Spatial differences of Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)among counties(cities)on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains

The county(city)located on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains is the primary area to solidify and extend the success of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China in poverty alleviation.Its Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)are intertwined with the concerted economic and social development of Xinjiang and the objective of achieving shared prosperity within the region.This study established a sustainable development evaluation framework by selecting 15 SDGs and 20 secondary indicators from the United Nations’SDGs.The aim of this study is to quantitatively assess the progress of SDGs at the county(city)level on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains.The results indicate that there are substantial variations in the scores of SDGs among the nine counties and one city located on the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains.Notable high scores of SDGs are observed in the central and eastern regions,whereas lower scores are prevalent in the western areas.The scores of SDGs,in descending order,are as follows:62.22 for Minfeng County,54.22 for Hotan City,50.21 for Qiemo County,42.54 for Moyu County,41.56 for Ruoqiang County,41.39 for Qira County,39.86 for Lop County,38.25 for Yutian County,38.10 for Pishan County,and 36.87 for Hotan County.The performances of SDGs reveal that Hotan City,Lop County,Minfeng County,and Ruoqiang County have significant sustainable development capacity because they have three or more SDGs ranked as green color.However,Hotan County,Moyu County,Qira County,and Yutian County show the poorest performance,as they lack SDGs with green color.It is important to establish and enhance mechanisms that can ensure sustained income growth among poverty alleviation beneficiaries,sustained improvement in the capacity of rural governance,and the gradual improvement of social security system.These measures will facilitate the effective implementation of SDGs.Finally,this study offers a valuable support for governmental authorities and relevant departments in their decision-making processes.In addition,these results hold significant reference value for assessing SDGs at the county(city)level,particularly in areas characterized by low levels of economic development.

Integration of Transport and Land Use Planning by Transit-Oriented Development for Economic Sustainability of the Standard Gauge Railway Projects in Tanzania

Tanzania is one of the countries in Africa that has engaged in the projects for construction of the electrified Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). However, lack of integration of transportation and land-use planning threatens economic sustainability of the SGR project. This study was carried out for the purpose of finding-out how transportation can be integrated with land-use planning for economic sustainability of the project. The study was carried-out by using qualitative research approach through demonstration as case study. Findings show that construction of the SGR is not integrated with land-use planning around the stations and along the SGR corridor. It is concluded that economic sustainability of the SGR projects can be achieved by integration of transport and land-use planning. As demonstrated, it is recommended to deliberate for integration of transportation and land-use planning in the SGR projects of which the prime land within Transit Stations can be efficiently used by using Transit Oriented Development and secure more land for production activities around the Transit Stations and along the SGR corridor.

Climate change, water resources and sustainable development in the arid and semi-arid lands of Central Asia in the past 30 years

The countries of Central Asia are collectively known as the five "-stans": Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. In recent times, the Central Asian region has been affected by the shrinkage of the Aral Sea, widespread desertification, soil salinization, biodiversity loss, frequent sand storms, and many other ecological disasters. This paper is a review article based upon the collection, identification and collation of previous studies of environmental changes and regional developments in Central Asia in the past 30 years. Most recent studies have reached a consensus that the temperature rise in Central Asia is occurring faster than the global average. This warming trend will not only result in a higher evaporation in the basin oases, but also to a significant retreat of glaciers in the mountainous areas. Water is the key to sustainable development in the arid and semi-arid regions in Central Asia. The uneven distribution, over consumption, and pollution of water resources in Central Asia have caused severe water supply problems, which have been affecting regional harmony and development for the past 30 years. The widespread and significant land use changes in the 1990 s could be used to improve our understanding of natural variability and human interaction in the region. There has been a positive trend of trans-border cooperation among the Central Asian countries in recent years. International attention has grown and research projects have been initiated to provide water and ecosystem protection in Central Asia. However, the agreements that have been reached might not be able to deliver practical action in time to prevent severe ecological disasters. Water management should be based on hydrographic borders and ministries should be able to make timely decisions without political intervention. Fully integrated management of water resources, land use and industrial development is essential in Central Asia. The ecological crisis should provide sufficient motivation to reach a consensus on unified water management throughout the region.

Shape Analysis of Agricultural Parcels for Land Consolidation Priorities in Tekirdag Province,Turkey

Shape irregularity,a sub-factor of parcel fragmentation is a problem that hinders sustainable agriculture and is solved using land consolidation projects.Determination of the parcel shape degree contributes significantly to spatial prioritization where there is also a high probability of achieving positive effects of consolidation projects.This study aims to determine the shape degree of the agricultural parcels both at singular and rural county scales in Tekirdag Province,Turkey in 2020 by combining the parcel shape index(PSI) with the minimum bounding geometry index(MBG) to improve parcel scores.Hot-spot zones of the highly irregular and near optimum parcels were also determined using Getis-Ord G_(i)^(*) statistic.The parcel degrees were classified into four categories,namely highly irregular,irregular,regular and near optimum.The obtained unweighted scores of the parameters exhibit deviations from the expected values.After weighting by pairwise comparison,the values approached ideal scores.Among 346 740 parcels,53% were highly irregular and irregular and 47% were regular and near optimum shapes after weighting whereas these were 70% and 30%,respectively before weighting.The average parcel degree of 63 rural counties was regular while the average parcel degree of the remaining 264 rural counties was irregular.The combined use of PSI and MBG index improved the correctness of the parcel shape score.It could be suggested to use as a tool in land consolidation prioritization.

Sustainable Development and Restoring the Landscape after Coal Mining in the Northern Part of the Czech Republic

Coal mining has an impact on the countryside and landscape where the exploitation of the mineral occurs, particularly with regard to the way it is mined, the technology used, the surface area, and the shape of the coalfield and extent of mining. The impact of mining, which is predominantly negative, is gradually being eliminated today in accordance with applicable laws by applying knowledge and experience and with the help of a variety of reclamation and revitalization activities. The newly created landscape gives the area new value and opportunity for use. The process of restoring a landscape after coal mining should be primarily guided by the principle of sustainable development to ensure that a balance of the social, economic and environmental aspects is achieved. This article discusses the theoretical basis of the individual possibilities for restoring the landscape in such a way that the anthropogenic formations caused by coal mining are best incorporated into the surrounding landscape and likewise meet the social and economic needs of society. A model area can be found in the northern part of the Czech Republic that has been scarred by coal strip mining for nearly 200 years, but the adverse effects on the landscape have been successfully smoothed over by reclamation methods.

Construction of the Classification and Grading Index System of Cultivated Land Based on the Viewpoint of Sustainable Development

In order to objectively and reasonably evaluate the actual and potential value of cultivated land, both social and ecological values are introduced into the classification and grading index system of cultivated land based on the viewpoint of sustainable development, after considering the natural and economic values of cultivated land. Index system construction of the sustainable utilization of cultivated land should follow the principles of economic viability, social acceptability, and ecological protection. Classification of cultivated land should take into account the soil fertility of cultivated land. Then, grading of cultivated land is carried out from the practical productivity (or potential productivity) of cultivated land. According to the existing classification index system of cultivated land, the soil, natural and environmental factors in plains, mountains and hills are mainly modified in the classification index system of cultivated land. And index systems for the cultivated land classification in plains, mountains and hills are set up. The grading index system of cultivated land is established based on the economic viability (economic value), social acceptability (social value) and protection of cultivated land (ecological value). Quantitative expression of cultivated land grading index is also carried out.

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.

Discussions on the Land Consolidation to Promote Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation in Binchuan County of Yunnan Province

Land consolidation is an important way to improve the conditions of agricultural production and promote poverty alleviation and development in poor areas. This paper attempts to take Binchuan County of Yunnan Province as an example to explore the main practices,typical experiences and achievements of land consolidation in promoting poverty alleviation and development,so as to provide evidence for further development of relevant policies. It is found that in recent years,through the construction of rural production and living facilities,increase of employment for farmers in poor areas,promotion of the development of special industrial area and other measures,Binchuan County has effectively used the land consolidation platform,and has made outstanding achievements in poverty alleviation and development,so as to improve agricultural production conditions,improve the level of agricultural production,increase farmers' income,speed up the pace of poverty reduction,strengthen ecological protection and promote the sustainable development of economy and society. However,there are still some problems in the land consolidation,which need to be paid attention to and solved in the struggle against poverty.

The development rule of man-land relationship and sustainable development for the artifi cial oasis in the east of north slopes of Tianshan Mountain

The paper researches on the pattern of man-land relationship of artif icial oasis in the east of north Tian-shan Mountain, the development of Qitai artif icial oasis and its relationship with environment, analyzes the factors in? uencing the change of Qitai artifi cial oasis and economic growth through grey analysis, and suggests the ap-proaches of sustainable development of Qitai artifi cial oasis. Research shows that the pattern of artif icial oasis and its environment had gone through three phases: the relatively harmonious stage, the unharmonious stage, and the new fragile balance stage. It also shows that the garden and the shelter-forest are useful to the sustainable develop-ment of Qitai oasis according to grey analysis.

Relationship between Sustainable Land Use and Rural Economic Development:A Case Study of Meining Village,Pingma Town in Guangxi

For a long time,rural economic development has put economic benefits in the first place,ignoring the impact of unreasonable land use on local land resources and ecological environment,which is not conducive to the long-term high-quality development of local economy and sustainable land use.There is an urgent need to study the relationship between sustainable land use and rural economic development in order to achieve the coordinated development of the two.By using the methods of literature research and field investigation,this paper studies Meining Village,Tiandong County,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.The study found that farmers tend to plant pure eucalyptus forest,single land use structure,short-term rotation planting model and traditional afforestation and land preparation technology are not conducive to sustainable land use in forest areas,and affected by economic and educational factors,farmers livelihood is relatively simple,so the development of rural economy will be restricted.In view of the above problems,this paper puts forward the following solutions:changing the land use model of Meining Village to promote sustainable land use;introducing advanced science and technology and diversified livelihood ways to promote the sustainable development of rural economy;building a virtuous circle of sustainable land use and rural economic development.

Analysis on the Spatio-Temporal Changes of Sustainable Land Use in Tibet

By constructing evaluation indicator system of sustainable land use of Tibet from three aspects of ecological environment, economic development, resources and social advancement, this article studies the following contents respectively in two dimensions of time and space： the changes of sustainable land use of Tibet in recent 20 years and spatial characteristics of sustainable land use of Tibet in 2002. The following conclusions can be drawn from evaluation results .① With regard to com- prehensive evaluation value of sustainable land use, the trend of Tibet sustainable land use evaluation values from 1983 to 2002 are very close to the comprehensive evaluation values of ecological environment, which is up trend; ② sustainable utilization degree of land use in eastern region of Tibet is much higher than that of western region. ③ the sustainable land use evaluation value of Nyingtri County is the highest, and the counties with relatively higher land sustainable use values include Lhasa, Lhoka, Chamdo. While Nakchu, Ngari, Shigatse counties have the relatively lower evaluation values; ④ By analyzing each evaluation indicator＇s weight on sustainable land use, it can be concluded that the key limiting factors of sustainable Tibet land resource utilization are land desertification, grassland degradation and low economic level.

Organic Agriculture: The Inevitable Choice for the Sustainable Development of Agriculture

The current situation of farmland utilization in China was analyzed firstly, and then cost of fertilizer misuse leading to decrease of cultivat- ed land in quality was discussed. Finally, it is concluded that organic agriculture is the inevitable choice for the sustainable development of agricul- ture from the meaning, advantages and countermeasures of developing organic agriculture in China.

Optimal allocation of land resources in the process of economic development

In this paper,the writer uses a mathematical model to analyze:a theoretical model of land resources optimal allocation with the constraint of sustainable development;equilibrium and defects of land resources allocation in a competitive market;and how effective governmental supervision can change the equilibrium in the market and promote the optimization of land resources allocation.The main points of this paper are:continuous and excessive conversions that change land resources from agricultural use to non-agricultural use in the process of economic development are economic rules;a competitive market is an important way to improve the efficiency of land resources allocation;effective governmental supervision can cover the shortage of market and promote the optimization of land resources allocation;a reasonable arrangement of land property rights can reduce the transaction costs of government management in optimizing land resources allocation;and,the targets of land resources optimal allocation are developing along with economic development.

Permanent Grasslands in an Anthropogenically Burdened Region,and Their Contribution to Sustainable Development

The landscape of the northern part of the Czech Republic (the Chomutov, Most, Teplice and ústí nad Labem districts) has long been burdened by the surface mining of brown coal. Within the reclamation and restoration processes, the anthropogenic formations which were created have been successfully integrated into the surrounding landscape. One of the important regional elements which have been utilized during the regeneration is permanent grasslands (PGL). They are of considerable importance not only for cattle grazing, but also for the preservation of the region’s biodiversity and protection of the soil. The contribution deals with the production and non-production functions of permanent grasslands in the landscape, and their significance within the scope of the permanently sustainable development of an anthropogenically burdened region. Permanent grasslands are part of the agricultural landscape, but their significance is multifunctional, because they not only provide an environment for cattle grazing, but also protect soil, the nutrient cycle and the microclimate, and preserve biodiversity. At the same time, the article analyzes in detail the development of this vegetation in the area of interest-Northern Bohemia. During the period of the greatest mining boom (1967-1990), its rapid decrease-by as much as 4500 ha-was recorded in some areas. Since the year 1990, there has been a significant growth in the most damaged areas. At present, the development of PGLs has stabilized.

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.

Potential impacts of climate and anthropogenic-induced changes on DOM dynamics among the major Chinese rivers

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is closely linked to human activities in drainage basins and plays a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem functioning and reflecting environmental quality. However, the impacts of climate and anthropogenic-induced changes on DOM in riverine systems under increasingly warming conditions still need to be better understood, particularly at large regional scales. To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed a dataset containing 386 published measurements for nine major Chinese river systems, examining dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and optical properties of chromophoric DOM (CDOM) under diverse envi- ronmental conditions, including mean air temperature, precipitation, surface solar radiation, population density, and land use. Our findings indicate that riverine DOC concentrations are significantly higher in northern China (at ∼46.8%) than in the south. This disparity is primarily due to the high input of soil erosion-induced DOM from drying-affected lands (57.0%), farmland (49.1%), and forests in the north. The high temperate and strong hydrological conditions would lead to DOM degradation easily in the riverine system in the south of China. Our study highlights that various climatic and anthropogenic factors, such as agriculture, vegetation coverage, soil erosion, surface solar radiation, and precipitation, individually or in combination, can affect DOM dynamics in river systems. Therefore, considering alterations in DOM dynamics resulting from climate and environmental changes is crucial for carbon-neutral policies and sustainable river ecosystem assessments.

Analysis on Land Development and Consolidation in Mountainous Area——Land Development and Consolidation Project in Haiba Village of Fengjie County

The paper describes the land use situation in the project area from two aspects. Firstly, natural situation (landscape, temperature, soil hydrology, natural disasters); secondly, land use situation (land use structure, project construction scale, land area of different vegetation classes). Through the research on the land development and consolidation of Haiba Village of Fengjie County, the project is concluded and the implementation cases of the project are reduced from the following six aspects: land leveling project, water conservancy and irrigation, farmland road engineering, project management system, project funds management and completion and delivery of construction project. Besides, the social, ecological and economic interests obtained by the projects are analyzed, so as to provide reference for promoting land development and consolidation in the future.

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.

Impact of Climate and Land-Use Changes on Water Security for Agriculture in Northern China

North China is the most important food basket of China, where the majority of wheat and corn are produced. Most crops grown in North China are irrigated, thus water security is food security. Since the 1980s, drying has been frequently observed, as shown by a reduction in precipitation, cutoff in riverflow, and shrinkage of lakes. This increase in drying cannot be explained by climate change alone. We propose that intensive land-use in this area in recent decades has had a significant impact. The objectives of the study are to develop a quantitative model of the concurrent processes of climate change and land-use in North China, and to estimate the relative contributions of each on the observed drying. We integrated relevant socioeconomic data, land-use data, and climate data in the model, and carried out a detailed multi-temporal （decade, year, day） analysis. Results showed that land-use has greatly changed since 1999. This change is mainly associated with an extremely important 1999 national policy of ＂returning farmland and grazing land to forest and grassland＂. We found an interesting interaction between climate change and land use policy on riverflow, runoff, and evapotranspiration. During 1970s and 1980s, climate change explained more than 80%, while the land-use change explained only 10% of the riverflow change. The relative contributions were 45 and 45% in the 1980s-1990s and 35 and 55% in the 1990s-2000s respectively for climate change and land-use change. Since the 1990s land-use change has also contributed more to runoff change than climate change. The opposite trend was found for changes in evapotranspiration. Water availability for agriculture in northern China is simultaneously stressed by extensive changes in land-use and rapid climate change. Adaptation of ecological principles, such as the ＂returning farmland/grazing land to forest and grassland＂ policy, and other adjustments of economic developmental strategies can be effective tools to mitigate the water shortage problem in northern China and promote sustainable agricultural and food development.

Analysis of Urban Land Use and Land Cover Change for Sustainable Development: A Case of Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Inventories on land use/cover changes are assessed at increasing importance in various sectors, like agriculture, settlement, environmental studies and urban planning. This research was carried out to analyse the changes in urban land use/cover of Lafia for the years 1986, 2000 and 2014. Remotely sensed data from Landsat TM and Nigeria sat 8 were classified using GIS technique, to which six categories of land use/cover were identified such as: bare surfaces, built up areas, cultivated lands, rocky outcrops, vegetation cover and wetlands. Population data of the study area for 1986, 2000 and 2014 were also used to compare the relationship between population growth and landuse/cover changes in the study area using descriptive statistics. The result revealed an increase in built up areas from 1.56% to 15% between 1986 and 2014 while vegetation cover showed decrease: from 25% in 1986 to 12% in 2014. Cultivated lands increased from 56% in 1986 to 67% in 2014. Others classes such as: bare surfaces decreased, as wetlands and rock outcrops seem to be fluctuated. Therefore results from the analyses indicate a general change in landcover for the periods under this study. This study recommends that: there is a need to monitor the changes that occurred on land use so as to provide proper planning and effective management of the land resources in a sustainable manner.