With the continuous advancement of urbanization and industrialization, the conflict between the limited availability of land resources and the growing demand for diversified land use has intensified, making land use conflict a critical constraint on regional sustainable development. Based on the multi-source land use and natural-socio-economic data of China during the two periods of 2000 and 2020, this study systematically investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of land use conflicts and quantitatively explores their natural and anthropogenic driving mechanisms. The results indicate that: (1) from 2000 to 2020, China’s land use changes exhibited a concurrent trend of construction land expansion and ecological restoration; (2) land use conflicts displayed a clear “high in the southeast—low in the northwest” spatial pattern, with high-level conflict areas concentrated around urban agglomerations east of the Hu Huanyong Line and in agro-pastoral transition zones, accounting for over 57% of the total area; (3) although high-level conflicts remain dominant, the proportion of extremely severe conflict areas declined slightly from 5.56% in 2000 to 5.37% in 2020; (4) vegetation cover and elevation are the primary determinants of conflict spatial distribution, and interactions between any two factors exhibited enhancement effects, indicating that the coupling of natural conditions and human activities is the key mechanism driving high-intensity conflicts. These findings suggest that land use conflicts in China are driven jointly by natural constraints and anthropogenic disturbances. Future land management should adopt differentiated strategies to prevent new conflicts arising from intensive development.
- Open Access
- Article
Multidimensional Identification and Spatiotemporal Evolution Analysis of Land Use Landscape Conflicts in China, 2000–2020
- Shuhui Lai 1,2,
- Daohong Gong 3,4,*,
- Haoyuan Wu 5
Author Information
Received: 30 Jan 2026 | Revised: 23 May 2026 | Accepted: 16 Jun 2026 | Published: 29 Jun 2026
Abstract
Keywords
land use conflict | spatiotemporal evolution | driving forces | land spatial governance | China
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