A number of severe ecological problems, and the altered structure of urban spaces, are ascribed to rapid urbanisation. Hence, an analytical framework for urban spatial structure and functional optimisation is highly beneficial to balance the contradiction between developing urban areas and protecting their ecosystems. In this paper, the proposed analytical framework included three parts. We first delineated the ecological suitability zones (ESZs) of Beijing City by applying the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model.

Encountering the articulation of the strongness of local authorities and market forces in China’s development, attention has been paid to the changing central state which recentralised the regulation capability of localities which has more discretional power on resources utilisation, land for example, in the post-reform era. Yet it is still not clear-cut what drives the state rescaling in terms of land governance and by what ways. After dissecting the evolving policies and practices of construction land supply in China with the focus on the roles of state, we draw two main conclusions.

In the rapid process of urbanization in China, arable land resources are faced with dual challenges in terms of quantity and quality. Starting with the change in the coupling coordination relationship between the input and output on arable land, this study applies an evaluation model of the degree of coupling coordination between the input and output (D_CCIO) on arable land and deeply analyzes the recessive transition mechanism and internal differences in arable land use modes in 31 provinces on mainland China.