In order to protect cultivated land and balance farmers’ needs and shortage of land, the Chinese government introduced policies to rearrange land use in rural areas. However, many problems, such as unused rural construction land and illegally occupied land, have occurred through implementing land use policies. Rural construction land transformation has been promoted to solve these problems. This transformation was designed to let farmers voluntarily transforming their idle rural construction land.

Pacific Island Countries (PICs) are often cited as being the most vulnerable to the future impacts of a changing climate. Furthermore, being located in the ‘Pacific Rim of Fire’, PICs have long been exposed to the impacts of a range of natural and climate-related extreme events—such as earthquakes and cyclones—and are considered to be amongst the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters. The physical vulnerability of Pacific towns and cities is further exaggerated by development deficits, geographical isolation, weak governance, and complex issues of land tenure.

China has a unique land use system in which there are two types of land ownership, namely, state-owned urban land and farmer collective-owned rural land. Despite strict restrictions on the use rights of farmer collective-owned land, rural land is, in fact, developed along two pathways: it is formally acquired by the state and transferred into state ownership, or it is informally developed while remaining in collective ownership.