Testing of Decision Making Tools for Village Land Use Planning and Natural Resources Management in Kilimanjaro Region

This paper focuses on participatory testing of decision making tools (DMTs) at village level to assist in development of land use plans (LUPs) for sustainable land management (SLM) in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Data were collected using conditional surveys through key informant interviews with the project’s district stakeholders in each district, focused group discussions with selected villagers and participatory mapping of natural resources. Soil health, land degradation, carbon stock, and hydrological conditions were assessed in the seven pilot villages in all seven districts using DMTs as part of testing and validation. Results indicated soils of poor to medium health, and land degradation as portrayed by gullies and wind erosion in lowlands and better in uplands. Carbon and forest disturbance status could not be assessed using one-year data but hydrological analysis revealed that water resources were relatively good in uplands and poor in the lowlands. Challenges with regard to land use include increased gully erosion, decreased stream flow, reduced vegetation cover due to shifting from coffee with tree sheds to annual crops farming, cultivation near water sources, and overgrazing. Empowering the community with decision making tools at village level is essential to ensure that village land uses are planned in a participatory manner for sustainable land and natural resources management in Kilimanjaro and other regions in Tanzania.

Soil Health and Sustainable Land Resource Management Practices at Municipal Level: A Case from Bheri Nagarpalika (Municipality), Jajorkot District, Nepal

The increasing challenges of pressure and ever-growing demands on limited resources in Nepal by diverse actors,land degradation,biodiversity loss and climate change require the rational use of land resources to sustain and enhance productivity and maintain resilient ecosystems for achieving the sustainable and efficient use of resources,taking into account biophysical and socioeconomic dimensions.Regarding this,Nepal Government has realized and taken initiation of scientific and sustainable land use zoning following the National Land Use Act 2019(2076 B.S.)to use land resources in practicable and sustainable manner.Using spatial information techniques such asZ-3 satellite image,remote sensing(RS),global positioning system(GPS)and geographic information system(GIS).Multicriteria decision making(MCDM)methods for acquiring spatial/temporal data,through expert judgment techniques based on field observation as well as laboratory analysis result,it was found that the soil nutrient status of,the municipality varied spatially and has pH with very high acidic to slightly alkaline but most of the soils are slightly acidic(39.58%).Majority of the soil are loam and sandy loam type with very low to high level of organic matter.Most of the municipal area is under medium range of organic matter.Nitrogen content ranges from very low to very high level as to same ranges of phosphorous(37.69%).Potassium level is also in very high to low as 37 percent land area has high level of potassium.Reclamation of acidic soil mainly in leachable soil is recommended with the proper management of Nitrogen with addition of organic matter is needed to manage for improving crop production.

Assessing the Effects of Land-Use and Land Cover Change and Topography on Soil Fertility in Melka Wakena Catchment of Sub-Upper Wabe-Shebelle Watershed, South Eastern Ethiopia

This study was conducted in Melka Wakena catchment;south eastern Ethiopia to assess land use/cover change (LULCC) and topographic elevation effect on selected soil quality/fertility parameters. 144 soil samples collected from 0 - 30 cm depth under three land cover types across three elevation gradients were analysed for selected soil quality/fertility parameters. Data were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and mean comparisons were made using Least Significant Difference (LSD). The soil properties examined generally showed significant variations with respect to land-use/land cover changes and elevation. Soil particles, soil organic carbon, total N, pH, available phosphorus, potassium and calcium content significantly decreased as forestland is converted into cropland/grassland. Heaviest soil deterioration was recorded in soils under cropland and followed by grassland soils. The conversion of natural forest to different land uses without proper soil conservation and management practices resulted in the overall decline of soil fertility quality. Thus, integrated land resource management approach is indispensable for sustaining agricultural productivity and the environmental health of the Melka Waken a catchment.

Interpretation of Trends in Land Transformations—A Case of Green Heart Region (The Netherlands)

The sprawl-versus-containment debate relates to many different aspects of the broad concept of sustainability, and as such the answers found by research are rarely decisive, compact cities have advantages in some respects, but disadvantages in others. The present study focuses on the patterns of urbanization process in Netherlands as a whole and within the “Green Heart” in particular. The present study finds over the last decades, the Green Heart is under attack from suburbanization of larger and smaller settlements as several political concessions have been made to local development needs. The Green Heart is also affected by the construction of new roads and railway lines. This infrastructure is built for tangential transport of an increasing volume of commuters. The spatial policies for preserving green spaces suffer from a dilemma between two contradicting functions of green space in a regional context: to be a separator of urban and rural areas and to be an integrator towards the Regional City of “Green Metropolis”.

The Effect of Land Cover Change on Flooding in Texas

The world population has been increasing while, similarly, both the number of environmental disasters and the loss resulting from those have been on the rise. It is also expected that the trend will continue. Especially, what is noticeable is that more and more people and property concentrate on cities. In fact, urbanization is a major global trend simply because most people want to get their jobs, raise and educate their children, and enjoy riches of diverse cultures, recreation activities, and entertainment, which cities can provide to them. Urbanization always involves transforming the natural environment into a man-made environment, contributing to changes in land use and land cover patterns as well as in landscape and hydrology in the built-up areas. These changes, in turn, negatively influence the natural environment because those changes almost always tend to result in the disruption of its fragile ecosystems in balance. In addition, the changes mean the land used, for example, for a natural ecosystem may be converted into an impervious land, which can increase human vulnerability to floods, causing human and property losses. There has been some research done to investigate the relationship between land use/land cover change and environmental hazards. However, little research has been conducted to test direct effects of land cover change on environmental disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and hazardous material releases by using GIS and remote sensing technologies. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze the effect of land cover change on floods. More specifically, the research tested whether land cover change is related to flood disasters in Texas from 1993 to 2012. One of the main findings of this research is that both decrease in forest areas and increase in urban built-up areas contributed to the property damage resulting from flood events.

Analyzing Urban Expansion and Spatial Growth Patterns in Barahathawa Municipality of Central Tarai Region, Nepal

The rapid transformation of rural settlements into municipalities in Ne­pal has brought significant changes in land use,and urban expansion and growth patterns mostly through the conversion of agricultural land into the built-up area.The issue is studied taking a case of the rapidly growing town,Barahathawa Municipality of Tarai Region of Sarlahi District.After the declaration of the municipality,several new roads have been opened and upgraded;and the municipality is well-connected to the national transportation network.After promulgated the Constitution of Nepal 2015 and functioning the elected local body,the municipality budget has been increased significantly as a result of increasing municipal investment in so­cio-economic and physical infrastructure development and environmental protection which has attracted people,goods,and services creating the zone of influence on the municipality.One of the changes found in the munici­pality is the increasing built-up area and expansion of urban growth through the decreasing agricultural land.Urban growth has been observed taking place around the Barahathawa Bazaar and main roadsides.The built-up area in Barahathawa municipality has remarkably increased by 183percent with the decrease of shrub and agricultural land within 10 years.Implica­tions of such spatial and temporal dynamics have been a core issue of urban planning in most of the newly declared municipalities in Nepal.

Exploring complex urban growth and land use efficiency in China's developed regions:implications for territorial spatial planning

Developed regions in China have experienced rapid urban expansion and have consequently induced a series of challenging environmental issues since its economic reform and opening-up.Taking Zhejiang as a case study area,the present paper explores the complex types of urban growth over the last four decades as well as land use efficiency.Moreover,it discusses the implications of the aforementioned on China national territorial spatial planning(TSP).The acquired results have shown that:1)urban expansion has slowed down,exhibiting a three-stage trend of"slight increase(1980-1990)—dramatic growth(1990-2010)—slow growth(after 2010)";2)the complex types of urban growth reveal that the urban diffusion has been gradually controlled and the urban form tends to be more condensed;and 3)the mean values for pure technical efficiency(PTE)and scale efficiency(SE)of urban land use are 0.83 and 0.95 respectively,indicating PTE as the main factor restricting the improvement of urban land use.Based on these results,some beneficial policy implications and suggestions for TSP are provided.First,it is suggested that"Inventory Planning"will be the main direction of TSP other than"Incremental Planning".Secondly,we should pay more attention to the protection of cultivated land and ecological resources.Lastly,TSP should guide the economic growth away from simply relying on resource inputs and steer it toward technology and capital investment.

Urban Land Use Classifcation Linked to Planning Management

By analyzing the applicability of the new Code for Classification of Urban Land Use and Planning Standards of Development Land from the angle of planning management,this paper points out the conflicts between the planning and land use management institutions.Referring to the experience of land use control in the US and the UK through zoning and case law respectively,this paper puts forward that the urban land use classification should take into consideration the characteristics of the actual urban planning system and the possibility of mixed land use due to the uncertainty of urban development,and be linked to the institutions of planning and land supply management.

Characteristics and progress of land use/cover change research during 1990-2018

Land use/cover change(LUCC)is the foundation and frontier for integrating multiple land surface processes.This paper aims to systematically review LUCC research from 1990 to 2018.Based on qualitative and quantitative analyses,we delineated the history of LUCC research and summarized their characteristics and major progress at different stages.We also identified the main challenges and proposed future directions for LUCC research.We found that the number of publications on LUCC research and their total citations grew exponentially.The research foci shifted from the process of LUCC during 1990-2004 to the impact of LUCC during 2005-2013 and then to the sustainability of LUCC from 2014 onwards.Currently,LUCC research is facing theoretical,methodological and practical challenges ranging from integrating the framework of sustainability science,adopting emerging technologies to supporting territorial spatial planning.To move forward,LUCC research should be closely integrated with landscape sustainability science and geodesign and take the leading role in territorial spatial planning to achieve the related Sustainable Development Goals.

Evaluating Land Use and Emergency Management Plans for Natural Hazards as a Function of Good Governance:A Case Study from New Zealand

Plan evaluation is of utmost importance as a function of good governance. It provides a means to improve the institutional basis for implementing land use controls, provides an important opportunity to improve future plans to reduce risk, and improves the vision for sustainable development and management. This article provides an overview of the methods and findings of a plan evaluation project undertaken in New Zealand. The project analyzed 99 operative plans, provided in-depth analysis of ten plans, and included a capability and capacity study of councils. This is the first time all operative plans in New Zealand have had their natural hazard provisions assessed in this manner. The information provides an important baseline for future policy improvements, and a basis for future research and policy directions. The project found that, while New Zealand land use plans appear to be improving over time, there are still opportunities for improvement. These include improving linkages between objectives, policies, and rules within land use plans; and strengthening the linkages between land use and emergency management plans. The largest challenge is the accessibility, understanding of, and updating of hazard information.

Comparison of Digital Maps: Recognition and Quantitative Measure of Changes

A new methodology of comparing digital raster maps was proposed which allows not only detecting changes in the maps, but also obtaining quantitative measures of the importance of selected differences. Procedure of object interpretation of satellite images and forming of OMT (Object Map of Territory) is described. A list of allowable differences between two OMTs is defined. Two steps technique of quantitative measuring is proposed. At the first stage functions are constructed for calculating local measures of differences in the amount, areas and locations of objects on the map, as well as relations between the objects. In the second stage local measures are used to calculate the integral measure in order to get generalized assessment of difference between maps. The methods for constructing functions which calculate local and integral measures of differences are described. Examples of comparing and measuring the differences between OMTs are provided. Obtained results by utilizing this technique can be used to analyze trends, forecast of development and might be helpful for choosing most efficient scenarios for sustainable spatial planning and land management.

Measures for Management of Land Use Master Plan Released

On May 8,2017,the Measures for Management of Land Use Master Plan was released for enforcement by the Ministry of Land and Resources.The Measures clearly points out that a land use master plan is an essential part of the national spatial planning system and an important basis for implementing land use modes control and management,

规划管控约束下耕地细碎化评价与整治分区

科学评估耕地细碎化治理的适宜性与必要性,并进行合理的整治分区有利于耕地资源的高效利用与空间布局,促进三生空间协调发展。该研究以典型山区县及资源型城市江西省德兴市为例,基于村域尺度,从生产适宜性、空间集聚性、管控约束性3个视角构建评价体系,采用多因素综合叠加评价法对耕地细碎化进行评价,借助三维魔方空间分类法开展整治分区研究。结果表明:1)各村耕地资源生产适宜性良好,均值为0.558;空间集聚性一般,均值为0.350;管控约束性标准差大于均值,各村差异较大;耕地细碎化治理适宜性较高,均值为0.711。2)统筹评价结果将德兴市划分为高质保障区、综合整治区、设施优化区、集约整合区以及现状维持区5区,基于各区生产适宜性、空间集聚性与管控约束性差异制定差别化整治措施与治理策略。研究结果可为耕地细碎化整治提供有益的参考借鉴。

2023 年土地科学研究重点进展评述及2024 年展望

研究目的:总结2023年国内外土地科学研究的重点进展,展望2024年中国土地科学的发展趋势及《中国土地科学》重点关注方向。研究方法:文献调查法。研究结果:2023年国内研究重点关注耕地保护与非粮化治理、土地要素市场化配置、自然资源资产产权制度改革、宅基地“三权分置”、集体经营性建设用地入市、农地流转效应及政策延续、国土空间规划与治理、国土空间生态修复与保护、土地利用绿色低碳转型、全域土地综合整治等科学问题;国外研究重点关注土地产权与非正式制度、土地制度改革绩效、多资源协同配置与土地保护、土地再分配与农地整理、可持续的空间规划、多主体协同共治的土地管理等问题。研究结论:围绕严守资源安全底线、优化国土空间格局、推进绿色低碳发展、维护资源资产权益等科技需求,2024年《中国土地科学》将重点关注耕地资源安全与高水平保护、国土空间用途管制与生态保护修复、土地资源高效配置与绿色低碳利用、自然资源资产管理与农地制度改革等相关研究问题及选题方向。

基于“源-流-汇”理论的城区小微水体保护规划方法研究

小微水体是城市雨洪调蓄的重要空间。以提高城市雨洪韧性为目标,以小微水体为对象,基于“源-流-汇”理论提出了现状雨洪条件分析、“源-流-汇”空间识别与评价、小微水体保护建设引导的规划思路,从空间维度提出了小微水体的保护路径,避免了总量管控方法下的空间错配,并以安徽省蚌埠市中心城区为例进行了实例研究。以期为国土空间规划编制背景下小微水体布局和保护提供技术支撑,为城市水系保护提供参考。

测绘新技术在国土空间规划和管理中的应用

随着科技的进步,初探测绘新技术在国土空间规划和管理中发挥着越来越重要的作用,特别是在建筑工程领域正经历着前所未有的变革。激光扫描技术、全站仪技术、GPS测量技术、无人机测量技术、摄影测量技术等一系列新技术的引入,为建筑工程提供了前所未有的测量和监测手段。这些技术不仅提高了工作效率,而且显著提升了测量精度,使得建筑工程从规划到施工再到后期管理的各个环节都得到了极大的优化。本文详细探讨了这些新技术在建筑工程中的应用现状、优势以及面临的挑战,旨在为建筑工程领域的持续创新与发展提供参考。

“Three-Plan Integration”: Exploring the Order and Regulation Capacity of Spatial Planning

China's spatial planning system has a tradition of prioritizing vertical control over horizontal coordination, which leads to conflicts among various plans for one area. This has brought many problems to the spatial management of Chinese cities. Since socio-economic development plan, urban-rural plan, and land use plan are the three major elements of China's spatial planning system, conflicts among them can be taken as an intensified case of the system's problems, and the practice of three-plan integration should focus on bridging the gaps and solving conflicts among them, so as to eventually eliminate predicaments to China's spatial planning. Currently, due to influences of the actual law and governance systems, threeplan integration is largely a sort of government-led planning coordination dedicated to urban-rural spatial development. In the context of China's constantly deepened political and economic system reforms, three-plan integration, together with the extended multi-plan integration, will surely play an important role in the construction and exploration of China's spatial planning system.

国土空间陆海统筹规划策略与管控探索——以广东省为例

如何坚持陆海统筹,实现全域全要素是国土空间规划体系改革的重点任务之一。新时期国土空间规划编制中主要面临陆海统筹规划编制方法差异、陆海资源评价方法单一和海岸带管理制度不完善等问题,文章结合不同层级管理事权,提出了“保护、利用、特色”三位一体的陆海统筹模式、基本原则和管控思路,以及陆海统筹规划编制和空间管控体系等。从统一国土空间用途管制的角度入手,以广东省为例,通过对陆海统筹重点区域管控对象、管控内容、管控手段和实施效果的全面梳理,提出应该以生态保护和底线管控优先,创新陆海统筹区线管控机制、海洋生态环境保护制度、海岸带重点资源项目库、陆海使用权立体分层等管控方法。

面向可持续城市生态系统管理的国土空间开发适宜性评价——以烟台市为例

国土空间开发适宜性评价是国土空间规划编制的基础和前提。面向可持续城市生态系统管理目标,基于生态保护红线和永久基本农田的"底线"思维,以资源环境禀赋为基础,构建了本底约束-综合限制-承载力评价-多空间适宜评价的资源环境承载力和国土空间开发适宜性评价的逻辑框架和指标体系,并以烟台为例,设置城市生态系统保护的不同情景,综合运用特尔斐法及多要素空间叠置等方法,开展了城市资源环境承载力与国土空间开发适宜性评价的实践应用。研究结果表明:①资源环境对烟台经济社会发展的阻碍与限制总体较小,高限制区面积仅占烟台国土面积的6.09%。②烟台市不同区县之间的资源环境承载力差异较大。从西北部向东南,烟台市资源环境承载力呈现出逐渐提高的变化趋势。③面向可持续城市生态系统管理情景,烟台市各县市国土空间开发建设适宜性差异显著,适宜建设区范围为2380 km^2。面向城市生态系统一般保护情景,烟台市适宜建设区面积达2610 km^2,不适宜建设开发区与适宜建设开发区数量结构为1.12∶1,未来国土空间开发利用潜力较大。两种情景下烟台市国土空间开发适宜性适宜建设区面积均大于现状建设用地面积,为城市未来发展提供了用地保障,同时确保了烟台市水资源安全和生态安全。研究结果可为烟台市国土空间优化以及相关地区政府部门重大决策、战略部署等提供决策信息支持和技术服务。

国土空间视角下的海洋功能区划融入“多规合一”

为提高我国海洋空间规划和海域使用管理水平,文章以国土空间为视角,分析海洋功能区划融入“多规合一”的必要性、可行性和路径。研究结果表明:“多规合一”是基于对国土空间的统一分区和用途管制,对现有规划体系的有机融合、升级和重构;海洋功能区划是我国法律确定的海洋管理基本制度,在实现用海有度、有序和有规,保护海洋生态环境,促进海洋经济发展以及保障养殖用海空间等方面发挥重要作用;海洋功能区划的实施具有法律依据,其“综合分区+目标管控+用途管制”的核心理念与“多规合一”一致,分区分类方式有利于现有规划体系的衔接,在保护性、前瞻性和陆海统筹等方面的不足亟须在“多规合一”的过程中改进;“多规合一”可参考海洋功能区划实施的经验和教训,制定“一个规划”和“一套标准”。