Exploring Patterns of Evolution from Cropland to Built-Up Land for Sustainable Food Production Using Remote Sensing

Dear Colleagues,

Global food demand will increase nearly 50% during the next 30 years. Croplands provide more than 90% of all food calories and approximately 80% of all global food protein and fats in the process of generating food and feed crops. Sustainably meeting future food demand, which is at the core of SDG 2, requires human civilisation to increase crop yields on exisiting cropland and ensure that the most productive croplands around the world remain under production, thus avoiding massive land conversion for agriculture. In connection to this point, recent evidence shows that most highly productive croplands tend to be located  near urban areas. However, as countries’ economies develop and urban population grows, surrounding highly productive croplands are converted for residential, industrial, and recreational purposes. The conversion of most productive cropland for urban uses put pressure on land conversion for agriculture in order to compensate the loss of crop production, leading to other negative effects on food production and the environment.

This Special Issue will present studies investigating patterns of evolution from cropland to built-up land in different regions of the world based on the use of remote sensing techniques. Together with multi-sources data, as well as GIS and statistic methodologies, interested scholars should explore implications on food security, climate change, and the environment, and discuss the policies needed to prevent or ameliorate massive conversion of cropland due to urbanization. More broadly, we also encourage scholars to discuss the interactions between SDG 2 and SDG 11.

Suggested themes for submissions:

• remote sensing of conversion from cropland to built-up land
• remote sensing of peri-urban agriculture
• patterns of cropland loss in different regions
• loss of crop production during built-up land expansion
• environmental impacts in the process of cropland loss
• sustainable balance between lost cropland and new cropland
• interaction between SDG 2 and SDG 11

Dr. Lijun Zuo
Dr. Patricio Grassini
Dr. Vilas Nitivattananon
Dr. Zhongchang Sun
Dr. Fang Liu
Dr. Giuseppe Pulighe
Dr. Tilottama Ghosh
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. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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.

• cropland loss
• peri-urban agriculture
• urbanization
• built-up land expansion
• evolution patterns
• food security
• land use planning
• urban resilience