The study aims to estimate different land leasing entities’ intentions and drivers to grow non-grain crops. In 2021, following a multistage sampling technique based on non-grain farmland, 264 farmers from the Zengcheng District of China were interviewed using a well-structured questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior and transaction cost. The structural equation model was used to quantitatively reveal the influence mechanism of the non-grain use of the transferred farmland. The difference in the non-grain use of the transferred farmland was analyzed from the perspective of the differentiation of the renting entities. The results showed that the profit margin of non-grain and food crops, and the follow-up behavior of business entities, all promote the non-grain utilization of transferred farmland; however, the transaction costs of non-grain utilization and the endowment constraints of agricultural businesses inhibit the non-grain utilization of farmland. The non-grain crops in the suburbs are more profitable, and the transaction costs of the farmland leasing entities are low, so they tend to be grain-free; the rents of the farmland in the outer suburbs are low and can be operated on a large scale, and the leasing entities tend to be grain-oriented. Large-scale leasing entities tend to grow grain, while small-scale leasing entities tend to grow non-grain crops. In general, large-scale leasing entities in the outer suburbs have high transaction costs and low land rents and tend to be grain-oriented. The small-scale leasing entities in the suburbs are close to the market, the transaction costs are low, the rental price of farmland is high, and they are more inclined to grow non-grain crops. The non-grain utilization of the leased farmland should be treated separately, the supervision of the grain production capacity of the leased farmland should be carried out, and the rotation of grain and non-grain crops should be encouraged; the moderate scale operation in outer suburbs should be encouraged, and the construction of high-standard basic farmland for grain-growing farmland should be promoted.

Urban soils can contribute to organic carbon sequestration. The socioeconomic drivers of soil organic carbon (SOC) in urban areas may differ between regions due to the different land tenure and its derived green space management regimes. Currently, few studies focus on regions where public ownership of land was implemented. We examined the SOC storage and driving factors of urban green spaces in Guangzhou, China at 0–20 cm depth by variance and regression analysis. Our results showed that the total SOC storage did not vary significantly among green space types, with an average value of 2.59 ± 1.31 kg/m². SOC increased with plot age (2–87 years) by 0.025 kg/m²/year (p = 0.026) and plot size (63–2058 m²) by 0.001 kg/m²/m² (p = 0.026). Disturbance intensity was negatively correlated to SOC storage. Green space maintenance practices could promote SOC sequestration, but this benefit may be offset by high-intensity disturbances such as trampling, litter and debris removal and fragmentation of green spaces. To increase urban residential SOC storage, except for remediation of compacted soils, it is essential to promote house owners’ initiative in green space management and conservation by improving the current residential green space management regimes.

Rural homestead transfer is of considerable significance for the revitalization of rural land assets and sustainable use of land resources. “Amphibious” farmers are the most likely to transfer their homestead. As such, it is important to study their transfer behavior and influencing factors to promote homestead transfer. The study involved distributing questionnaires to 768 “amphibious” farmers in Guangdong Province, China, and 747 samples were valid. The impact of the farmers’ citizenship ability and homestead utility preference on their homestead transfer behavior was analyzed using a binary logistic model. The study found that: (1) the citizenship ability of “amphibious” farmers had a significant positive impact on their willingness; the stronger the citizenship ability was, the stronger the willingness to transfer homesteads was. (2) Property and the guarantee utility of the homestead have an opposite impact on the willingness of “amphibious” farmers to transfer their homestead; if the property utility of the homestead is strong, its transfer intention is strong, but if the guarantee effect is strong, its transfer intention is weak. If the amphibious farmers are older, more educated, and have longer working years in cities, their willingness to transfer homestead will be lower. (3) The “amphibious” farmers working in cities and towns were found to have a stronger willingness to transfer homestead than those working in rural areas. Hence, the government should formulate differentiated policies for homestead transfer according to the ability endowment of farmers, improve various urban services and security infrastructure based on the urban housing of “amphibious” farmers, weaken the security utility of their rural homestead to flexibly realize their homestead property value, help them become citizens, and promote homestead transfer.