Announcements

We are delighted to present a list of papers that were published in the Section “Urban Contexts and Urban–Rural Interactions” in the first half of 2024 in Land (ISSN: 2073-445X) and have received extensive attention.

1. “Ecosystem Services-Based City Ranking in Italy: A Tool to Enhance Sustainable Thinking in Regeneration Strategies”
by Angela Pilogallo, Francesco Scorza and Beniamino Murgante
Land 2024, 13(6), 891; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13060891
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/6/891

2. “A Multicriteria Decision Analysis Model for Optimal Land Uses: Guiding Farmers under the New European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (2023–2027)”
by Asimina Kouriati, Anna Tafidou, Evgenia Lialia, Angelos Prentzas, Christina Moulogianni, Eleni Dimitriadou and Thomas Bournaris
Land 2024, 13(6), 788; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13060788
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/6/788

3. “Assessment and Monitoring of Local Climate Regulation in Cities by Green Infrastructure—A National Ecosystem Service Indicator for Germany”
by Ralf-Uwe Syrbe, Sophie Meier, Michelle Moyzes, Claudia Dworczyk and Karsten Grunewald
Land 2024, 13(5), 689; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13050689
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/5/689

4. “Effects of Affordable Housing Land Supply on Housing Prices: Evidence from 284 Cities in China”
by Xue Han and Changchun Feng
Land 2024, 13(5), 580; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13050580
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/5/580

5. “Community-Scale Classification and Governance Policy Implications for Demographic, Economic, and Land-Use Linkages in Mega-Cities”
by Yonghong Mao, Jie Fan, Daojing Zhou, Yao He, Meng Yuan and Huixin Zhang
Land 2024, 13(4), 441; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13040441
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/441

6. “Envisaging the Intrinsic Departure from Zipf’s Law as an Indicator of Economic Concentration along Urban–Rural Gradients”
by Adele Sateriano, Giovanni Quaranta, Rosanna Salvia, Francisco Escrivà Saneugenio, Alvaro Marucci, Luca Salvati, Barbara Zagaglia and Francesco Chelli
Land 2024, 13(4), 415; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13040415
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/415

7. “Your Favourite Park Is Not My Favourite Park: A Participatory Geographic Information System Approach to Improving Urban Green and Blue Spaces—A Case Study in Edinburgh, Scotland”
by Charlotte Wendelboe-Nelson, Yiyun Wang, Simon Bell, Craig W. McDougall and Catharine Ward Thompson
Land 2024, 13(3), 395; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13030395
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/3/395

8. “Counteract Soil Consumption through Ecosystem Services and Landscape Restoration for an Efficient Urban Regeneration”
by Celestina Fazia, Kh Md Nahiduzzaman, Baqer Al-Ramadan, Adel Aldosary and Francesca Moraci
Land 2024, 13(3), 323; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13030323
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/3/323

You can find more information about Land and the “Urban Contexts and Urban–Rural Interactions” Section at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/sections/urban_contexts.

Land Editorial Office

We are delighted to present a list of papers that were published in the Section “Land Innovations: Data and Machine Learning” in the first half of 2024 in Land (ISSN: 2073-445X) and have received extensive attention.

1. “A Proposed Methodology for Determining the Economically Optimal Number of Sample Points for Carbon Stock Estimation in the Canadian Prairies”
by Preston Thomas Sorenson, Jeremy Kiss and Angela Bedard-Haughn
Land 2024, 13(1), 114; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13010114
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/1/114

2. “A Land Administration Data Exchange and Interoperability Framework for Kenya and Its Significance to the Sustainable Development Goals”
by Clifford Okembo, Javier Morales, Christiaan Lemme, Jaap Zevenbergen and David Kuria
Land 2024, 13(4), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13040435
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/435

3. “Bridging Sustainable Development Goals and Land Administration: The Role of the ISO 19152 Land Administration Domain Model in SDG Indicator Formalization”
by Mengying Chen, Peter Van Oosterom, Eftychia Kalogianni, Paula Dijkstra and Christiaan Lemmen
Land 2024, 13(4), 491; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13040491
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/491

4. “Extracting Features from Satellite Imagery to Understand the Size and Scale of Housing Sub-Markets in Madrid”
by Gladys Elizabeth Kenyon, Dani Arribas-Bel and Caitlin Robinson
Land 2024, 13(5), 575; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13050575
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/5/575

5. “Towards a Comprehensive Framework for Regional Transportation Land Demand Forecasting: Empirical Study from Yangtze River Economic Belt, China”
by Ke Wang, Li Wang and Jianjun Zhang
Land 2024, 13(6), 847; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13060847
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/6/847

You can find more information about Land and the “Land Innovations: Data and Machine Learning” Section at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/sections/land_innovations_data_machine_learning.

Land Editorial Office

We are delighted to present a list of papers that were published in the Section “Soil–Sediment–Water Systems” in the first half of 2024 in Land (ISSN: 2073-445X) and have received extensive attention.

1. “Predicting Soil Properties for Agricultural Land in the Caucasus Mountains Using Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy”
by Elton Mammadov, Michael Denk, Amrakh I. Mamedov and Cornelia Glaesser
Land 2024, 13(2), 154; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13020154
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/2/154

2. “Modeling Landscape Influence on Stream Baseflows for Watershed Conservation”
by Timothy O. Randhir and Kimberly B. Klosterman
Land 2024, 13(3), 324; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13030324
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/3/324

3. “Spatiotemporal Analysis of Soil Quality Degradation and Emissions in the State of Iowa (USA)”
by Elena A. Mikhailova, Hamdi A. Zurqani, Lili Lin, Zhenbang Hao, Christopher J. Post, Mark A. Schlautman and Gregory C. Post
Land 2024, 13(4), 547; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13040547
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/547

4. “Soil and Vegetation Characteristics of Grassland Have a Greater Influence on the Abundance and Diversity of Earthworms than the Mowing Intensity in a Managed Nature Reserve”
by Günther Kerschbaumer, Gerhard Karrer, Edith Gruber and Johann G. Zaller
Land 2024, 13(5), 627; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13050627
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/5/627

5. “Modeling Irrigation of Tomatoes with Saline Water in Semi-Arid Conditions Using Hydrus-1D”
by Sabri Kanzari, Jiří Šimůnek, Issam Daghari, Anis Younes, Khouloud Ben Ali, Sana Ben Mariem and Samir Ghannem
Land 2024, 13(6), 739; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13060739
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/6/739

You can find more information about Land and the “Soil–Sediment–Water Systems” Section at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/sections/Soil-Sediment-Water-System.

Land Editorial Office

In May, MDPI Romania held three author training sessions – one endorsing an external event and two stand-alone sessions.

The National Session of Scientific Student Communications took place at Technical University Cluj on 17 and 18 May 2024. MDPI Romania sponsored this event and contributed an author training session on the production of research papers and case study analyses. JRS Norbert Kiss gave a presentation called The World of Open Access to explain different open access publishing models and the benefits of open access publishing. His presentation highlighted the impact of open access publishing on scientific progress and innovation.

On 29 May 2024, MDPI Romania hosted an author training session for Ph.D. students, early career researchers, and professors at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy. In collaboration with Prof. Andreea Arsene, JRS Ioana Paunescu prepared two presentations: The Steps of the Publishing Process and Elaboration of a Peer Review Report. In her first presentation, she delved into MDPI’s history and mission, MDPI’s editorial process, and MDPI journals of various scopes that are accepting submissions. Her second presentation outlined the types of peer review, the contents of a peer review report by an MDPI reviewer, and the responsibilities of an MDPI reviewer.

MDPI Romania also hosted an author training session at the Iasi University of Life Sciences on 29 May 2024. JRSs Laurentiu Preda and Cosmin Artan gave four presentations: Efficient Writing of an ISI-Indexed Scientific Article, Benefits of Publishing in the Open Access Model, Various Methods of Open Access Publishing, and MDPI Guide for the Article Review Process. The first three presentations offered guidance on how to improve academic writing, the fourth focused on how to write peer review reports. A highly interactive discussion followed the presentations, during which the JRSs provided extensive answers to attendees’ questions.

MDPI is grateful for all the attendees, speakers, and organizers involved in these events. Through their enthusiasm and dedication, these events were great successes.

In order to further enhance the international influence of our journal Land (ISSN: 2073-445X), promote the academic exchange of young scientists, and support the Editorial Board with additional expertise, Land is inviting interested and eligible early career researchers to apply for Early Career Editorial Board (ECEB) membership.

We plan to recruit a total of 30 Early Career Editorial Board Members. Early Career Editorial Board Members will hold the position for two years, with the possibility of renewal for a second term.

Application Eligibility:

• Completed their doctorate/Ph.D. degree in the past 10 years (considering exceptions for career interruptions, including medical and family leave);
• The candidate must have served as the first author of at least two peer-reviewed and published manuscripts;
• Researchers who have published extensively and had a broad impact in the fields of land system science;
• Researchers who currently (at the time of application) work as an assistant professor, research assistant professor, associate research scientist, post-doctoral fellow, or an equivalent early career position;
• Researchers that are active and engaged in their community (e.g., experienced at presenting at academic conferences or involved in professional organizations).

Benefits of an Early Career Editorial Board Member:

• A certificate of appointment as an Early Career Editorial Board Member will be provided;
• The achievements of Early Career Editorial Board Members are publicized on our journal’s media platforms to improve academic visibility;
• An opportunity to be promoted to Editorial Board Member based on contributions;
• The journal will regularly acknowledge those who have participated in the peer-review process on the journal website;
• Opportunities to participate in or host annual meetings and online seminars organized by the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board Members.

Responsibilities of an Early Career Editorial Board Member:

• Publicizing and promoting the journal at academic conferences and among peers;
• Selecting high-quality articles and preparing bilingual media content for promotion;
• Reviewing at least four manuscripts per year;
• Providing input on any new initiatives of journal development;
• Inviting submissions from local and overseas world-leading scientists in respective research fields.

Applications:
Please download the application form here. 

Please send the application form and your academic resume to land@mdpi.com with the subject of “Land Early Career Editorial Board Application + Name + Institute + Research Expertise”.

Application deadline: 31 December 2024.

Selection Process and Announcement:
The selection process: initial screening of application materials → selection by the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board Members → email notification → issuing a certificate of appointment.

The selection will be made within one month of the application deadline, and the results will be announced on the journal website.

Editor's Choice Articles are selected based on suggestions from Land’s Academic Editors. The Editors select a small number of recently published articles that they consider particularly interesting to our readers or important in their respective fields of research. You are welcome to read the Editor's Choice Articles related to land, observation and monitoring, a curated list of high-quality articles published in Land (ISSN: 2073-445X) from 2022 to 2023. The full list of Editor's Choice Articles can be viewed at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/editors_choice.

The list of relevant papers can be seen below:

You are invited to view and submit relevant papers to the journal Land via the following link:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land.

Land Editorial Office

Editor's Choice Articles are selected based on suggestions from Land’s Academic Editors. The Editors select a small number of recently published articles that they consider particularly interesting to our readers or important in their respective fields of research. You are welcome to read the Editor's Choice Articles related to land, biodiversity, and human wellbeing, a curated list of high-quality articles published in Land (ISSN: 2073-445X) in 2023. The full list of Editor's Choice Articles can be viewed at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/editors_choice.

The list of relevant papers can be seen below:

You are invited to view and submit relevant papers to the journal Land via the following link:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land.

Land Editorial Office

Editor's Choice Articles are selected based on suggestions from Land’s Academic Editors. The Editors select a small number of recently published articles that they consider particularly interesting to our readers or important in their respective fields of research. You are welcome to read the Editor's Choice Articles related to land–climate interactions, a curated list of high-quality articles published in Land (ISSN: 2073-445X) in 2022 and 2023. The full list of Editor's Choice Articles can be viewed at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/editors_choice.

The list of relevant papers can be seen below:

You are invited to view and submit relevant papers to the journal Land via the following link:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land.

Land Editorial Office

Editor's Choice Articles are selected based on suggestions from Land’s Academic Editors. The Editors select a small number of recently published articles that they consider particularly interesting to our readers or important in their respective fields of research. You are welcome to read the Editor's Choice Articles related to land systems and global change, a curated list of high-quality articles published in Land (ISSN: 2073-445X) from 2022 to 2023. The full list of Editor's Choice Articles can be viewed at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/editors_choice. The list of relevant papers can be seen below.

You are invited to view and submit relevant papers to the journal Land via the following link:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land.

Land Editorial Office

Editor's Choice Articles are selected based on suggestions from Land’s Academic Editors. The Editors select a small number of recently published articles that they consider particularly interesting to our readers or important in their respective fields of research. You are welcome to read the Editor's Choice Articles related to land planning and landscape architecture, a curated list of high-quality articles published in Land (ISSN: 2073-445X) from 2022 to 2023. The full list of Editor's Choice Articles can be viewed at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/editors_choice. The list of relevant papers can be seen below.

1. “Planning and Designing Natural and Urban Environments with an Adaptive Visualization Framework: The Case of Pazhou Island, Guangzhou, Pearl River Delta”
by Adam Tomkins and Eckart Lange
Land 2023, 12(2), 377; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12020377
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/2/377

2. “A Decision Support Tool for Green Infrastructure Planning in the Face of Rapid Urbanization”
by Peta Brom, Kristine Engemann, Christina Breed, Maya Pasgaard, Titilope Onaolapo and Jens-Christian Svenning
Land 2023, 12(2), 415; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12020415
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/2/415

3. “Periphery and Integrated Planning: Coping with Rural and Touristic Challenges across Scales in the German Wadden Sea Region”
by Nora Mehnen, Ingo Mose, Peter Schaal, Frans Sijtsma, José Muñoz-Rojas, Mariia Fedoriak and Per Angelstam
Land 2023, 12(4), 904; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12040904
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/4/904

4. “Territorial and Consumption-Based Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessments: Implications for Spatial Planning Policies”
by Kimmo Lylykangas, Rebecca Cachia, Damiano Cerrone, Kaie Kriiska, Ulrich Norbisrath, Peter R. Walke, Anssi Joutsiniemi and Jukka Heinonen
Land 2023, 12(6), 1144; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12061144
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/6/1144

5. “Beyond Biodiversity: Eliciting Diverse Values of Urban Green Spaces in Flanders”
by Thomas Bastiaensen, Ewaut Van Wambeke, Camelia El Bakkali, Jomme Desair, Charlotte Noël, Kaat Kenis, Lukas Vincke and Sander Jacobs
Land 2023, 12(6), 1186; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12061186
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/6/1186

6. “Sustainability Assessments of Peri-Urban Areas: An Evaluation Model for the Territorialization of the Sustainable Development Goals”
by Pasquale De Toro, Enrico Formato and Nicola Fierro
Land 2023, 12(7), 1415; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12071415
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/7/1415

7. “Does the Perceived Effectiveness of Voluntary Conservation Programs Affect Household Adoption of Sustainable Landscaping Practices?”
by Xumin Zhang and Hayk Khachatryan
Land 2023, 12(7), 1429; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12071429
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/7/1429

8. “High-Performance Landscapes: Re-Thinking Design and Management Choices to Enhance Ecological Benefits in Urban Environments”
by J. Amy Belaire, Heather Bass, Heather Venhaus, Keri Barfield, Tim Pannkuk, Katherine Lieberknecht and Shalene Jha
Land 2023, 12(9), 1689; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12091689
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1689

9. “Coexistence and Succession of Spontaneous and Planted Vegetation on Extensive Mediterranean Green Roofs: Impacts on Soil, Seed Banks, and Mesofauna”
by Christel Vidaller, Anaïs Jouet, Carmen Van Mechelen, Tania De Almeida, Jérôme Cortet, Lucie Rivière, Grégory Mahy, Martin Hermy and Thierry Dutoit
Land 2023, 12(9), 1726; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12091726
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1726

10. “Edible Garden Cities: Rethinking Boundaries and Integrating Hedges into Scalable Urban Food Systems”
by David Adams, Peter J. Larkham and Michael Hardman
Land 2023, 12(10), 1915; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12101915
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/10/1915

11. “The Welfare Landscape and Densification—Residents’ Relations to Local Outdoor Environments Affected by Infill Development”
by Märit Jansson and Julia Schneider
Land 2023, 12(11), 2021; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12112021
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/11/2021

12. “Unpacking the Dynamics of Urban Transformation in Heritage Places through ‘Critical System Dynamics’: The Case of Beresford Square, Woolwich”
by Kalliopi Fouseki, Lorika Hisari, Xinqiao Dong, Chiara Bonacchi, Elizabeth Robson, Elisa Broccoli, Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen, Michele Nucciotti and Sharon Shieh
Land 2023, 12(11), 2040; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12112040
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/11/2040

13. “The Road to India’s Renewable Energy Transition Must Pass through Crowded Lands”
by Joseph M. Kiesecker, Shivaprakash K. Nagaraju, James R. Oakleaf, Anthony Ortiz, Juan Lavista Ferres, Caleb Robinson, Srinivas Krishnaswamy, Raman Mehta, Rahul Dodhia, Jeffrey S. Evans et al.
Land 2023, 12(11), 2049; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12112049
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/11/2049

14. “The Renewal of the Finnish Planning Legislation as a Strategy of Urban Planning and Development”
by Liisa Horelli and Sirkku Wallin
Land 2023, 12(11), 2085; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12112085
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/11/2085

15. “The Urban Future: Relating Garden City Ideas to the Climate Emergency”
by Anastasia Nikologianni and Peter J. Larkham
Land 2022, 11(2), 147; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11020147
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/2/147

16. “Cellular Automata in Modeling and Predicting Urban Densification: Revisiting the Literature since 1971”
by Anasua Chakraborty, Sujit Sikder, Hichem Omrani and Jacques Teller
Land 2022, 11(7), 1113; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11071113
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/7/1113

You are invited to view and submit relevant papers to the journal Land via the following link:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land.

Land Editorial Office