commodity pricing policies transformed both its agriculture and its rate of population growth.
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From page 69... ...
The other face of globalization is the movement of people. A closer look at the in- and out-migration patterns of the study regions reveals that many have counterpart regions that serve as a destination and source of migrants.
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From page 70... ...
As noted, the population of each study region is increasing. Migration, as opposed to natural population growth, is the dominant source of these increases in the Pearl River Delta and South Florida, two of the three fastest-growing regions.
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From page 71... ...
Policies in the study regions that have had a major effect on land use change include: price controls on agricultural inputs and outputs, infrastructure support, taxation, privatization, and reforestation programs. Economic policies have been especially important in the Chinese regions and in Kerala; infrastructure support was important in Haryana and South Florida.
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From page 72... ...
For example, the water restoration projects currently proposed for Haryana will succeed only after a reevaluation of and shift in India's national food supply policies. Similarly, any attempt to increase or limit agricultural development in South Florida must take into account the U.S.
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