Regional Solutions to Urban-Rural Coordinated Development in the Megacity Regions II

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the Special Issue of Land on “Regional Solutions to Urban-Rural Coordinated Development in the Megacity Regions II”. 

We are pleased to invite researchers from different disciplines, such as urban planning, human geography, social sciences, economics, environmental sciences, and other related disciplines, to submit papers to this Special Issue on “Regional Solutions to Urban-Rural Coordinated Development in the Megacity Regions”. Multidisciplinary research that addresses multiple social-environmental–economical facets, with regard to transitional urban-rural development from regional perspectives, is particularly welcome. This Special Issue will shed light on the development of megacity regions across countries as a spatial form of urban-rural integrated development, which plays a crucial role in regional economic development.

The U.N. Habitat has acknowledged that strengthening urban-rural linkages is vital for achieving sustainable urbanization in human settlements of all sizes. This has been reaffirmed by recent inter-governmental debates, with the strengthening of urban-rural linkages included both as a sustainable development target and a vital issue in regional development. A megacity region comprises a cluster of highly networked urban settlements anchored by large cities (Yeh and Chen, 2019). Substantial studies were conducted as early as the 1920s and included terms such as megalopolis, metropolitan area (region), urban agglomeration, metropolitan coordinating region, city group, and city cluster (Fang and Yu, 2017). The complex and dynamic nature of urban-rural interactions tests the capacity of existing governance structures to address pressing regional challenges (Dabson, 2019).

Policymakers are increasingly paying attention to how urbanization will transform regions. However, less attention is currently being paid to the complex rural-to-urban and urban-to-rural interactions within megacity areas. The urban-rural linkages are among the most critical dimensions through which urban and regional systems are reconstructed and integrated. A truly integrated approach to urban-rural coordination development must go beyond intra-city policy coordination and traditional rural issues. However, with growing concerns regarding urban-rural dissonance and divides, regional governance, collaboration, and policies to address urban-rural disparities are less considered. Therefore, policies and planning are required in response to these challenges and the emerging megacity regions in the new wave of urban-rural transition and integration.

Against this background, this Special Issue aims to analyze regional planning practices for towns/cities and rural areas to successfully develop urban-rural integration and promote multilevel and regional governance. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The historical evolution of issues and challenges of megacity regional development;
• The diverse influences of urban agglomeration and metropolitan coordinated regions;
• The analysis and evaluation of urban-rural development within megacity regions;
• Regional solutions seeking to alleviate urban-rural challenges;
• The spatial consequences of regional planning for urban-rural integrated development;
• Strategies to address rural revitalization challenges in metropolitan areas;
• Cohesion policies to strengthen urban-rural linkages through megacity regions;
• Approaches to strengthening cross-functional regional systems toward an urban-rural balance through regional policymaking.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Wei Lang
Dr. Tingting Chen
Prof. Dr. Eddie C.M. Hui
Prof. Dr. Xun Li
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.