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22 pages, 63914 KiB  
Article
Green Infrastructure Network Planning in Urban Fringe Areas Based on the Characteristics of Agricultural and Forestry Landscape Ecological Network in a Metropolitan City
by Dongmeng Wang, Can Zhao, Baolin Xia, Chenming Zhang, Dezheng Kong and Qindong Fan
Land 2025, 14(3), 572; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14030572 - 8 Mar 2025
Viewed by 895
Abstract
Small-scale, dispersed agroforestry spaces in the urban fringe constitute ecological land that serves dual public benefit functions: natural ecological conservation and rural-urban services. The purpose of this study is to construct a green infrastructure network by integrating the existing and potential green spaces [...] Read more.
Small-scale, dispersed agroforestry spaces in the urban fringe constitute ecological land that serves dual public benefit functions: natural ecological conservation and rural-urban services. The purpose of this study is to construct a green infrastructure network by integrating the existing and potential green spaces in an urban fringe. The urban fringe in Zhengzhou was chosen as the study site. First, the urban fringe of Zhengzhou was identified based on multi-source data and artificial intelligence, followed by the extraction of green infrastructure elements through morphological spatial pattern analysis. Then, a public benefit output evaluation system was constructed to assess the land value of green infrastructure in the study area. Finally, based on the evaluation results, a classified network planning was conducted, and a triple-network integrated planning strategy was proposed. The results showed that (1) the administrative area of Zhengzhou is divided into three spatial types: urban core areas, the urban fringe areas, and urban periphery area; this study focuses on the urban fringe surrounding the main urban area of Zhengzhou, area of 678.93 km2; (2) the patch sizes of green infrastructure land in the study area range from approximately 0.01 km2 to 2.83 km2; (3) green infrastructure land was classified into levels 1~5 based on ecological conservation and rural-urban services, and comprehensive high-grade land was identified for the construction of the green infrastructure network; and (4) the green infrastructure network in the study area was divided into the forest natural habitat network, the blue-green infrastructure network, and the agroforestry landscape recreation network, and a triple-network integrated green infrastructure network strategy was developed. This study aims to strengthen the effective protection and utilization of micro-habitats in the urban fringe, contributing to the formulation of strategies to reduce the ecological vulnerability of the urban fringe and promote sustainable urban development. Full article
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18 pages, 14147 KiB  
Article
Evolution Process and Land Use/Land Cover Response of Urban–Rural Space in Wuhan under Polycentric Structure
by Jisheng Yan and Jing Ye
Land 2024, 13(9), 1502; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13091502 - 16 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1291
Abstract
Polycentric development facilitates urban–rural spatial reshaping and land use/land cover (LULC) protection. Previous studies have predominantly focused on urban areas, with spatial delineation methods biased towards the macro-level, lacking a holistic perspective that situates them within the urban–rural spatial framework. This study proposes [...] Read more.
Polycentric development facilitates urban–rural spatial reshaping and land use/land cover (LULC) protection. Previous studies have predominantly focused on urban areas, with spatial delineation methods biased towards the macro-level, lacking a holistic perspective that situates them within the urban–rural spatial framework. This study proposes a spatial delineation framework that is applicable to the polycentric structure, taking into account the social, economic, and natural characteristics of urbanization. It employs semivariance analysis and spatial continuous wavelet transform (SCWT) to analyze the effects of polycentric development on the urban–rural space of Wuhan from 2012 to 2021 and applies a land use transition matrix, landscape indices, and bivariate spatial autocorrelation to quantify the responses and differences of LULC within urban–rural space. The results indicate that 600m×600m is the best scale for exhibiting the multidimensional characterization of urbanization. The polycentric structure alleviates the compact development of the central city, and it drives rapid expansion at the urban–rural fringe, exacerbating the spatial heterogeneity in LULC change pattern, spatial configuration, and urbanization response within urban–rural spaces. The overall effects of urbanization on LULC are relatively weak along the urban–rural gradient, experiencing a transition from positive to negative and back to positive. This study employs a novel spatial delineation framework to depict the polycentric transformation of metropolitan areas and provides valuable insights for regional planning and ecological conservation in the urban–rural fringe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rural–Urban Gradients: Landscape and Nature Conservation II)
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22 pages, 35764 KiB  
Article
Delineating and Characterizing the Metropolitan Fringe Area of Shanghai—A Spatial Morphology Perspective
by Weiting Xiong and Junyan Yang
Land 2023, 12(12), 2086; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12122086 - 21 Nov 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1988
Abstract
The metropolitan fringe area is of great significance to a city’s future growth. However, relatively little attention has been paid to delineating and characterizing the metropolitan fringe area from a spatial morphology perspective, which contributes to the planning and design of metropolitan fringe [...] Read more.
The metropolitan fringe area is of great significance to a city’s future growth. However, relatively little attention has been paid to delineating and characterizing the metropolitan fringe area from a spatial morphology perspective, which contributes to the planning and design of metropolitan fringe areas. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a morphology–based method to delineate the metropolitan fringe area and investigate the characteristics of its spatial morphology. Drawing upon a large–scale dataset on the spatial morphology of Shanghai, this study finds that the metropolitan fringe area is generally circular in shape and is dominated by residential, industrial, agricultural and forestry land. The metropolitan fringe area accounts for 24.65% of the total area of Shanghai and is mainly located between its outer ring and suburban ring areas. The distributions of spatial characteristics of the metropolitan fringe area suggest that the area has a relatively lower level in terms of building height, building density, and development intensity. Furthermore, the metropolitan fringe area of Shanghai contains five key spatial elements, including residential and industrial clusters, shadow spaces accompanying clusters, corridor lines, green wedges, and surfaces. The interaction of the five spatial elements lays the foundation for the prototype of the spatial structure of the metropolitan fringe area of Shanghai, which is of great significance to understanding the heterogeneity within the metropolitan fringe area in terms of the distribution of spatial morphological characteristics. Such heterogeneity also needs to be considered in the planning and design of the metropolitan fringe area. Full article
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16 pages, 3030 KiB  
Article
Study on the Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Land Use Changes in the Metropolitan Fringe Area: The Case of Shenzhen Metropolitan Area in China
by Shuhan Deng, Yihui Huang and Hongsheng Chen
Land 2023, 12(9), 1724; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12091724 - 5 Sep 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2121
Abstract
With the development of the regional economy, the metropolitan area has gradually shifted from the rapid development stage of concentrating on the central city to the stage of coordinated and integrated regional development. This trend has brought new development opportunities to the metropolitan [...] Read more.
With the development of the regional economy, the metropolitan area has gradually shifted from the rapid development stage of concentrating on the central city to the stage of coordinated and integrated regional development. This trend has brought new development opportunities to the metropolitan fringe area; however, due to the differences in resource endowment and the complex relationship between different levels of government, the metropolitan fringe area inevitably has contradictions and imbalances in economic and social development. There has been extensive research on land use and urban governance in the metropolitan area, but less attention has been paid to the metropolitan fringe area, and it is difficult to quantitatively characterize the complex interactions between various forces in this area. This paper summarizes the spatial pattern and spatiotemporal characteristics of construction land use in the fringe area of Shenzhen metropolitan area based on the 30 m resolution land cover dataset from 2000 to 2020, and analyzes the driving factors affecting the changes of construction land use through logistic regression. The results show that the overall land use in the study area is shifting from cropland and forest land to urban and rural construction land. With different stages of development, the rate of land change varies greatly from one period to another. Three factors, population density, lighting index and distance to highway, have a significant correlation with the changes in built-up land across the region, while the boundary effects of administrative boundaries show some variation in the impact of urban land expansion at different economic levels. Finally, we put forward that reducing the negative impact of administrative divisions on the integration of resources in different cities is important for realizing the synergistic development of the Shenzhen metropolitan area. Full article
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20 pages, 8927 KiB  
Article
Urban Heat Mitigation towards Climate Change Adaptation: An Eco-Sustainable Design Strategy to Improve Environmental Performance under Rapid Urbanization
by Mehdi Makvandi, Wenjing Li, Xiongquan Ou, Hua Chai, Zeinab Khodabakhshi, Jiayan Fu, Philip F. Yuan and Elyse de la Joie Horimbere
Atmosphere 2023, 14(4), 638; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14040638 - 28 Mar 2023
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 6340
Abstract
Rapid urbanization has led to drastic land-use/cover changes (LUCCs) and urban heat islands (UHIs), negatively altering the urban climate and air quality. LUCC’s significant impacts on human health and energy consumption have inspired researchers to develop nature-based solutions to mitigate UHIs and improve [...] Read more.
Rapid urbanization has led to drastic land-use/cover changes (LUCCs) and urban heat islands (UHIs), negatively altering the urban climate and air quality. LUCC’s significant impacts on human health and energy consumption have inspired researchers to develop nature-based solutions to mitigate UHIs and improve air quality. However, integrating GIS-CFD modeling for urban heat mitigation towards climate change adaptation was largely neglected for eco-sustainable urban design in rapidly urbanizing areas. In this study, (1) long-term LUCC and meteorological analysis were conducted in the Wuhan metropolitan area from 1980 to 2016; (2) to mitigate the adverse effects of LUCC under a speedy development process, the role and relevance of optimizing building morphology and urban block configuration were discussed; (3) and particular design attention in strategy towards climate change adaptation for environmental performance improvement was paid in Wuhan’s fast-growing zones. The results show that UHII in 1980 was less severe than in 2016. Air temperature (Ta) increased by 0.4 °C on average per decade in developing areas. This increases the severity of UHII in urban fringes. It is found obligatory for a nature-based design to adopt urban morphology indicators (UMIs) such as average building height (μBH), sky view factors (ψSVF), and building density (BD/λp = % of built area) towards these changes. Further, on-site measurement revealed that λp is the most effective indicator for increasing urban heat around the buildings and boosting UHII. Using UMIs and a combined three-in-one regulation strategy based on μBH of common building types of high-rise (BHA), mid-rise (BHB), and low-rise (BHC) buildings can effectively contribute to regulating Ta and air movement within block configuration. As a result of this study’s strategy, urban heat is mitigated via reinforcing wind in order to adapt to climate change, which impacts the quality of life directly in developing areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies for Mitigation and Adaptation to Urban Heat)
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32 pages, 8672 KiB  
Article
The Multidimensional Measurement Method of Urban Sprawl and Its Empirical Analysis in Shanghai Metropolitan Area
by Yishao Shi, Liangliang Zhou, Xiatong Guo and Jiaqi Li
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1020; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021020 - 5 Jan 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4530
Abstract
Urban sprawl concerns the high-quality and sustainable development of large cities. Due to the ambiguous definition, diversity of measurement indices and complexity of the driving mechanism of urban sprawl, the research results are rich but controversial. How does one carry out multidimensional measurement [...] Read more.
Urban sprawl concerns the high-quality and sustainable development of large cities. Due to the ambiguous definition, diversity of measurement indices and complexity of the driving mechanism of urban sprawl, the research results are rich but controversial. How does one carry out multidimensional measurement of urban sprawl? How does one reveal the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of urban sprawl dynamically? First, according to the three common characteristics of urban sprawl (discontinuity of land use, low population density and inefficiency of land use), we, respectively, measure the urban sprawl of Shanghai metropolitan area by single index and comprehensive indices based on multi-source geospatial data. Next, using geographic information system (GIS) method, the temporal and spatial characteristics of urban sprawl in Shanghai are quantitatively and dynamically analyzed. The results show that (1) land use continuity reveals that fringe expansion is the main mode of urban sprawl, population density exhibits an upwards trend, and land use benefit shows that the sprawl increased first, then decreased and increased again, i.e., “N” type trend. The results of the above three comprehensive superpositions indicate that the urban sprawl in Shanghai changed from severe in 1995 to mild in 2010 and in 2020. (2) From 1990 to 2020, urban sprawl in Shanghai showed a trend of decreasing first, then increasing and decreasing again, which is consistent with an evolutionary trend of newly increased construction land. The larger the sprawl area was, the lower the land use efficiency of the sprawl area was. (3) The main directions of urban sprawl were southeast and southwest, and Songjiang District and Pudong New Area were the main sprawl areas. The peak value of urban sprawl mainly occurred at 20–30 km and was located in the area between the outer ring and the suburban ring. (4) Through time series analysis, we found that the effective supply of housing significantly affected the intensity and scale of urban sprawl but not the speed of urban sprawl in Shanghai metropolitan area. These findings are helpful to reasonably evaluate the real picture of urban sprawl in Shanghai metropolitan areas and provide reference for the formulation of urban sprawl governance policies. Full article
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18 pages, 5838 KiB  
Article
Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Rural Settlements in Metropolitan Fringe Area: A Case Study of Nanjing, China
by Rongtian Zhang and Xiaolin Zhang
Land 2022, 11(11), 1989; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11111989 - 6 Nov 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6312
Abstract
Rural settlement is the core content of rural geography research. Exploring the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of rural settlements can provide reference for the optimization of rural settlements. This paper selected Nanjing as a typical case, based on remote sensing image, [...] Read more.
Rural settlement is the core content of rural geography research. Exploring the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of rural settlements can provide reference for the optimization of rural settlements. This paper selected Nanjing as a typical case, based on remote sensing image, using R statistics, kernel density analysis, hot spot detection analysis and semi variogram function; the paper analyzed the spatial, scale and morphological distribution characteristics of rural settlements; and preliminarily analyzed the influencing factors of rural settlements distribution in the metropolitan fringe area. The results showed that: (1) The spatial distribution of rural settlements generally presented a “multi-core” center, and a spatial distribution trend of stepwise decline from the core to the periphery, showing a typical “core-edge” structure. (2) There was a significant spatial difference in the scale distribution of rural settlements, which was characterized by a gradual decrease in the scale of rural settlements with the increase in the distance from the central urban area. (3) The morphological distribution of rural settlements showed spatial differentiation, and the morphological types of settlements mainly included strip, arcbelt, cluster and scatter. (4) The distribution of rural settlements was affected by such factors as terrain, river system, traffic, economic and social development, cultural and policy. The distribution of rural settlements had the location orientation of “low altitude, water affinity and road affinity”. The increase in agricultural population, rural economic development, cultural and policy factors played an important role in the distribution of rural settlements in the metropolitan fringe area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rural Land Use in China)
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2 pages, 197 KiB  
Abstract
How Do the Residents of a Peri-Urban Metropolitan Area Perceive and Adapt to Their Surrounding Landscape; A Socio-Spatial Study of the Bushfire Risk Representation in Greater Melbourne Urban Fringes
by Ondine Le Fur, Pierre Dérioz, Marielle Jappiot and Raphaële Blanchi
Environ. Sci. Proc. 2022, 17(1), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/environsciproc2022017090 - 19 Aug 2022
Viewed by 1059
Abstract
When large urban agglomerations are located in wildfire prone regions, adapting to the demographic changes while limiting wildfire vulnerability of communities is a challenge for urban planners and policy-makers [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The Third International Conference on Fire Behavior and Risk)
13 pages, 2741 KiB  
Article
Impact of the Urban Exodus Triggered by the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Shrinking Cities of the Osaka Metropolitan Area
by Haruka Kato and Atsushi Takizawa
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1601; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031601 - 29 Jan 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5010
Abstract
This study aims to clarify the impact of the urban exodus triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic on shrinking cities in the Osaka metropolitan area, where a declining population is caused by population aging. Analyzing the Osaka metropolitan area enables us to clarify how [...] Read more.
This study aims to clarify the impact of the urban exodus triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic on shrinking cities in the Osaka metropolitan area, where a declining population is caused by population aging. Analyzing the Osaka metropolitan area enables us to clarify how cities are shrinking due to the urban exodus. This study analyzed the monthly population data of three types of municipalities: ordinance-designed/regional hub cities, ordinary cities, and towns/villages. In conclusion, the study clarified that population change due to the urban exodus occurred in the ordinance-designed/regional hub and ordinary cities from summer to autumn 2020. The most significant population increases occurred in the municipalities in the Osaka metropolitan fringe area, which are located more than 30 km away from the center of the Osaka metropolitan area. The conclusion is important because the population increased not only in the ordinance-designed cities but also in the ordinance-designed/regional hub cities, unlike the rest of the metropolitan area. The result is the new insights unique to the Osaka metropolitan area that this study clarified. The urban exodus contributes to the need for the local governments of shrinking cities to maintain the urban services necessary for people’s daily lives. Full article
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18 pages, 3787 KiB  
Commentary
Caring of the Fringe? Mediterranean Desertification between Peri-Urban Ecology and Socioeconomics
by Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir, Alvaro Marucci, Rosanna Salvia, Giovanni Quaranta, Adele Sateriano, Massimo Cecchini and Leonardo Bianchini
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1426; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031426 - 26 Jan 2022
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 3227
Abstract
This commentary debates on the role of multiple socioeconomic drivers of fringe land degradation (including, but not limited to, population and social dynamics, economic polarization, and developmental policies), as a novel contribution to the desertification assessment in Southern European metropolitan regions, a recognized [...] Read more.
This commentary debates on the role of multiple socioeconomic drivers of fringe land degradation (including, but not limited to, population and social dynamics, economic polarization, and developmental policies), as a novel contribution to the desertification assessment in Southern European metropolitan regions, a recognized hotspot of desertification at the global scale. Expanding rapidly all over the world, metropolitan regions are a geographical space where land degradation drivers and processes assume typical relationships that require further research supporting dedicated policy strategies. To assure a better comprehension of the environmental-economic nexus at the base of land degradation in peri-urban areas, we provided a classification of relevant socioeconomic and territorial dimensions in both macro-scale and micro-scale degradation processes. We also identified the related (contextual) factors that determine an increased risk of desertification in metropolitan regions. Micro-scale factors, such as agricultural prices and off-farm employment, reflect some potential causes of fringe land degradation, with a mostly local and on-site role. Technological change, agricultural prices, and household income influence land vulnerability, but their impact on fringe land degradation was less investigated and supposed to be quite moderate in most cases. Macro-scale factors such as population density, rural poverty, and environmental policies—being extensively studied on a qualitative base—were taken as important drivers of fringe land degradation, although their impact still remains undefined. Regional disparities in land resource distribution, rural poverty, and unsustainable management of environmental resources like soil and water were indirect consequences of land degradation in peri-urban districts. Based on a comparative review of theoretical and empirical findings, strategies mitigating degradation of fringe land and reducing desertification risk in potentially affected metropolitan regions were finally discussed for the Northern Mediterranean basin and generalized to other socioeconomic contexts. Full article
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14 pages, 2059 KiB  
Technical Note
Forest Transition and Metropolitan Transformations in Developed Countries: Interpreting Apparent and Latent Dynamics with Local Regression Models
by Leonardo Bianchini, Rosanna Salvia, Giovanni Quaranta, Gianluca Egidi, Luca Salvati and Alvaro Marucci
Land 2022, 11(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11010012 - 22 Dec 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3275
Abstract
Metropolitan fringes in Southern Europe preserve, under different territorial contexts, natural habitats, relict woodlands, and mixed agro-forest systems acting as a sink of biodiversity and ecosystem services in ecologically vulnerable landscapes. Clarifying territorial and socioeconomic processes that underlie land-use change in metropolitan regions [...] Read more.
Metropolitan fringes in Southern Europe preserve, under different territorial contexts, natural habitats, relict woodlands, and mixed agro-forest systems acting as a sink of biodiversity and ecosystem services in ecologically vulnerable landscapes. Clarifying territorial and socioeconomic processes that underlie land-use change in metropolitan regions is relevant for forest conservation policies. At the same time, long-term dynamics of fringe forests in the northern Mediterranean basin have been demonstrated to be rather mixed, with deforestation up to the 1950s and a subsequent recovery more evident in recent decades. The present study makes use of Forest Transition Theory (FTT) to examine spatial processes of forest loss and expansion in metropolitan Rome, Central Italy, through local regressions elaborating two diachronic land-use maps that span more than 80 years (1936–2018) representative of different socioeconomic and ecological conditions. Our study evaluates the turnaround from net forest area loss to net forest area gain, considering together the predictions of the FTT and those of the City Life Cycle (CLC) theory that provides a classical description of the functioning of metropolitan cycles. The empirical findings of our study document a moderate increase in forest cover depending on the forestation of previously abandoned cropland as a consequence of tighter levels of land protection. Natural and human-driven expansion of small and isolated forest nuclei along fringe land was demonstrated to fuel a polycentric expansion of woodlands. The results of a Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) reveal the importance of metropolitan growth in long-term forest expansion. Forest–urban dynamics reflect together settlement sprawl and increased forest disturbance. The contemporary expansion of fringe residential settlements and peri-urban forests into relict agricultural landscapes claims for a renewed land management that may reconnect town planning, reducing the intrinsic risks associated with fringe woodlands (e.g., wildfires) with environmental policies preserving the ecological functionality of diversified agro-forest systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress in Urbanisation Dynamics Research)
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13 pages, 727 KiB  
Article
Urbanization and Long-Term Forest Dynamics in a Metropolitan Region of Southern Europe (1936–2018)
by Leonardo Bianchini, Alvaro Marucci, Adele Sateriano, Valerio Di Stefano, Riccardo Alemanno and Andrea Colantoni
Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 12164; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132112164 - 4 Nov 2021
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 2110
Abstract
Although peri-urban landscapes in Southern Europe still preserve a relatively high level of biodiversity in relict natural places, urban expansion is progressively consuming agricultural land and, in some cases, forest cover. This phenomenon has (direct and indirect) environmental implications, both positive and negative. [...] Read more.
Although peri-urban landscapes in Southern Europe still preserve a relatively high level of biodiversity in relict natural places, urban expansion is progressively consuming agricultural land and, in some cases, forest cover. This phenomenon has (direct and indirect) environmental implications, both positive and negative. The present study contributes to clarifying the intrinsic nexus between long-term urban expansion and forest dynamics in a representative Mediterranean city based on diachronic land-use maps. We discuss some counterintuitive results of urbanization as far as forest expansion, wildfire risk, and biodiversity conservation are concerned. Forest dynamics were investigated at two time intervals (1936–1974 and 1974–2018) representing distinctive socioeconomic contexts in the Rome metropolitan area in Central Italy. Additionally, the spatial relationship between forest cover and urban growth was evaluated using settlement density as a target variable. All over the study area, forest cover grew moderately over time (from 18.3% to 19.9% in the total landscape), and decreased along the urban gradient (i.e., with settlement density) more rapidly in 2018 than in 1936. The diversification of forest types (Shannon H index) was higher in areas with medium-density settlements, indicating a tendency towards more heterogeneous and mixed structures in rural and peri-urban woods that undergo rising human pressure. The dominance of a given forest type (Simpson’s D index) was higher at high settlement density areas. Evenness (Pielou’s J index) was the highest at low settlement density areas. The long-term assessment of land-use dynamics in metropolitan fringes enriched with a spatially explicit analysis of forest types may inform regional planning and environmental conservation, which could delineate appropriate strategies for sustainable land management in Southern European cities. Full article
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20 pages, 12110 KiB  
Article
Mapping the Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Urban Surface Ecological Status (USES): A Case Study of Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA), India
by Manob Das, Arijit Das, Paulo Pereira and Asish Mandal
Remote Sens. 2021, 13(21), 4395; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13214395 - 31 Oct 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5015
Abstract
An urban ecosystem’s ecological structure and functions can be assessed through Urban Surface Ecological Status (USES). USES are affected by human activities and environmental processes. The mapping of USESs are crucial for urban environmental sustainability, particularly in developing countries such as India. The [...] Read more.
An urban ecosystem’s ecological structure and functions can be assessed through Urban Surface Ecological Status (USES). USES are affected by human activities and environmental processes. The mapping of USESs are crucial for urban environmental sustainability, particularly in developing countries such as India. The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented negative impacts on socio-economic domains; however, there was a reduction in human pressures on the environment. This study aims to assess the effects of lockdown on the USES in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA), India, during different lockdown phases (phases I, II and III). The land surface temperature (LST), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and wetness and normalized difference soil index (NDSI) were assessed. The USES was developed by combining all of the biophysical parameters using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results showed that there was a substantial USES spatial variability in KMA. During lockdown phase III, the USES in fair and poor sustainability areas decreased from 29% (2019) to 24% (2020), and from 33% (2019) to 25% (2020), respectively. Overall, the areas under poor USES decreased from 30% to 25% during lockdown periods. Our results also showed that the USES mean value was 0.49 in 2019but reached 0.34 during the lockdown period (a decrease of more than 30%). The poor USES area was mainly concentrated in built-up areas (with high LST and NDSI), compared to the rural fringe areas of KMA (high NDVI and wetness). The mapping of USES are crucial in different biophysical environmental conditions, and they can be very helpful for the assessment of urban sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Temporal Resolution, a Key Factor in Environmental Risk Assessment)
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26 pages, 7158 KiB  
Article
Operational Pattern of Urban-Rural Integration Regulated by Land Use in Metropolitan Fringe of China
by Wei Cao, Shenglu Zhou and Minyu Zhou
Land 2021, 10(5), 515; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050515 - 12 May 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3223
Abstract
Due to a lack of the realization mechanism and operational pattern of the urban-rural integration by land use, this study employs land use to regulate interface elements to achieve urban-rural integration development. Therefore, we analyzed urban-rural reality in Pukou District of Nanjing City, [...] Read more.
Due to a lack of the realization mechanism and operational pattern of the urban-rural integration by land use, this study employs land use to regulate interface elements to achieve urban-rural integration development. Therefore, we analyzed urban-rural reality in Pukou District of Nanjing City, a typical metropolitan fringe of China, and investigated farmers’ willingness of typical representative villages. The results show that (1) According to the combination of resource environment, development intensity and development potential, Pukou District is divided into four land use areas, including optimization integration area, key development area, urban agricultural area, and ecotourism area. Most of the investigated farmers have a strong willingness to realize urban-rural integration by land use; (2) This study proposes an operational pattern of regional land use. The pattern is mainly based on “reality + willingness + policy” by using the three tools of “farmland reconsolidation, village reconstruction and factor reallocation”. It achieves urban-rural integration development through “zoning guidance–willingness driven–pattern selection–differentiated tools”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions)
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13 pages, 2192 KiB  
Article
What Happens in the City When Long-Term Urban Expansion and (Un)Sustainable Fringe Development Occur: The Case Study of Rome
by Samaneh Sadat Nickayin, Luca Salvati, Rosa Coluzzi, Maria Lanfredi, Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir, Rosanna Salvia, Giovanni Quaranta, Ahmed Alhuseen and Luisa Gaburova
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2021, 10(4), 231; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi10040231 - 6 Apr 2021
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 3051
Abstract
This study investigates long-term landscape transformations (1949–2016) in urban Rome, Central Italy, through a spatial distribution of seven metrics (core, islet, perforation, edge, loop, bridge, branch) derived from a Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) analyzed separately for seven land-use classes (built-up areas, arable [...] Read more.
This study investigates long-term landscape transformations (1949–2016) in urban Rome, Central Italy, through a spatial distribution of seven metrics (core, islet, perforation, edge, loop, bridge, branch) derived from a Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) analyzed separately for seven land-use classes (built-up areas, arable land, crop mosaic, vineyards, olive groves, forests, pastures). A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been finally adopted to characterize landscape structure at 1949 and 2016. Results of the MSPA demonstrate how both natural and agricultural land-uses have decreased following urban expansion. Moreover, the percent ‘core’ area of each class declined substantially, although with different intensity. These results clearly indicate ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ after long-term landscape transformations: urban settlements and forests belong to the former category, the remaining land-use classes (mostly agricultural) belong to the latter category. Descriptive statistics and multivariate exploratory techniques finally documented the intrinsic complexity characteristic of actual landscapes. The findings of this study also demonstrate how settlements have expanded chaotically over the study area, reflecting a progressive ‘fractalization’ and inhomogeneity of fringe landscapes, with negative implications for metropolitan sustainability at large. These transformations were unable to leverage processes of settlement and economic re-agglomeration around sub-centers typical of polycentric development in the most advanced socioeconomic contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geodata Science and Spatial Analysis in Urban Studies)
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