2019 Volume 87 Issue 1 Pages II_47-II_57
We conducted the research to clarify the land tenure system and its influence on sprawl of superior agricultural land in Taiwan, by comparison with Japanese system and situation of agricultural land conversion. As results, we found that sprawl in Taiwan is promoted not by conversion of land category from agricultural field into housing site, but by the construction of farm houses on the agricultural field itself. The backgrounds of the latter type of sprawl are followed; 1. multiple usage permitted on legal agricultural field, 2. emancipation of agricultural land to everyone who want to be an agricultural field owner, 3. insufficient operation system and penal regulations, 4. luck of self‐imposed control by local community. For sustainable conservation of agricultural field, these are necessary to regulate usage of agricultural field after sifts of ownership to new entry farmer, and to keep and promote the social capital of local community.