Understanding rural resettlement paths under the increasing versus decreasing balance land use policy in China

China's increasing versus decreasing balance (IDB) land-use policy provides an opportunity for easing the contradiction between urban and rural land use within a strict land use planning framework. This paper reviews the evolution of the IDB policy in terms of changes in transfer scope and objectives. Taking the resettlement site and resettlement targets as classification criteria, the rural resettlement paths during the implementation of the IDB policy are summarized, and the characteristics of each path and the effects on people's living conditions and social relations are analyzed. Additionally, the potential problems and suggestions for resettlement in the context of the IDB policy are put forward. The results show that, with the spatial reorganization, administrative reorganization, and industrial reorganization, the living environment, lifestyle, and social relations of the resettled farmers have changed to varying degrees, showing the characteristics of "the strong is stronger, the weak is weaker". After the centralized settlement, there is no substantial change in rural vitality and the risk of a new round of hollowing out still exists in villages far away from the city, while the heterogeneity between the suburban village and the close city decreases. In the long run, it is still unclear whether the implementation of the IDB policy is conducive to rural protection and sustainable development given the varying impacts of different paths on resettled farmers and potential problems after rural resettlement.