Analysis of the determinants of agricultural land conversion (ALC) into housing colonies in Bahawalpur city, Pakistan

Abstract

Agricultural land conversion (ALC) is a trend of converting arable land into non-arable uses worldwide particularly in housing colonies, industries, road network and others. The main objectives of the current study were to explore the possible determinants of ALC into housing colonies and examine the socio-economic characteristics of the people to search out a connection with ALC in Bahawalpur City. Total 24 housing colonies were randomly selected and 72 respondents were chosen for interview through cluster sampling technique. Primary data about socio-economic characteristics of respondents gathered through a semi-structured interview. SPSS 16.0 was used to perform statistical operations for data analysis. Descriptive statistics and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) techniques were applied for recognizing the statistical significance of possible determinants of ALC into housing colonies. Findings of the study suggest that socio-economic characteristics of respondents greatly affect ALC in Bahawalpur City viz. income per month, major profession, availability of conveyance, provision of housing facilities. Empirical results of regression analysis were further supported the survey results as about 81% ALC into housing colonies was modeled and forecasted by the independent variables viz. people income, profession, availability of conveyance, provision of housing facilities that were also statistically significant by coefficients. Hence, variety of socio-economic determinants was responsible for the conversion of pure arable land into housing colonies.