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Land, Volume 15, Issue 1 (January 2026) – 6 articles

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23 pages, 4581 KB

Open AccessArticle

Morphology-Adaptive Spatial Analysis of Urban Green Spaces: A Homogeneous Unit of Building Morphology (HUBM)-Based Framework for Ecosystem Service and Resilience Assessment in High-Density Cities

by Huiyu Zhu, Jialin Cheng, Long Zhou, Guoqiang Shen and Leehu Loon

Land 2026, 15(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010006 (registering DOI) - 19 Dec 2025

Abstract

Environmental assessment in high-density urban areas faces significant challenges due to complex building morphology and the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP). This study proposes a morphology-adaptive computational framework that integrates the Homogeneous Unit of Building Morphology (HUBM) with geospatial modeling to enhance environmental assessment processes. Using Macao as a case study, the framework quantifies local and accessibility-based ecosystem service flows and evaluates ecological resilience via ecological security patterns and spatial elasticity indices. The results demonstrate that HUBM substantially reduces MAUP-induced biases compared to traditional grid-based approaches, maintaining statistical significance in spatial clustering analyses across all scales. Functionally, ecosystem service value (ESV) analysis reveals that natural green spaces provide more than three times the total ESV, predominantly offering regulating services, while artificial green spaces primarily deliver localized services. Accessibility analysis highlights considerable spatial inequities, with natural green spaces exhibiting a significantly higher recreational accessibility index. In terms of ecological security patterns (ESPs), natural green spaces function as core ecological patches, while artificial green spaces dominate connectivity, accounting for 75% of corridor length and 86% of node density. Natural green spaces exhibit significantly greater ecological resilience. These findings highlight the complementary roles of natural and artificial green spaces in dense urban environments and underscore the need for adaptive spatial analysis in urban planning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Infrastructure for Resilient Cities: Rethinking Urban Parks and Open Spaces)

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20 pages, 1492 KB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Relationship Between Landscape Features and Water Eutrophication in the Liangzi Lake Basin Based on the XGBoost Machine Learning Algorithm and the SHAP Interpretability Method

by Shen Fu, Jianxiang Zhang, Si Chen, Yuan Zhang, Qi Yu, Min Wang and Hai Liu

Land 2026, 15(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010005 (registering DOI) - 19 Dec 2025

Abstract

Lake eutrophication exhibits pronounced spatial heterogeneity at the watershed scale, yet a systematic and quantitative understanding of how landscape characteristics drive these variations remains limited. In this study, a long-term and internally consistent trophic state dataset for the Liangzi Lake Basin was constructed by integrating Landsat imagery from 1990 to 2022 with a semi-analytical water color inversion method. A multi-scale landscape feature system incorporating both land use composition and landscape pattern metrics was developed at the sub-basin level to elucidate the mechanisms by which landscape characteristics influence eutrophication dynamics. The XGBoost model was employed to characterize the nonlinear relationships between landscape attributes and trophic conditions, while the SHAP interpretability approach was applied to quantify the relative contribution of individual landscape components and their interaction pathways. The analytical framework demonstrates that landscape pattern attributes—such as fragmentation, diversity, and connectivity—play essential roles in shaping the spatial variability of eutrophication by modulating hydrological processes, nutrient transport, and ecological buffering capacity. By integrating remote sensing observations with interpretable machine learning, the study reveals the complexity and scale dependence of landscape–water interactions, providing a methodological foundation for advancing the understanding of eutrophication drivers. The findings offer theoretical guidance and practical references for optimizing watershed landscape planning, controlling non-point source pollution, and supporting ecological restoration efforts in lake basins. Full article

27 pages, 7672 KB

Open AccessArticle

Platform Urbanism and Land-Use Transformation in Shanghai: Dual Neighborhood Impacts of E-Commerce Logistics in Relation to the 2017–2035 Master Plan

by Jane Zheng and Yuanyi Zhao

Land 2026, 15(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010004 (registering DOI) - 19 Dec 2025

Abstract

This study examines how platformized e-commerce logistics reshapes urban land use at the neighborhood scale, using Shanghai as an empirical case. It argues that last-mile logistics infrastructure operates through two intertwined mechanisms: as physical service nodes that generate localized pedestrian flows sustaining neighborhood retail, and as neighborhood-level execution points within a digitally coordinated logistics system that produces citywide substitution pressures and restructures commercial spaces, particularly community-oriented shopping malls. Theoretically, the study advances platform and logistics urbanism by reconceptualizing last-mile infrastructure as a dual-role urban system with scale-dependent land-use effects. Methodologically, it combines street-segment regression analysis with shopping-mall case studies to link logistics proximity to fine-grained spatial outcomes. Empirically, the findings reveal complementary effects for street retail alongside accelerated restructuring and functional repurposing in community malls—patterns not captured by uniform displacement models. Planning analysis further identifies a governance mismatch in Shanghai’s 2017–2035 Master Plan, underscoring the need for platform-responsive planning to address emerging hybrid commercial–logistics spaces. Full article

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24 pages, 1308 KB

Open AccessArticle

Population Mobility in the Wake of COVID-19 in the US Northeast Region: Lessons for Regional Planning

by Omur Damla Kuru, Elisabeth Infield, Henry Renski, Paromita Shome and Emily Hodos

Land 2026, 15(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010003 - 19 Dec 2025

Abstract

Environmental factors motivate migration across the globe, calling for better planning. Although the US experienced such movements during the COVID-19 pandemic, literature on population mobility and outcomes for receiving communities in the US is scarce. We use a mixed-methods case study approach to explore the COVID-era population movement trends in the US Northeast (NE) Region and their outcomes for receiving communities to draw lessons for strategic regional planning aiming to achieve sustainable and equitable outcomes of disaster-induced movements. Utilizing the Statistics of Income data and focus group data collected from 27 local experts in 22 rural counties of NE, which experienced the highest relative numbers of in-movers between 2016 and 2020, the findings revealed the top receiving counties were predominantly rural areas where urbanites moved from within NE. This movement challenged the housing market and services, disproportionately burdening socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in receiving communities. The COVID-19 experience opened a window of opportunity for regional planning to prepare desirable outcomes of such mobilities by addressing existing issues in receiving communities while incorporating pulse and slow population movements into the agenda. The right policy timing and communication among communities are keys to building trust and ensuring integration of newcomers into receiving communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategic Planning for Urban Sustainability (Second Edition))

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23 pages, 29305 KB

Open AccessArticle

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Multifunctional Territorial Spatial Utilization Efficiency: Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta, China

by Ke Zhang, Xiaoshun Li, Jiangquan Chen and Yiwei Geng

Land 2026, 15(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010002 - 19 Dec 2025

Abstract

Analyzing the spatiotemporal evolution and drivers of multifunctional territorial spatial utilization efficiency (TSE) is essential for guiding the sustainable use of territorial space. This study develops an evaluation system integrating urban, agricultural, and ecological spatial utilization, and investigates the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) from 2000 to 2023 using kernel density estimation and the XGBoost–SHAP model. The main findings are as follows: (1) TSE in the YRD exhibits a sustained upward trajectory and a distinct east–west gradient. At the sub-dimensional scale, urban spatial utilization efficiency is clustered in southeastern core cities, agricultural spatial utilization efficiency is concentrated in the central transition zone, and ecological spatial utilization efficiency is highest in the northern areas. (2) The overall regional disparity in multifunctional TSE shows a fluctuating yet declining trend, indicating a gradual reduction in spatial inequality. The inter-provincial imbalance in development is identified as the primary cause of spatial differentiation in the YRD. (3) Topography, economic density, and population density are the leading determinants of TSE, while their interactions with socioeconomic variables generate nonlinear effects on efficiency improvement. These conclusions provide empirical support for spatial planning and efficiency-oriented territorial governance in the YRD. Full article

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25 pages, 5220 KB

Open AccessArticle

Steps to Recreation: A Building-Level GIS-Based Ranking of Walkable Access to Public Recreational Urban Green Spaces in Warsaw

by Joanna Jaroszewicz and Anna Fijałkowska

Land 2026, 15(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010001 - 19 Dec 2025

Abstract

Green infrastructure and nature-based solutions (NBSs) are, especially in urban areas, one of the key elements in building a friendly living environment that contributes to healthy longevity. This paper presents a novel method for assessing the accessibility of recreational urban green space (RUGS) at the level of individual residential buildings. We designed and piloted a new total accessible recreational urban green space area (TARUGS) index, based on real pedestrian network distances, considering spatial accessibility weighted by the total area of green space available within an approximate 15-min walk. Calculations were carried out individually for each residential building and each individual RUGS, using GIS technologies, including network analysis. The developed methodology allows for the detection of local inequalities in access to all city RUGSs. It enables the inclusion of additional socioeconomic variables in an in-depth spatial equity analysis. The RUGS accessibility ranking of buildings provides a practical tool to support urban intervention planning, as well as the design of solutions that respond to the real needs of residents and environmental challenges. Availability analyses were performed for 108,618 buildings and 146 RUGS. Areas with the highest and clearly insufficient access to RUGS in Warsaw were identified. Over 40,400 buildings were classified as having no access to RUGS (class 0), which accounts for 37% of all residential buildings, while 21,700 buildings were classified as having the best access (class 4), which accounts for 20% of all residential buildings. The districts of Wilanów and Włochy have the worst accessibility, while Wawer and Mokotów have the best. The proposed building-level methodology quantitatively reveals spatial inequalities in access to RUGS, enabling data-driven, equitable planning decisions while highlighting the need to integrate broader accessibility modes, subjective user experiences, and data improvements for a comprehensive assessment of spatial justice. The framework demonstrates how advanced geospatial data analysis, integrating GIS technologies, open data, and network-based innovative solutions, could enhance urban policy-making, improve the design of equitable public spaces, and support resilient land management strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Infrastructure Planning and Management for Sustainable Urban Development and Quality of Life)

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