Metropolitan Housing Development in Urban Fringe Areas-A Case Study of Three Metropolitan Cities of South Africa: Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane

Purpose:The metropolitan cities of Johannesburg,Ekurhuleni and Tshwane play an important role in the economy of the Gauteng province in South Africa.The region constitutes to 22.4 percent of the total population of South Africa and has a strong presence and contributes in areas of manufacturing sector,financial and business services,retail and wholesale trade,etc.The rapid urban population,increase in the informal settlements and socio-economic opportunities has resulted in considerable urban sprawl in and around the urban fringe areas of these metropolitan cities.The urban fringe areas of these metros often come under the influence of rapid urbanization process and pressures.Coupled with the economical and potential land dynamics and lack of priority of spatial development guidelines,these areas attract rapid and haphazard development from communities and developers.Research Design/Methodology:This research is based on a qualitative approach through a comprehensive literature review that included content analysis of key documents on housing sector such as IDPs(Integrated Development Plans),Municipal Annual Reports,Growth Development Strategies,and among other sectoral documents on housing sector.Some of the key priority issues considered in the housing sector included:eradication of housing backlogs,spatial restructuring of housing,provision of choice in terms of location,tenure and housing typology.Findings:The current paper discusses the approaches of metropolitan housing development processes in three metropolitan cities of South Africa from Gauteng region,namely:Johannesburg,Ekurhuleni and Tshwane.The paper discusses the existing housing sectoral scenario along with the fringe areas in three cities with focus on:formal and informal settlements,housing segregation and the backlogs,current institutional arrangements,role of public private participation,and scope for alternate mechanisms.The paper concludes in discussion on sustainable development options for housing development in urban fringe areas.

Urban Densification Strategy and Land Value in Tijuana,Baja California-The Opinion of Specialists

Specialists can provide opinions regarding the city and land value based on their specialized field.Professionals in these fields are identified as urban planners and valuators,who play a crucial role in the current dynamics of cities.They have a qualified opinion on city issues based on their professional practice in various areas of expertise.This opinion was obtained through the formulation and application of a questionnaire to specialists.Subsequently,the results were analyzed and graphically represented.In the discussion,several findings were found related to the relationship between land value and the urban densification policy established in the urban planning that governs the city of Tijuana,Baja California.The study investigated the behavior of the real estate market in the region and the establishment of a solid strategy toward densification.

Spatiotemporal Evolution Characteristics of Urban Land Surface Temperature Based on Local Climate Zones in Xi’an Metropolitan,China

Local climate zones(LCZs)are an effective nexus linking internal urban structures to the local climate and have been widely used to study urban thermal environment.However,few studies considered how much the temperature changed due to LCZs transformation and their synergy.This paper quantified the change of urban land surface temperature(LST)in LCZs transformation process by combining the land use transfer matrix with zonal statistics method during 2000–2019 in the Xi’an metropolitan.The results show that,firstly,both LCZs and LST had significant spatiotemporal variations and synchrony.The period when the most LCZs were converted was also the LST rose the fastest,and the spatial growth of the LST coincided with the spatial expansion of the built type LCZs.Secondly,the LST difference between land cover type LCZs and built type LCZs gradually widened.And LST rose more in both built type LCZs transferred in and out.Finally,the Xi’an-Xianyang profile showed that the maximum temperature difference between the peaks and valleys of the LST increased by 4.39℃,indicating that localized high temperature phenomena and fluctuations in the urban thermal environment became more pronounced from 2000 to 2019.

Peri-urban Development:Discussion with Land Use Zoning,Statutory Provision,and Issues inside Katahari Rural Municipality,Nepal

The peri-urban area is a transitional zone between the city and its hinterlands characterized by mixed land use and intensive flows of resources,people,goods,and services from and to the city center.These zones are generally misguided and haphazardly developed without a proper planning framework.The peri-urban area at present will be the urban area in the future;therefore,it needs planning intervention in its initial stage of growth.Katahari,a peri-urban area of Biratnagar metropolitan city,is developing a spontaneous lack of land use plans.Recently,the Government of Nepal has encouraged the local government to implement land use plans in the provided framework,policy,and guidelines.This study,in this context,attempts to analyze and identify land use issues and potential zones for Katahari rural municipality that also supports planning urban development in the future.The study is based on primary and secondary data and information supported by maps and figures.It is concluded that Katahari has been developed as a multi-function center adjoining the Biratnagar metropolitan city,and future expansion of the city will cover a wide range of rural municipalities.The postal highway that passes through it has attracted a wide range of urban functions.Agriculture,residential,commercial,and industrial are the main land use category at present and needs development control through providing land use zoning and related planning instruments through the increasing role of the stakeholder and the government agencies in the decision-making processes and implementation of spatial development frameworks to regulate peri-urban development in the area which will guide the future planning for liability,economic viability,social inclusion,and environmental sustainability in the area.Spill-over development activities of Biratnagar,have increased the number of economic activities,population growth,and mixed-use development.

Prediction-Adaptation-Resilience(PAR)approach-A new pathway towards future resilience and sustainable development of urban landscape

Urban land-use planning,especially in the peripheral region,has become an issue in contemporary urban stud-ies.Simultaneously,urban resilience is very indispensable for future urban land use planning and management.Therefore,consistent urban proliferation can be coped through Prediction-Adaptation-Resilience(PAR),to accom-plish future urban land use and sustainable development of any growing up urban areas worldwide.Therefore,different dynamic simulation models,e.g.Cellular automata-Markov model,artificial neural network,are used to project and predict any urban areas’spatial growth.Then,the adaptation strategies are taken to assess the urban land use transformation in the past and present context.Those strategies help to strengthen urban land use planning using an integrated supply and demand chain.Finally,this study checks the resilience of how much it will be threatened or saved for future sustainable urban developmental goals and urban resilience.Therefore,it is important to establish a conceptual framework to achieve Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)based on principles of the PAR approach.Advocating the on-going adaptation of sustainability,resilience,and rapid urban transformation in the developing cities requires clear and explicit definitions that are embedded with the recent and particular context.Thus,government and policy makers should draw their attention to make proper urban landscape planning and adaptation strategies for the future urban expansion in a holistic way by maintaining appropriate urban resilience.

Study on Economic growth,Urbanization and Sustainable Utilization of Cultivated Land in China

By means of the dynamic regression model, this paper analyzes the relationships among economic growth, urbanization and changes of cultivated land in China, finds that the ratio of cultivated land occupied by economic growth is decreasing with social and economic growth. And, based on that, some policy suggestions on how to promote the sustainable use of cultivated land in China are put forward.

Interactions between water-land resources and oasis urban development at the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains,Xinjiang,China

Urban development in arid and semi-arid regions is largely constrained by fragile physical environ- ments. The characteristics of an urban settlement are different from those in other regions of China. This paper analyses the coupling characteristics and spatio-temporal variations for oasis urban development and water-land resources at the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains by principal component analysis and a coupling degree model. The result shows that the degree and change in regional use of water and land resources are different among the studied cities/counties during their development. The built-up areas of these cities/counties have changed little with increasing populations and urbanization levels, which well reflects that the urban development in arid and semi-arid regions is limited by oasis areas. Per capita amount of water supplied, however, presented a trend of slowed growth with increasing levels of urbanization. Water consumption gradually increased with urban development and the improvement of people＇s living standards, accompanied by enhanced water use efficiency. The level of urbanization can be assessed through the coupling degree between oasis urban development and the use of water and land resources. A high coupling degree represents a high level of comprehensive urban devel- opment and use of water-land resources. Alternatively, a low coupling degree denotes a low level of urban devel- opment and water-land resource use.

Empirical Study on the Relationship between Economic Development and Urban Construction Land in China: Based on the Panel Data of Provinces

The panel data of 31 provinces,cities and autonomous regions was used in order to test the relationship between economic development and urban land. The result showed that the sequences of economic development and urban land were in accordance with first order integration. Secondly,there was cointegration between economic development and urban land and the cointegration equation illustrated that 10% of increase in GDP per capita would drive 4. 94% of expansion in city construction land. Thirdly,according to error correction model,economic development is the Granger cause of urban land expansion in the long term while the reverse relationship was not proved. In short-term,economic development and urban land expansion were Granger causes of each other. The long-term equilibrium can only regulate the short-term imbalance of urban land,arriving at 33. 83%. Therefore,the government should formulate related policies to encourage real estate developers and enterprises to increase land utilization efficiency,strictly control the increase of urban land and regulate short-term imbalance.

Spatial pattern of urban-rural integration in China and the impact of geography

Urban-rural integration (URI) is a global challenge that is highly related to inequalities, poverty, economic growth, and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Existing research has evaluated the extent of URI and explored its influencing factors, but urban-rural linkages are seldom incorporated in evaluation systems, and geographical factors are rarely recognized as the influencing factors. We construct a URI framework including regional economy, rural development, urban-rural linkage, and urban-rural gap. Based on a dataset consisting of 1,669 counties in China in 2020, we reveal the spatial pattern of URI and find a high correlation between the spatial pattern of URI and the relief degree of land surface (RDLS). Using structural equation modeling, we discover that topography has direct ( − 0.18, p < 0.001) and indirect ( − 0.17, p < 0.001) effects on URI. The indirect negative effects are mediated through the infrastructure, and the combination of localized advantages and modern technical conditions could mitigate the negative impact of topography. Finally, we identify 742 counties as lagging regions in URI, which can be clustered into eight types. Our findings could facilitate policy designing for those countries striving for integrated and sustainable development of urban and rural areas.

Exploring Smart Growth Boundaries of Urban Agglomeration with Land Use Spatial Optimization:A Case Study of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Group,China

Urban agglomeration is the main spatial organization mode used by the Chinese government to promote the policy of new urbanization strategy.Hence,a better understanding of the urban growth boundary(UGB)has profound theoretical and practical significance regarding sustainable urban development.This study devised a raster-based land use spatial optimization(LUSO)framework,and utilized ant colony optimization(ACO)algorithm to delimit the smart growth boundaries of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city group(CZTCG)in China.The aim of this study is to design a LUSO model to explore an optimal pattern of urban agglomeration for sustainable growth.Multi growth scenario including a single development center,multipolar development and balanced development patterns are generated by the LUSO model for the year of 2050,and the optimum spatial pattern is chosen based on objectives comparison and the present stage of economic and social development in CZTCG.The main results are listed as the following.1)It is feasible to identify the growth boundaries of the urban agglomeration using the land use spatial optimization model,and the optimal form of the spatial pattern can be defined.2)With the growth trend of the urban agglomeration gradually spreads from a single center to multi-centers and even small towns,the total optimization target performance gradually increases,which means that the traditional pie-shaped development does not meet the maximum comprehensive benefit of the city group.3)Subject to the regional social and economic development stage,absolute fair development or simply developing the central city is not conducive to promoting the coordinated development of the urban agglomeration.Gradient equalization and gradual advancement are the best choice for UGB delineation of urban agglomeration.The findings of this study would be useful to identify the UGB in CZTCG for more sustainable urban development in the future.

Exploiting pattern and sustainable development of marginal lands in the Three Gorge Reservoir Areas

This paper studied the distribution and utilization status, reasonable exploitation patterns and potential productivity, and sustainable development of marginal lands in the Three Gorge Reservoir Areas. It has been pointed that problems of the soil fertility degradation, poor productivity in crop lands, natural disasters and environmental deterioration existed in all the exploited marginal lands. In order to maintain the sustainability of the marginal lands, following measure have been proposed: prohibiting cultivation in the crop lands with a slope more than 25°, restoring vegetation in the slope more than 25°, strengthening the basic agricultural construction, establishing the production base of woody feeds and oils, establishing a multi dimensional management model with reasonable structure and optimum function for forestry, agriculture and fishing.

Correlation between Urban Land Change Process and Socioeconomic Development since the 1980s in Jiangsu Province

Studying the process and characteristics of urban land change in different phases of urbanization and different economic development is much important for understanding urban land change and management at a macro level. Taking the example of Jiangsu Province, the present paper studied the correlation between urban land change process and socioeconomic development from 1981 to 2003 on the basis of statistical data. The results showed the following three aspects. First, urban land area has changed periodically and the research duration can be divided into two periods: from 1981 to 1994 and from 1995 to 2003. In each period, the changing trend is the same, i.e. slow at first and then quick. Studying from the comprehensive change status, the characteristic of fluctuant change is significant with three acute change pinnacles in 1988, 1991 and 2002 which were corresponded to turning point years of economic development phases of Jiangsu Province respectively. Second, the synchronization between urban land change and urbanization level change is not strict. With the evolution of urbanization phases, the change pace of urbanization level increased remarkably, but urban land change rate did not increase significantly accordingly. Third, the area of urban land has exponentially increased with the increase of per capita GDP. In different economic development levels classified by per capital GDP, land resource cost for economic development is different, respectively 29.01 hm2, 26.34 hm2, 26.22 hm2, and 11.14 hm2 for the increase of 100 million RMB GDP when the per capita GDP is under 1000, 1000–2000, 2000–5000 and over 5000 RMB.

Problems and countermeasures for land exploitation and utilization in China's development areas

s: The planning area and developing area in China's l29 national and 584 provincial development areas cover 8000 km2 and l500 km2 respectively. By typical field investigations we found that China's development areas have the characteristics of abundant categories, excessive quantities, large scales and dense localities in coastlands, border areas and river banks. And their utilization have 4 features of mainly collecting and occupying agricultural lands, minor rebuilding of old city; mainly taking up cultivated lands, minor exploiting and utilizing barren mountains and bleak sloping lands; collecting and occupying lands at first, utilizing afterwards; using large quantities of lands but obtaining comparatively fewer benefits. According to the analyses, China's development areas can be concluded into one of the four categories: constructed from cultivated lands, reconstructed from old cities, constructed from coastlands and islands, and constructed from barren mountains and desolate sloping lands. Their corresponding problems of unsuitable planning and distribution leaving cultivated lands unused, low remission price and chaotic management measures are analyzed in detail and the countermeasures are put forward. These include planning and distribution the lands in an integrated way, managing all these lands in a unified system. improving the growth pattern of their economy, and advancing their utilization and output ratios.

Evaluation of Intensive Land Utilization based on Anti-planning Concept

Based on the gist of anti-planning,evaluation standards and methods of intensive land utilization were re-examined according to the inverse planning procedures.Significant role of compulsory non-development zone(similar to the traditional"non-construction land")among the planning fruits in the intensive utilization of urban land resources and relevant index weights in the evaluation system were re-weighed.In land evaluation,relevant control indexes of compulsory non-development zone were first calculated and evaluated,healthy and sustainable development coefficients of land were obtained and regarded as the core content of the whole evaluation system.

Analysis of the Price of Development Right of Agricultural Land in China

According to the viewpoints of predecessors, we define the signification of development right of agricultural land and connotation of the price of development right of agricultural land as follows: the development right of agricultural land is to change the former use nature of agricultural land, so as to become the right of construction use land; the price of development right of agricultural land refers to the price that is difference between the price of construction use land, and summation of the price of former agricultural land, the expense of developing agricultural land, the expense of management, and profit, after the agricultural land is transformed into non-agricultural construction use land. By using the principle of economics of land, this paper expounds the generation mechanism of the price of development right of agricultural land, namely the diversity of agricultural land use and the change of demand and supply of development right of agricultural land. The influencing factors of the development right of agricultural land are analyzed, and there are mainly the price of agricultural land, the price of construction use land, the contradiction of demand and supply of urban land, land use, and agricultural land.

Trade-offs between prosperity and urban land per capita in major world cities

Globally,urban land expands at a faster rate than the corresponding urban population,which comes at a cost of agricultural and natural land.Wealth has been identified as an underlying driver of this trend,but it is unclear whether more prosperous cities inevitably have a greater urban land consumption.Here,we map urban pros-perity indicators to their relevant Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)for 64 major world cities and relate these to the corresponding urban land consumption(defined here as built-up land per capita).Results indicate a moderately-weak but significant correlation between overall prosperity and urban land consumption(Spear-man’s correlation,𝜌ρ=0.47,p<0.001),suggesting a trade-offbetween both.In addition,we find a regional clustering,with for example cities with relatively low prosperity and low urban land consumption in Africa,and cities with high prosperity and low-to-medium urban land consumption in Europe.The moderately-weak correlation in combination with these regional differences suggests that the observed trade-offis avertable and that other drivers moderate this relation.Consequently,cities can increase their prosperity without additional environmental consequences entailing land take and the conversion of natural and agricultural land.

基于Landsat影像的合肥市地表温度空间特征分析

文章以合肥市为例,选择2008—2020年内5期Landsat影像,对包河区、蜀山区、庐阳区、瑶海区4个行政区进行地物分类与地表温度反演;采用地理加权回归(geographically weighted regression,GWR)模型与标准差椭圆(standard deviational ellipse,SDE)分别分析不透水层对地表温度的影响程度及其空间分布演化特征。在500 m格网化划分尺度下,4个行政区不透水层与地表温度的GWR全局拟合系数R^(2)基本上大于0.8,其中包河区与庐阳区的R^(2)随时间变化相对稳定,而蜀山区与瑶海区的R^(2)增加,不透水层变化显著;2008—2020年,不透水层对应SDE演化趋势与对应城区扩张趋势基本一致,椭圆面积呈增长趋势,这与合肥市由以主城区为主的发展模式变为多地区共同发展模式相关。研究结果可为合肥市未来城市规划提供参考。

Spatio-temporal analysis of land-use conversion in the eastern coastal China during 1996-2005

Based on the acquaintance of the regional background of urban-rural transformational development and investigations on the spot,this paper discusses the holistic situation, dominant factors and mechanism of arable land loss and land for construction occupation in the coastal area of China over the last decade,with the aid of GIS technology.Conclusions of the research are summarized as follows：（1）the arable land had been continuously decreasing from 1996 to 2005,with a loss of 1,708,700 hm^2 and an average decrement of 170,900 hm^2 per year;（2）land for construction increased 1,373,700 hm^2 ,with an average increment of 153,200 hm^2 per year;（3）total area of encroachment on arable land for construction between 1996 and 2005 was 1,053,100 hm^2 ,accounting for 34.03%of the arable land loss in the same period,the percentages of which used for industrial land（INL）,transportation land（TRL）,rural construction land（RUL）and town construction land（TOL）are 45.03%,15.8%,15.47%and 11.5%,respectively;and（4）the fluctuation of the increase of construction land and encroachment on arable land in the area were deeply influenced by the nation＇s macroscopic land-use policies and development level of regional economy.The growth of population and advancement of technology promoted the rapid industrialization, construction of transportation infrastructures,rural urbanization and expansion of rural settlements in the eastern coastal area,and therefore were the primary driving forces of land-use conversion.

THE BENCHMARK LAND PRICE SYSTEM AND URBANLAND USE EFFICIENCY IN CHINA

ABSTRACT: China began to introduce market principles and establish price mechanism to better manage land and improve land use efficiency in the late 1980s. Since then, land markets begin to emerge. A benchmark land price system, providing guidelines for land use rights selling and transferring, was established in order to overcome lack of market data and experiences in land transaction. The benchmark prices of land use rights are determined by land use, land use density (floor-land ratio), land grades, land improvement, and tenant resettlement costs. This paper first conducts a formal analysis based on modern urban economic theory. The formal model provides a theoretical foundation in which the benchmark land price system is assessed and evaluated in terms of land use and urban development. The paper then concludes that the benchmark price system has two theoretical problems. One is associated with the fact that floor-land ratio plays an important role in land price determination whereas the theory suggests the other way around. That is, floor-land ratio depends on land prices. The other problem is that the benchmark land price system does not provide adequate room for the substitution between land and capital inputs. The substitution is a key in achieving land use efficiency in land markets and urban development process. It is concluded that the practice of the benchmark land price system is at odd with reforms that aim to introduce market principles and mechanism to guide resource uses. Therefore, it is recommended that further land policy reform should be taken.

Response of ecosystem service value to land use/cover change in the northern slope economic belt of the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, China

Land use/cover change(LUCC)is becoming more and more frequent and extensive as a result of human activities,and is expected to have a major impact on human welfare by altering ecosystem service value(ESV).In this study,we utilized remote sensing images and statistical data to explore the spatial-temporal changes of land use/cover types and ESV in the northern slope economic belt of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China from 1975 to 2018.During the study period,LUCC in the study region varied significantly.Except grassland and unused land,all the other land use/cover types(cultivated land,forestland,waterbody,and construction land)increased in areas.From 1975 to 2018,the spatial-temporal variations in ESV were also pronounced.The total ESV decreased by 4.00×10^(8) CNY,which was primarily due to the reductions in the areas of grassland and unused land.Waterbody had a much higher ESV than the other land use/cover types.Ultimately,understanding the impact of LUCC on ESV and the interactions among ESV of different land use/cover types will help improve existing land use policies and provide scientific basis for developing new conservation strategies for ecologically fragile areas.