Spatial Governance Strategies for Enhancing Agricultural Livelihoods at Rural-Urban Transition
A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Socio-Economic and Political Issues".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 69
Special Issue Editors
Interests: sustainable development; poverty analysis; land use; resource economics; economic policy analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: sustainable development; land use management
Interests: land use change; econometric modeling; resources management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: food security; land use change; empowerment; survey research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
With the acceleration of global urbanization and the deep integration of digital technologies, agricultural livelihoods in rural–urban transition zones are undergoing profound reconstruction. Utilizing land spatial governance and resource efficiency optimization as core drivers is no longer a long-term goal, but a tangible reality reshaping agricultural livelihood strategies and practices, thereby transforming traditional land-use patterns and rural development paradigms. The central challenge lies in the alignment between land spatial governance, resource efficiency strategies, and the authentic needs of farmers, particularly throughout the entire process of policy design and implementation. It is imperative for planners, administrators, technicians, and policymakers to incorporate farmers’ inputs, such as production habits, risk preferences, life experiences, and livelihood goals, into the planning process. This would enable the development of more practical guidelines, supportive measures, and development models when formulating land spatial plans and resource allocation policies. In this context, applying a “farmer-centered” approach to land spatial governance and resource efficiency enhancement, which integrates indigenous knowledge and farmer preferences, offers a new path for exploring diversified livelihood support strategies. This governance paradigm can understand and learn from farmers’ interests, demands, risk perceptions, and adaptive behaviors, which is crucial for effectively supporting agricultural livelihoods, achieving rural sustainable development, and upholding humanistic considerations during the rural–urban transition.
This Special Issue will collect papers (original research articles and review papers) that provide insights about the direct and indirect impacts of spatial governance strategies on agricultural livelihoods and sustainable development at the rural–urban transition.
This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:
- Agricultural livelihoods and rural–urban transition;
- The spatiotemporal patterns of agricultural livelihoods;
- The impacts of spatial governance strategies on agricultural livelihoods;
- Farmer heterogeneity and differentiated governance strategies.
We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.
Prof. Dr. Gui Jin
Dr. Baishu Guo
Dr. Zhihui Li
Prof. Dr. Shaikh Shamim Hasan
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- rural–urban transition
- agricultural livelihoods
- spatial governance
- resource efficiency
- land-use planning
- farmer preferences
- sustainable development
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
