Urbanisation and Land Use Change

Abstract

Urbanisation is one of the major driving forces behind the formation of today's land use systems. It almost always involves the conversion of land use from non-urban to urban uses. A great deal of contemporary urbanisation has been characterised as urban sprawl, i.e. a highly extensive form of land take for urban uses having environmentally detrimental effects. However, urban land use change can occur in relatively diverse forms in terms of layout, building density and speed of change, to name but a few aspects. In recent decades, researchers have made substantial progress in empirically addressing the various forms of urban land use and its change over time. As a consequence, the global dimension of urbanisation-related land use change is now on the agenda of policymakers and researchers worldwide. In order to provide an overview of the many geographical, environmental, sociological and political aspects that are relevant with respect to urban land use change, this contribution strives to make (1) some conceptual clarification regarding the notions associated with urban land use change, before (2) highlighting its (economic, social and political) drivers, as well as its (3) impacts. The text then moves on to (4) briefly systematising the instruments and strategies that have been put in place to cope with urban land use change. Finally, (5), we reflect on the current state of the art regarding research and policies on urban land use change.

Enhancing Capacity Building for Urban Transformation as a Means to Close the Planning–Implementation Gap in Europe and China

“…. Some scholars have presented evidence that the institutional fragmentation of local authorities could be another important factor explaining the rate and pattern of land consumption" (Nuissl and Siedentop 2021).…”

Urban Sustainability and Social Integration in Cities in Europe and China&mdash;<br />An Introduction

“…Besides the widespread land conversion, due to a number of reasons, all over Europe (Nuissl and Siedentop 2021), there are two clusters of high-sprawl in Europe. The first is located in north-eastern France, Belgium, The Netherlands and parts of western Germany.…”

Social Cost&ndash;Benefit Analysis&mdash;Supporting Urban Planning and Governance for Enhancing Social Integration

“…In some countries, landscape-oriented instruments have been used to demarcate urban growth boundaries, such as green corridors or green belts (Nuissl and Siedentop 2021). For example, this planning strategy was part of the post-war approaches in English regional policies to protect farmland and separate conurbations (Horn 2015).…”