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Advancing Sustainability through Land-Related Approaches: Theoretical Foundations and Empirical Investigations

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A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Systems and Global Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 August 2024 | Viewed by 3292

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Bing-Bing Zhou

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Guest Editor

School of International Affairs and Public Administration, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
Interests: sustainability science; land system science; environmental governance; collective action; coupled rural-urban system; island and coastal areas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Taiyang Zhong

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Guest Editor

School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Interests: land-use policy; food security; sustainable development

Dr. Yujia Zhang

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Guest Editor

Environmental Studies Program, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH 44074, USA
Interests: land system science; human-environment systems; geospatial data science; urban sustainability

Dr. Ligang Lv

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Guest Editor

School of Public Administration, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210023, China
Interests: land use/cover change; land use policy; farmland transition; landscape multi-functionality; spatial planning; sustainable development

Dr. Yuzhu Zang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Public Administration, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: land use planning; rural sustainability; urban-rural dynamics; spatial governance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Land plays a crucial role in shaping sustainable development and addressing pressing global challenges. During the past three decades or so, a wide range of land-related disciplines and research areas such as land system science, landscape ecology, soil science, natural resource management, rural geography, and public policy have variously studied land-related sustainability issues. To help reveal how land can contribute to sustainability, we propose a Special Issue in Land that hopes to demonstrate the full spectrum of land-related approaches in advancing sustainability as well as furthering inter- and trans-disciplinary synergies.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for scholars to share their insights, findings, and methodologies related to land-based sustainability initiatives at local, regional, and global scales. We invite submissions that explicitly link land to sustainability through either empirical research or conceptual/theoretical works. They may examine any key issues, including but not limited to:

Land-use change and its environmental and socio-economic implications;
Spatial analysis and modeling for land-based sustainability assessment;
Land tenure systems and their impact on sustainability;
Sustainable land governance and policy frameworks;
Land-use planning and management for sustainability;
Geo-design and land system architecture for sustainability;
Land degradation and restoration strategies;
Urban spatial governance and sustainable cities;
Indigenous land rights and sustainable practices;
Land-based climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.

We welcome original research articles and reviews that provide empirical insights, theoretical frameworks, and methodological advancements. Comparative analyses and transdisciplinary studies are particularly encouraged to foster a comprehensive understanding of land-related sustainability approaches. Disciplinary, regional, and scalar diversities in contributions are desired.

Proposed titles and abstracts (200–300 words) can be submitted by 30 April 2024 to the guest editors, at [email protected], for possible feedback, if prospective authors want some suggestions before preparing their manuscripts. We look forward to receiving your contributions!

Dr. Bing-Bing Zhou
Prof. Dr. Taiyang Zhong
Dr. Yujia Zhang
Dr. Ligang Lv
Dr. Yuzhu Zang
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

land system science
sustainability science
landscape ecology
land system architecture
land management
land consolidation
spatial governance
landscape planning
geodesign
transdisciplinarity
actionable knowledge

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2360 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Review of Urbanization-Associated Farmland Research in China: A Sustainability Perspective

by Qiqi Yang, Lijie Pu and Sihua Huang

Land 2024, 13(4), 534; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13040534 - 17 Apr 2024

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Abstract

Farmland loss in drastically urbanizing landscapes has long been a research concern for resource management, landscape planning, and spatial governance, especially in the context of China. In recent years, the issue of urbanization-associated farmland loss (UAFL) seems to be increasingly recognized as relevant to sustainability. To date, however, existing studies have not yet comprehensively addressed the research gap between UAFL and sustainability. Here, we aim to help fill this knowledge gap by considering UAFL research as an example of the broader land/landscape-related literature, in a hope of informing future studies to better advance sustainability through land-related approaches. Specifically, we combined bibliometric analyses with code-based content analysis to reveal the knowledge base, thematic evolution, and historiographic paths of the literature on UAFL across China and the empirical case studies’ relevance to sustainability. Our main findings include: (1) the examined literature barely draws insights from sustainability science and sustainability only started to arise as a notable topic at around 2016; (2) over half of the empirical studies show awareness in advancing sustainability and interest in understanding the social-environmental drivers and processes underlying landscape dynamics, yet few demonstrate methodological transdisciplinarity; (3) those sustainability-relevant studies either frame UAFL as depletion of the farmland resource that may threat China’s food security and consequently hinder sustainable urbanization or frame UAFL as part of widespread landscape dynamics that affect the environmental outcome(s) or social–environmental tradeoffs of landscape multi-functions; and (4) existing empirical studies are disproportionately focused on 1991–2006, national, regional, and city scales, and some of China’s most developed areas. Our findings provide an overview of this specific research avenue on UAFL and, more importantly, point to the imperative for land/landscape scholars to break out of their disciplinary silos, especially in the natural sciences, to generate more actionable sustainability insights. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Sustainability through Land-Related Approaches: Theoretical Foundations and Empirical Investigations)

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17 pages, 6314 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing the Accessibility and Equity of Urban Green Spaces from Supply and Demand Perspectives: A Case Study of a Mountainous City in China

by Yawen Jin, Rongxiao He, Jingke Hong, Dan Luo and Guoling Xiong

Land 2023, 12(9), 1793; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12091793 - 15 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1696

Abstract

Urban green space accessibility is an essential consideration in determining environmental liveability and the well-being of individuals, and the spatial inequity of urban green space supply and demand has become a research focus. However, few studies have conducted a multidimensional and comprehensive assessment of the influences on accessibility from the different perspectives of supply and demand. To address this, our study centred on the mountainous Chongqing region and established a comprehensive research framework examining the spatial pattern of accessibility of urban green spaces and its correlation with physical geographical elements and socioeconomic factors. We reveal the spatial distribution characteristics of urban green space accessibility by using Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area and network analysis methods and further observe the spatial clustering features utilising hotspot analysis. The ordinary least squares (OLS) model and the spatial lag model were used to evaluate the physical geographical and socioeconomic disparities. Our findings reveal explicit blind spots in urban green space accessibility, primarily within the 30 min travel threshold in the city’s marginal area. A discernible supply–demand imbalance existed in the urban core, constituted by implicit blind spots. Furthermore, we identified that the relationship between urban green space accessibility and elevation under different methods is not always consistently significant over space because spatial heterogeneity may exist. Most concerningly, the study found inequities in urban green space accessibility, particularly impacting vulnerable demographics such as the elderly and lower-income groups. These results can inform urban planners and policymakers about the blind spots of urban green space accessibility and sufficiently consider the physical and socioeconomic heterogeneity of the space to determine where and how to implement inclusive urban greening policies or planning schemes. It is also of great significance in increasing awareness of vulnerable groups and preventing environmental inequality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Sustainability through Land-Related Approaches: Theoretical Foundations and Empirical Investigations)

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