Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.4
3.5
Journals
Land
Special Issues
Big Data in Urban Land Use Planning and Infrastructure Building
share announcement

Big Data in Urban Land Use Planning and Infrastructure Building

A Special Issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X) belonging to the section "Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 December 2026 | Viewed by 2791

Editors

Prof. Dr. Joaquin Osorio Arjona

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geography, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, 28008 Madrid, Spain
Interests: geolocated data; transportation; demography; socioeconomic characteristics of the population; infrastructure and land use at different spatial and temporal scales
Prof. Dr. Yang Xiao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Interests: landscape and urban planning; urban studies; built environment; spatial assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing availability of new Big Data sources has revolutionized the way urban and metropolitan infrastructure is planned, designed, and managed. This Special Issue explores how Big Data, in its multiple forms (sensor data, social media, mobile phones, transport cards, bank cards, satellite images, open data, etc.), is transforming urban decision-making processes, fostering more efficient and resilient land planning focused on the real needs of the population. The crucial role of urban land planning is highlighted as an integrative framework for guiding the development of sustainable and equitable infrastructure adapted to contemporary challenges such as climate change, territorial inequality, and the energy crisis.

The articles included examine empirical cases and methodological developments in fields such as land-use optimization, spatial suitability analysis, smart transportation, energy management, tactical urbanism, green infrastructure, and territorial planning, highlighting the value of Big Data for modeling complex urban and metropolitan phenomena and anticipating future needs. In this context, aspects such as the relationship between commuter towns and the location of workplaces in a metropolitan area, or the relevance of models such as the 15-Minute City, which promote functional proximity and service decentralization, are analyzed as key strategies for urban sustainability. Attention is also paid to the integration of tools such as geographic information systems (GIS), digital twins, and machine learning algorithms for predictive land-use planning. This Special Issue seeks to foster a critical and transdisciplinary perspective, bringing together contributions from engineering, social sciences, urban geography, and computer science. Together, the papers presented demonstrate the potential of Big Data to redefine the way we conceive and develop more inclusive, smart, and livable cities.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to give insights into the use of new geolocated Big Data sources for urban land planning and the development of urban infrastructures.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

  • Urban land planning.
  • Urban or metropolitan infrastructure planning based on Big Data analytics.
  • Smart mobility and transportation systems.
  • Digital tools for sustainable and inclusive urban development.
  • Urban resilience and climate-adaptive infrastructure.
  • Geospatial technologies and real-time urban monitoring.
  • Proximity-based planning for accessibility to basic services.
  • Ethical, legal, and governance challenges in data-driven urbanism.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Prof. Dr. Joaquin Osorio Arjona
Prof. Dr. Yang Xiao
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-anonymized 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

  • urban land use
  • geolocated big data
  • urban infrastructures
  • smart cities
  • spatial planning
  • metropolization
  • sustainability planning models

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.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

23 pages, 3635 KB  
Article
Beyond Proximity: An LBS-Based Diagnosis of Planned–Used Life-Circle Mismatch in Lanzhou, China
by Tianhao Chen, Yixi Li, Yutao Wei, Pingping Li, Zetai Li and Yang Xiao
Land 2026, 15(8), 1341; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15081341 - 25 Jul 2026
Viewed by 404
Abstract
Proximity-based planning provides a normative framework for organising everyday services, but local accessibility does not necessarily correspond to the spatial extent of observed destination use. Building on the distinction between normative proximity and grid-level aggregated revealed activity space, this study develops an LBS-based [...] Read more.
Proximity-based planning provides a normative framework for organising everyday services, but local accessibility does not necessarily correspond to the spatial extent of observed destination use. Building on the distinction between normative proximity and grid-level aggregated revealed activity space, this study develops an LBS-based diagnostic framework for planned–used life-circle mismatch. Anonymised non-home, non-work home-grid–destination-grid links observed at least four times in aggregate during the month were analysed for 995 residential grids of 500 m × 500 m in Lanzhou, China. The framework evaluates five dimensions: boundary coverage, activity-space scale, centroid displacement, directional morphology, and destination environments, and translates them into four planning-diagnostic types. The results reveal widespread divergence between planned proximity and revealed use. On average, 82.0% of aggregated recurrent visit weight lies outside the corresponding 15 min walking boundary, while the median distance between residential and activity centroids is approximately 4.18 km. The outside-dominant pattern remains evident when the analysis is restricted to destinations located in selected basic-service-dominant POI environments. Greater local POI supply is generally associated with lower outside-boundary reliance, whereas bridge distance is more clearly associated with centroid displacement than with outside-boundary share. The explanatory models have modest fit and identify grid-level associations rather than causal behavioural mechanisms. These findings support treating the 15 min boundary as a normative benchmark for local service provision rather than a presumed container of residents’ daily activities. Planning evaluation should therefore combine accessibility standards with behavioural evidence and differentiated diagnosis. The LBS data do not identify trip purpose, travel mode, socioeconomic characteristics, service quality, or individual necessity, and the results should be interpreted as grid-level diagnostic associations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Big Data in Urban Land Use Planning and Infrastructure Building)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 23982 KB  
Article
Evaluation and Formation Mechanism Analysis of Urban Waterfront Space Value: A Case Study of Shanghai, China
by Shoushuai Du, Shiqi Zhang, Dizi Liu and Li Jiang
Land 2026, 15(7), 1277; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15071277 - 16 Jul 2026
Viewed by 400
Abstract
Waterfront space is an important spatial carrier that reflects the quality of the human settlement environment. In the stage of stock-based urban renewal, value evaluation is the primary task for achieving the “precise optimization” of waterfront spaces. Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, [...] Read more.
Waterfront space is an important spatial carrier that reflects the quality of the human settlement environment. In the stage of stock-based urban renewal, value evaluation is the primary task for achieving the “precise optimization” of waterfront spaces. Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, this study constructs a waterfront space value evaluation system covering basic support value, livability value, and well-being value. Taking the Suzhou Creek waterfront space in Shanghai as a case study, this research integrates data such as street-view images and Weibo check-in records, and applies deep learning, natural language processing, and other techniques to evaluate waterfront space value. Correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and spatial autocorrelation analysis are used to explore the factors associated with waterfront space value. The results show that waterfront space value presents significant spatial differences, with the eastern area near the Huangpu River showing a markedly higher value than the western area. Spatial value is associated with street environment, facility services, spatial morphology, functional experience, and spatial attractiveness. In addition, the results of spatial autocorrelation analysis indicate that optimizing functional experience and facility services in the eastern core area is of great importance, while improving online popularity and attractiveness in the western area is also important for promoting coordinated development between the eastern and western areas. The findings provide a reference for future waterfront space evaluation and offer scientific support for urban renewal and policy-making. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Big Data in Urban Land Use Planning and Infrastructure Building)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 14231 KB  
Article
The Spatiotemporal Correlation and Nonlinear Response Mechanism Between New Energy Vehicle Charging Facilities and Urban Spatial Vitality: Based on the ISTNR Model
by Jiazheng Zhang, Yinan Chen, Zhengliang Wu and Junlin Huang
Land 2026, 15(6), 994; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15060994 - 5 Jun 2026
Viewed by 425
Abstract
New energy vehicle (NEV) charging facilities are not only a key support for new transportation infrastructure, but also an important catalyst for reshaping urban spatial functions and vitality. Exploring the nonlinear correlation between their spatial layout and urban vitality is of great significance [...] Read more.
New energy vehicle (NEV) charging facilities are not only a key support for new transportation infrastructure, but also an important catalyst for reshaping urban spatial functions and vitality. Exploring the nonlinear correlation between their spatial layout and urban vitality is of great significance for optimizing urban spatial structure. This paper takes 2853 districts and counties across the country from 2013 to 2022 as the research object, constructs a multidimensional urban spatial vitality measurement system, analyzes the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the two using a coupling coordination degree model, and introduces an integrated spatiotemporal nonlinear regression (ISTNR) model to identify the driving mechanism and interactive effects of spatial vitality factors on charging pile distribution. The results show that: (1) the spatial distribution of charging piles and urban spatial vitality in China exhibit significant “high–high” agglomeration and spatiotemporal coordination characteristics; (2) the coupling coordination degree between the two shows a stable trend, but there is significant regional imbalance, with higher coordination levels in eastern coastal urban agglomerations; (3) the ISTNR model is superior to traditional GTWR and random forest models in dealing with spatiotemporal heterogeneity and nonlinear relationships, and can more accurately depict complex geological processes; (4) urban spatial vitality has a significant nonlinear driving mechanism on charging pile distribution, with factors such as the density of catering, commercial, and medical facilities being the most closely related to charging pile distribution, and there is a clear interactive effect, which has a significant impact on the marginal driving effect of charging pile layout. The research results provide a theoretical basis for the precise planning and spatial quality improvement of urban charging infrastructure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Big Data in Urban Land Use Planning and Infrastructure Building)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

33 pages, 8758 KB  
Article
Unveiling the Spatial Non-Stationarity Between Built Environment and External Relations in Small Towns Using MGWR and Mobile Phone Data: Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta
by Yang Li, Yao Wang, Min Han, Yuli Xia and Yan Ma
Land 2026, 15(4), 659; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15040659 - 16 Apr 2026
Viewed by 787
Abstract
The external relations of small towns are an important dimension in the regional urban system. However, the “metropolitan bias” in existing studies results in a lack of empirical verification of their characteristics, hindering effective regional policymaking. Applying Central Flow Theory (CFT), mobile phone [...] Read more.
The external relations of small towns are an important dimension in the regional urban system. However, the “metropolitan bias” in existing studies results in a lack of empirical verification of their characteristics, hindering effective regional policymaking. Applying Central Flow Theory (CFT), mobile phone data, and a multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model, this study investigates the spatially non-stationary associations between built environment factors and the “city-ness” and “town-ness” of small towns in the Yangtze River Delta. The results show: (1) Enterprise density in metropolitan shadow areas is positively associated with cross-city jobs–housing separation; in peripheral areas, both enterprise density and housing prices exhibit a strong correlation with intra-municipal jobs–housing separation. (2) Middle schools consistently correlate with localized intra-municipal flows, suggesting a plausible spatial anchoring role; around metropolises, medical and commercial facilities link to recreational flows and commuting town-ness, while in distal small towns, medical facilities coincide with intratown jobs–housing balance, and commercial facilities correlate with localized consumption and cross-town employment mobility. (3) Higher road network density corresponds to a shrinking commuting radius near metropolises and intra-municipal intertown interconnection in distal towns, rather than mere external relation channels. This study empirically supports CFT at the small-town scale, explores plausible mechanisms, and informs differentiated planning strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Big Data in Urban Land Use Planning and Infrastructure Building)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop