Advancing Spatial Planning for Sustainable Environment: Application of Spatial Technique and Operations Research Method

Dear Colleagues, 

Resources and environment are the basis for human development. However, population growth, economic development and expanded industrial activities have resulted in the increased exploitation of natural resources and dramatic environmental changes, which hinder urban–rural sustainable development. Understanding the coordination between resource exploitation and environmental protection is an important issue for human sustainable development and involves a series of issues related to spatial planning including environmental management, industrial spatial pattern, and housing development. Many spatial planning problems are region- and space-dependent issues, while solving these problems relies on multiple analytical techniques particularly associated with spatial analysis and research. Various operation research methods are also attracting more attention to this issue. Utilizing diverse spatial techniques, operation research and their variants to explore spatial planning issues is attractive for achieving sustainable development.

This Special Issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on how spatial analysis techniques and operations research methods can promote spatial planning toward sustainability. This issue aims to attract various studies focusing on spatial planning issues related to regional resource, environment, population, industry, housing, and public facilities through diverse spatial analysis techniques and operation research methods in order to optimize exploitation, industrial development, environmental protection and social inclusion in the context of sustainable development.

Research papers, communications, and review articles are welcome in this issue. We will accept manuscripts from different disciplines including spatial planning, resource utilization, land use, environmental management, sustainable development, climate change, and other resource- and environment-related topics.

Prof. Dr. Xiaofeng Zhao
Dr. Sheng-Hau Lin
Dr. Ying Li
Guest Editors

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