Special Issues

Land publishes Special Issues to create collections of papers on specific topics, with the aim of building a community of authors and readers to discuss the latest research and develop new ideas and research directions. Special Issues are led by Guest Editors, who are experts on the topic and all Special Issue submissions follow MDPI's standard editorial process. The journal’s Editor-in-Chief and/or designated Editorial Board Member will oversee Guest Editor appointments and Special Issue proposals, checking their content for relevance and ensuring the suitability of the material for the journal. The papers published in a Special Issue will be collected and displayed on a dedicated page of the journal’s website. Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies and Guest Editor responsibilities can be found here. For any inquiries related to a Special Issue, please contact the Editorial Office.

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Valuing Non-Market Benefits of Nature Conservation and Restoration
edited by Giovanni Signorello, and
submission deadline 31 Oct 2025 | Viewed by 33 | Submission Open
Keywords: nature conservation; nature recovery; economic valuation; sustainable land management; non-market benefits
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Use, Impact Assessment and Sustainability)
Sustainable Evaluation Methodology of Urban and Regional Planning—2nd Edition
edited by Yilun Liu, and
submission deadline 31 Oct 2025 | Viewed by 29 | Submission Open
Keywords: sustainable evaluation; urban and regional planning; geospatial big data; GeoAI; land use optimization; land use evaluation
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Planning and Landscape Architecture)
Historic Urban Landscape and Planning submission deadline 31 Oct 2025 | Viewed by 28 | Submission Open
Keywords: historical landscape modeling; digital heritage mapping; procedural and 3D reconstruction; GISs and historical GISs (HGISs); urban transformation and planning; at-risk cultural landscapes; historical maps and archival sources
(This special issue belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
Forest Ecosystems Under Climate Pressure: Protection, Fire Management and Socio-Economic Dimensions
edited by , , Stavros Sakellariou and
submission deadline 31 Oct 2025 | Viewed by 26 | Submission Open
Keywords: forest ecosystem resilience; forest conservation; reforestation and afforestation; ecological restoration; sustainable forest management; biodiversity conservation; wildfire regimes; fire ecology; fire risk assessment; fire suppression strategies; climate-driven wildfires; forest-dependent communities; indigenous knowledge; socio-economic impacts; sustainable livelihoods; forest policy and governance; forest law and governance; climate adaptation policies; stakeholder engagement; community-based conservation; forest finance and incentives
(This special issue belongs to the Section Landscape Ecology)
GeoAI and Remote Sensing for Ecological Security and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands
edited by , Jinjie Wang, , Yang Liu and
submission deadline 11 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 146 | Submission Open
Keywords: GeoAI; remote sensing; machine learning; arid environments; ecological security; sustainable development; environmental monitoring; land degradation; climate adaptation; GIS; water resource management
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Innovations – Data and Machine Learning)
Vulnerability and Resilience of Urban Planning and Design
edited by , , and João Coutinho-Rodrigues
submission deadline 15 Nov 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 830 | Submission Open
Keywords: urban resiliency; climate adaptation; governance; mobility; smart cities; geographical information systems; sustainable development; green infrastructure; socioeconomic resilient; form and function
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Planning and Landscape Architecture)
GeoAI Application in Urban Land Use and Urban Climate submission deadline 15 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 295 | Submission Open
Keywords: GeoAI; urban land use; urban climate; remote sensing; machine learning; urban sustainability; smart cities; climate resilience
(This special issue belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
Quantifying Soil Erosion Processes Using Satellite Data: Progress and Perspectives
edited by Arjun Heimsath
submission deadline 20 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 350 | Submission Open
Keywords: soil erosion; land degradation; land use change; remote sensing; satellite data; human impacts
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land, Soil and Water)
Contribution of Trail Paths to the Protection and Promotion of the Natural Environment submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | 5 articles | Viewed by 14864 | Submission Open
Keywords: land use planning; trail path; natural environment protection; urban and rural areas; cultural heritage; wildlife ecosystem
(This special issue belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
Effects of Land Use on the Ecohydrology of River Basin in Accordance with Climate Change II submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 9302 | Submission Open
Keywords: biodiversity conservation; spatial modeling; climate policy; land management; soil and water conservation; ecosystem services; nature-based solutions (NBS); ecohydrology; urban resilience; sponge city concepts
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land–Climate Interactions)
Smart City and Architectural Design, Second Edition submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1282 | Submission Open
Keywords: urban and spatial planning policies; sustainable and smart planning; urban life quality; urban environment; digital transition; smart cities
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Planning and Landscape Architecture)
Promoting Anti-Racism in Land System Science and Social Ecological Systems
edited by
submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 755 | Submission Open
Keywords: anti-racism; land system; social ecological system; land use management; landscape planning; community engagement; community planning; community development
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Socio-Economic and Political Issues)
Frameworks to Evaluate Urbanization Sustainability in a Changing Climate submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 295 | Submission Open
Keywords: urbanization; climate change; sustainable development framework; urban and rural sustainable development; land use/land cover changes; urban expansion; urban climate; food security; environmental pollution; landscape ecology
(This special issue belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
Rural Land Use, Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 114 | Submission Open
Keywords: sustainable agriculture; food security issues; land resources; land use ” smart” use; "branding" for rural land/agriculture/food products
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Socio-Economic and Political Issues)
Urban Resilience and Heritage Management (Second Edition) submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 90 | Submission Open
Keywords: cities recovery; cultural property potentials; good practices; heritage stakeholders and actors; heritage values and indicators; information technologies and systems; resilient cities and territories; sustainable development goals; urban planning and politics; withstanding risks and vulnerability
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Planning and Landscape Architecture)
Interactions and Transformations in Urban–Rural Land Use Systems and Their Nexus with Ecosystems
edited by , Yeting Fan and
submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 88 | Submission Open
Keywords: urban-rural land use systems; ecosystem services; land use transitions; land cover change; sustainable land management; peri-urban expansion; socioecological feedback
(This special issue belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
Climate Adaptation, Urban Regeneration, and Regreening Processes: Challenges and Opportunities for Contemporary Cities
edited by Alessandro Deserti, , and Fabian Dembski
submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 67 | Submission Open
Keywords: nature-based solutions; urban planning and governance innovation; digital platforms for decision-making; digital twin and urban simulations; climate resilience; land use planning; systemic innovation
(This special issue belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
Landscape Governance in the Age of Social Media, 3rd Edition submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 46 | Submission Open
Keywords: user-generated content (UGC); social media; cultural landscapes; landscape governance; participatory processes
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Planning and Landscape Architecture)
Urban Ecological Indicators: Land Use and Coverage
edited by and
submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 33 | Submission Open
Keywords: urban ecological indicators; land use and land cover change; green and blue infrastructure and ecological networks; environmental justice and equity; walkability and public space accessibility
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Planning and Landscape Architecture)
Feature Papers for Land Planning and Landscape Architecture Section, Second Edition submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 13 | Submission Open
Keywords: participative design; planning and management; climate resilience; energy transition; biophilic design; nature-based solutions; regenerative design; circular solutions for sustainable tourism; environmental footprint; virtual reality to facilitate collaboration
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Planning and Landscape Architecture)
Islandscapes: From Biodiversity Conservation to Ecosystem Services Provision submission deadline 3 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 190 | Submission Open
Keywords: small– medium islands; ecosystem services; natural capital; nature conservation; management; nature-based solutions; policy and governance
(This special issue belongs to the Section Landscape Ecology)
Coupled Man-Land Relationship for Regional Sustainability submission deadline 5 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 309 | Submission Open
Keywords: land resources; human– land relationships; sustainability; land planning and management; climate change; anthropogenic activities and their effects; ecological protection; economic development; remote sensing; carbon neutrality
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Use, Impact Assessment and Sustainability)
Advancing Sustainable Urban Development Through Spatial Analysis: Leveraging Digital Technologies and Geographic Data for Smart, Inclusive, and Resilient Cities submission deadline 19 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 71 | Submission Open
Keywords: urban spatial analysis; geographic information systems (GISs); remote sensing; real estate valuation; smart cities; big data and AI in urban planning; sustainable urban development; mobility and infrastructure planning; environmental justice and equity; urban sustainability and SDGs
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Innovations – Data and Machine Learning)
Overtourism and the Disappearance of Sustainable Land Use and Local Knowledge Systems: A New Form of Colonialism?
edited by
submission deadline 29 Dec 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 2376 | Submission Open
Keywords: overtourism; local food chains; ethnoecology; ecological history; sustainable land use; food sustainability; ethnobiology; small-scale farming; tourism industry; colonialism; touristic services
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Socio-Economic and Political Issues)
Driving Future to Shape Sustainable Agricultural System: Urban-Rural Land Management and Environment Protection submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 17416 | Submission Open
Keywords: precision agriculture; agriculture and big data; climate change; agricultural drought; agriculture and conflict; soil; greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector; soil-water relations; land degradation (erosion; salinization; ); crop production (maize; wheat; etc.); land suitability assessment; land use changes; remote sensing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
Innovative Strategies for Sustainable Smart Cities and Territories
edited by , Mária Srebalová and
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 10434 | Submission Open
Keywords: multi-scale planning and design; land planning methods; including participatory planning; ecosystem-based planning; collaborative planning; integrated planning; strategic planning; sustainable planning; smart planning; territorial ecological planning; etc.; planning theory and planning policy related to land; digital landscape architecture; urban and regional development related to land; land use and land use change; and disaster risk assessment/management/reduction; climate resilience; nature-based solutions; green/blue/gray/brown infrastructure; landscape protection/management/restoration; smart cities; ecosystem services; human health and well-being; biodiversity education; GIS; remote sensing; drones; sensors; big data; AI; VR; BIM; IoT; and other advanced technologies; social/spatial/environmental/distributional/procedural justice; transport heritage; real estate; energy transition
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Planning and Landscape Architecture)
Big Data in Urban Land Use Planning submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 5 articles | Viewed by 10226 | Submission Open
Keywords: artificial intelligence (AI); big data; technology; urban land; land use planning; data fusion
(This special issue belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
Assessment of Spatial and Temporal Landscape Patterns under Land Use Change
edited by
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 6 articles | Viewed by 8839 | Submission Open
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Use, Impact Assessment and Sustainability)
Celebrating World Soil Day
edited by and Arwyn Jones
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 952 | Submission Open
Keywords: soil health; soil protection; soil communication; soil awareness; citizen engagement
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land, Soil and Water)
Novel Methods and Trending Topics in Landscape Archaeology
edited by
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 383 | Submission Open
Keywords: remote sensing; LiDAR; artificial intelligence; machine learning; GeoAI; climate change-driven transformations; data mining; big data analytics; geospatial and geophysical surveying
(This special issue belongs to the Section Landscape Archaeology)
Selected Papers from the 2nd International Electronic Conference on Land (IECL2025)
edited by
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 276 | Submission Open
Redefining Urban Landscapes: Land Use and Regional Development in the Era of Urbanization submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 164 | Submission Open
Keywords: urbanization; land use change; metropolitan and megalopolis; spatial structure and planning; urban governance and policy; sustainable development
(This special issue belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
Digital Soil Mapping and Precision Agriculture
edited by and
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 143 | Submission Open
Keywords: digital soil mapping; precision agriculture; geospatial technologies; machine learning; soil health; sustainable land management; remote sensing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land, Soil and Water)
The Dynamics of Urbanization: Challenges and Solutions in Land Development and Regional Planning
edited by , and
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 83 | Submission Open
Keywords: urbanization; migration; urban and rural land change; land-use challenges; regional planning and governance; mechanisms
(This special issue belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
Land Modifications and Impacts on Coastal Areas, Second Edition submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 82 | Submission Open
Keywords: coastal evolution; land use changes; coastal management; coastal natural processes; climate change impacts; human pressure and impacts; coastal contamination
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Systems and Global Change)
Climate and Carbon Cycle Impact Assessment of Land Policies, Prospects and Challenges
edited by , Xin Li and
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 66 | Submission Open
Keywords: land use policy; carbon reduction; climate change; carbon and climate simulation; agricultural land; urban land use; land management
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Use, Impact Assessment and Sustainability)
Use of Halophyte Plants as a Cropping Strategy for Salt-Affected Soils: Agro-Environmental Approaches submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 56 | Submission Open
Keywords: biosaline agriculture  ; salt stress  ; halophytes  ; fitoremediation of salt-affected soils  ; agro-environmental sustainability  ; soil  × water  × crop management
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land, Soil and Water)
Water, Energy, Land, and Food (WELF) Nexus: An Ecosystems Perspective submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 53 | Submission Open
Keywords: sustainable resource management; climate change adaptation; land-use planning; water– energy– food interactions; biodiversity conservation; renewable energy and sustainability; integrated policy and governance; synergies and tradeoffs
(This special issue belongs to the Section Water, Energy, Land and Food (WELF) Nexus)
Spatial Data Analysis and Geographic Information Systems for Urban Land Use
edited by and
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 40 | Submission Open
Keywords: urban land use; spatial data analysis; geographic information systems (GISs); remote sensing imagery; machine learning; large language models (LLMs); big data; data-driven; urban planning; sustainable cities
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Innovations – Data and Machine Learning)
The Land–Energy–Water–Climate Nexus and Sustainable Development Challenges
edited by , and
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 24 | Submission Open
Keywords: sustainable development challenges; spatiotemporal evolutionary; resilient development; climate change; land development; energy change; water utilization; technological innovation; ecological economics
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land–Climate Interactions)
Resilient Land Use and Sustainable Regional Development: Insights from SD2025 submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 20 | Submission Open
Keywords: sustainable land use; territorial governance; regional development; cross-border cooperation; ecosystem services; climate change adaptation; circular economy; smart cities and regions; environmental management; sustainable tourism 
Sustainable and AI-Driven Approaches to Managing the Soil-Water Complex in Agriculture submission deadline 8 Jan 2026 | Viewed by 289 | Submission Open
Keywords: agricultural hydraulics; irrigation planning; water saving; soil pollution and remediation; efficient land uses; soil degradation; drift analysis; machine learning; artificial intelligence; smart sensors
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land, Soil and Water)
Smart Urban Planning: Digital Technologies for Spatial Design
edited by , Si Chen and
submission deadline 3 Feb 2026 | Viewed by 80 | Submission Open
Keywords: smart city and smart landscape; evidence-based design; AI-driven planning; planning support system; climate change and urbanization; decision-making; urban and environmental analysis
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Planning and Landscape Architecture)
Land Use/Land Cover Mapping Changes Using Earth Observations Techniques
edited by , , Bertrand Ygorra and
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 787 | Submission Open
Keywords: land use; land cover; land use and land cover dynamics; passive and active remote sensing; artificial intelligence; spatio-temporal dynamics
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land – Observation and Monitoring)
Geomatics and Sustainability: Examples and Application in Urban and Landscape Management (Second Edition)
edited by , and Emiliana Valentini
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | Viewed by 425 | Submission Open
Keywords: geomatics; GIS and remote sensing application; land and landscape management; natural resources management (soil; water; sediment); urban development; critical infrastructures; land– climate interaction; coastal erosion; landslides; natural hazards; wetland reclamation; agricultural land detection
Urban Planning Drives 3D City Development in Time and Space submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | Viewed by 280 | Submission Open
Keywords: urban planning; three-dimensional city development; three-dimensional cadastral systems; spatiotemporal analysis; land use management; digital twin cities; GIS
(This special issue belongs to the Section Land Planning and Landscape Architecture)
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