Land Use and Food Security in China's Urbanizing Regions: Problems and Possibilities

Dear Colleagues,

Land use and food security in China's urbanizing regions is a critical and multifaceted topic that involves a complex interplay between urban development, agricultural practices, and the availability of arable land. In the past several decades, China has experienced rapid urbanization that led to urban land expansion and the continuous migration of the rural population to urban areas. This transformation affects the amount of cultivable land resources, agricultural productivity, and access to nutritious food. To guarantee food self-sufficiency with limited farmland resources, the land use pattern has shifted from extensive to intensive agriculture. Although this change has a significant impact on the national grain output, it also poses serious challenges to the environment. Against this background, it becomes essential to identify challenges and explore opportunities for land use and food security to adapt to rapid urbanization.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to increase the scientific understanding of the current status of land use and food security in the urbanizing regions of China. Since the challenges of land use and food security are complex, addressing these challenges often requires a comprehensive and integrated approach that considers environmental, social, and economic factors. This Special Issue seeks to pave the way for innovative solutions that promote land use and food security in the face of urbanization. Therefore, this Special Issue will welcome new insights on strategic planning, innovative agricultural practices, and effective policies to balance the demand for land use and secure food supply.

Submissions are encouraged on, but are not limited to, the following sub-themes

• Population and land bearing capacity;
• Environmental impacts and ecological restoration;
• Regional coordination and collaboration for land use and food security;
• Human caloric balance from the perspectives of land use and food security.

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

Prof. Dr. Haijun Bao
Dr. Helen Zheng
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.

• land use change
• land protection
• food security
• food production
• spatial planning and design
• urban management
• environmental governance