Land-use Change: Proceedings of the Asahikawa-Sapporo International Symposium

7. The Dynamics of Change in Rural Land Ownership and Land Use in Scotland

7 THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN RURAL LAND OWNERSHIP AND LAND USE IN SCOTLAND Alexander S. Mather Depαrtment ofGeography, Universi妙。fAberdeen, U.K. Much ofthe literature on land-use change is concemed with aggregate transfers of land between different types of land use. While the scale and direction of such transfers are obviously of primary importance, there are other aspects of land-use change which have,by comparison,been neglected by research workers. In particular there is the question ofhow land-use change is carried out. Changes in land use can take place without changes in land ownership or managerial control. Examples might include changing the selection ofcrops or enterprises by farmers, in response to changing market conditions or varying levels of government support. A1ternatively, changes in land use may follow changes in land ownership or managerial control. For example, a company involved in house-building may purchase land from a farmer and proceed to change the land use from agricu1tural to residential. Where radical changes in management or capital inputs are required, it is usual for changes in land use to be preceded by changes in land ownership. Certain kinds of change in land use, however, can be associated with either continuity or change in land ownership. The hypothesis to be considered in this paper is that the effects of land-use change, especially in socio-economic terms, are smaUer when no change in land ownership occurs than they are when associated with a new ownership regime. If this hypothesis is valid, then there may be important implications for govemment policies, especially in the field of rural welfare. The approach adopted in this paper is one of comparing the effects of the afforestation ofopen land in Scot1and under ‘change' and ‘no change' regimes of land ownership. The comparison is organized under the headings ofemployment and effects on other land uses, and an attempt is made to review critically both the comparison itself and the possible implications for government policies that may follow from it. THE BACKGROUND Afforestation is at present one of the main land-use changes in Britain in general and in Scotland in particular. It has been proceeding for around 70 years,but during this period thel叫lave been important changes in 出e objectives of government policies of afforestation and in the means (or instruments) by which these objectives are achieved. 7 THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN RURAL LAND OWNERSHIP AND LAND USE IN SCOTLAND Alexander S. Mather Department ofGeography, University ofAberdeen, U.K. Much ofthe literature on land-use change is concerned with aggregate transfers of land between different types of land use. While the scale and direction of such transfers are obviously ofprimary importance, there are other aspects of land-use change which have, by comparison, been neglected by research workers. In particular there is the question ofhow land-use change is carried out. Changes in land use can take place without changes in land ownership or managerial control. Examples might include changing the selection ofcrops or enterprises by farmers, in response to changing market conditions or varying levels of government support. Alternatively, changes in land use may follow changes in land ownership or managerial control. For example, a company involved in house-building may purchase land from a farmer and proceed to change the land use from agricultural to residential. Where radical changes in management or capital inputs are required, it is usual for changes in land use to be preceded by changes in land ownership. Certain kinds of change in land use, however, can be associated with either continuity or change in land ownership. The hypothesis to be considered in this paper is that the effects of land-use change, especially in socio-economic terms, are smaller when no change in land ownership occurs than they are when associated with a new ownership regime. If this hypothesis is valid, then there may be important implications for government policies, especially in the field of rural welfare. The approach adopted in this paper is one of comparing the effects of the afforestation ofopen land in Scotland under 'change' and 'no change' regimes of land ownership. The comparison is organized under the headings ofemployment and effects on other land uses, and an attempt is made to review critically both the comparison itself and the possible implications for government policies that may follow from it. THE BACKGROUND Afforestation is at present one of the main land-use changes in Britain in general and in Scotland in...