The spatial heterogeneity and dynamics of land redevelopment: Evidence from 287 Chinese cities

China is experiencing a tough transformation from rapid growth to quality development, with extensive implementation of land redevelopment. Previous studies have analyzed the mechanisms of land redevelopment at the urban and neighborhood scales, but little attention has been paid to its spatial heterogeneity at national scales, making it impossible to measure the role of macro factors and the central government, and the differences in the driving factors across cities. Using a city-level database of 287 Chinese cities from 2012 to 2018, this paper quantitatively reveals the spatial heterogeneity of land redevelopment among different regions, administrative levels, and city sizes, and analyzes how government and market forces generate such geographic characteristics. The findings reveal that: 1) The national land redevelopment ratio increased from 26.44% in 2012 to 31.95% in 2018, with an average yearly rise of 1%. 2) Eastern cities have the largest land redevelopment scale, while Northeastern cities have the highest proportion of land redevelopment, accounting for about 40%. Despite having the highest amount of land redevelopment, high-level administrative cities and large cities do not have a higher proportion of land redevelopment than other cities. 3) Market mechanism is imperfect and unbalanced. Foreign direct investment affects land redevelopment in eastern cities with a coefficient of 0.19, while real estate development affects the western cities and small cities, with coefficients of 1.72 and 1.11, respectively. Although the government plays a crucial role in propelling land redevelopment in China, the involvement of administrative power in expanding new construction land and non-market transactions has hindered the transition to the redevelopment of existing land.