This study examines the popular practice of land commodification as a means of local revenue generation
in Chinese cities and identifies the uneven landscape emerging as a consequence of land-financed urbanization.
Land commodification in Chinese cities has generated a revenue of one to three trillion yuan
each year equivalent to 40e50 percent of local municipal budgetary revenue. A striking unevenness is
observed in the practice of land commodification characterized by a large gap between coastal and
inland cities in the generation of land conveyance revenue and an outstanding position held by provincial
capital. The importance of land income in municipal budgetary revenue stood out initially in
coastal cities and then diffused into the interior.