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Urban Land Use and Environment Interactions: Evidence from Different Spatiotemporal Scales

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 21976

Special Issue Editors

School of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, China
Interests: spatial pattern; spatiotemporal heterogeneity; risk scanning; gis spatial analysis; historical land use; cancer epidemic; historical climate change; historical hydrology; historical city morphology

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Guest Editor
School of Tourism and Urban Management, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang 330013, China
Interests: urban ecology; urban environmental change; climate change and urban resilience; coastal zone ecology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urban areas are areas where human beings interact with the natural environment most strongly, and also the main activity areas for human production and life. Since the first cities in the world began to appear around 5000 years ago, urban land use has become an important driving force for humans to transform the surface environment. Environmental changes at different temporal and spatial scales also have a profound impact on the sustainable development of cities. Especially since the Industrial Revolution, changes in temperature and precipitation patterns caused by climate change have significantly changed the resilience of cities in the face of threats such as urban waterlogging, heat waves, and food supply. These changes mean that the academic community urgently needs to conduct environmental interaction research on urban land use patterns at different temporal and spatial scales as a roadmap for sustainable urban development and urban management. This Special Issue aims to conduct a more in-depth study of the process and pattern of human urban land use at various temporal and spatial scales, and the complex interactive effects of land use and the environment. In particular, the reconstruction of human historical land use and the analysis of its environmental effects on a long-term scale deserves further study. Scientists and researchers are encouraged to study urban land use and environmental interactions at different temporal and spatial scales combining various satellite remote sensing data, historical topographic maps, land archives, and other data sources with novel means such as Google Earth Engine, machine learning, and GIS platforms.

The potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Land use and land cover change;
  • Sustainable urban development;
  • Interaction between land use and environment;
  • Urban resilience;
  • Climate change;
  • Urban history;
  • Historical topographic map;
  • Land use reconstruction;
  • Urban ecosystem;
  • Urban landscape ecology;
  • Urban environment elements.

Dr. Zhiwei Wan
Dr. Lei He
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • land use/land cover
  • urban sustainable development
  • land use and environment interaction
  • historic land use reconstruction
  • urban resilience
  • urban landscape ecology

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 2665 KiB  
Article
The Relationship between Landscape Construction and Bird Diversity: A Bibliometric Analysis
by Yanqin Zhang, Enming Ye, Fan Liu, Ningjing Lai, Xianli You, Jianwen Dong and Jiaying Dong
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4551; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054551 - 3 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3739
Abstract
Urbanization development is the main cause of drastic habitat changes and biodiversity loss, and urban green space construction is one of the effective ways to mitigate biodiversity decay. The proper construction of urban green space landscapes can maintain or increase the resources provided [...] Read more.
Urbanization development is the main cause of drastic habitat changes and biodiversity loss, and urban green space construction is one of the effective ways to mitigate biodiversity decay. The proper construction of urban green space landscapes can maintain or increase the resources provided by urban biodiversity, especially bird diversity. This paper is based on 4112 papers published in this research area between 2002 and 2022, and CiteSpace was used to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the research area in terms of the number of articles published, the country or region of publication, core authors, and academic development. The paper systematically reviews the hotspots, history, and frontiers of research on landscape architecture and bird diversity. At the same time, the relationship between landscape construction and bird diversity is discussed in the context of landscape features, vegetation characteristics, and human behavioral activities. The results revealed: (1) research on the association between landscape camping and bird diversity received high priority from 2002 to 2022. Moreover, this research area has become a mature discipline. (2) Throughout the research history, there are four research hotspots (fundamental research on bird communities, influencing factors related to changes in bird community characteristics, research on bird activity rhythms, and ecological and ornamental values of birds), four development stages (2002–2004, 2005–2009, 2010–2015, and 2016–2022), and several research frontiers. (3) Our aim was to reasonably consider the activity characteristics of birds in future landscape construction, and to thoroughly study the landscape construction strategies and management principles for the harmonious coexistence of humans and birds. Full article
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18 pages, 5175 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Land Use Structure Change on Utilization Performance in Henan Province, China
by Yanqi Zhao, Yue Zhang, Ying Yang, Fan Li, Rongkun Dai, Jianlin Li, Mingshi Wang and Zhenhua Li
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4251; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054251 - 27 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1636
Abstract
Because of the trends in population growth and rapid industrialization and urbanization, the intensity and structure of land use are undergoing great changes. Henan Province is an important economic province and a major grain producing and energy consumption area, and its land use [...] Read more.
Because of the trends in population growth and rapid industrialization and urbanization, the intensity and structure of land use are undergoing great changes. Henan Province is an important economic province and a major grain producing and energy consumption area, and its land use plays a key role in the sustainable development of the whole of China. This study takes Henan Province as the research object, selects panel statistical data from 2010 to 2020, and discusses the land use structure (LUS) in Henan Province in terms of three aspects: information entropy, analysis of land use dynamic change, and land type conversion matrix. Based on the indicator system “social economy (SE)—ecological environment (EE)—agricultural production (AP)—energy consumption (EC)”, a land use performance (LUP) evaluation model was constructed to judge the performance of various land use types in Henan Province. Finally, the relational degree between LUS and LUP was calculated through the grey correlation. The results show that among the eight land use types in the study area since 2010, land used for water and water conservancy facilities increased by 4%. In addition, transport and garden land changed significantly, and was mainly converted from cultivated land (decreased by 6674 km2) and other land. From the perspective of LUP, the increase in ecological environment performance is the most obvious, while agriculture performance is lagging behind; it is worth paying attention to the energy consumption performance, which is decreasing year by year. There is an obvious correlation between LUS and LUP. LUS in Henan Province presents a gradually stable state, and the transformation of land types promotes LUP. Proposing an effective and convenient evaluation method to explore the relationship between LUS and LUP is very beneficial in helping stakeholders to actively focus more on optimizing land resource management and decision making for the coordinated and sustainable development among agricultural, socio-economic, eco-environmental, and energy systems. Full article
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16 pages, 3813 KiB  
Article
Environmental Adaptation in the Process of Human-Land Relationship in Southeast China’s Ethnic Minority Areas and Its Significance on Sustainable Development
by Zhi Zhang, Zhiwei Wan, Shan Xu, Hong Wu, Lingyue Liu, Zhao Chen and Ji Zeng
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(3), 2737; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032737 - 3 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2375
Abstract
The relationship between regional human development and geographic environment is the basis for dynamic social change, and studying the evolution of human-land relations in typical regions can provide background knowledge for global change studies. This study is based on GIS and spatio-temporal statistical [...] Read more.
The relationship between regional human development and geographic environment is the basis for dynamic social change, and studying the evolution of human-land relations in typical regions can provide background knowledge for global change studies. This study is based on GIS and spatio-temporal statistical techniques, combined with the analysis of toponymic cultural landscapes, to study ethnic minority regions of southeastern China. The results show that: (1) The geographical environment of the region will affect the naming of villages, and the orientation and family name are the most common; the frequency of plants, pit (keng), animals, and flat (ping) is also very high. (2) Han settlements and She settlements have obvious spatial differentiation, and in general the Han distribution area is lower than that of the She. Han settlements are mainly distributed in plain areas along rivers with elevations less than 200 m; She settlements are mainly distributed in hilly areas (200~500 m) and low mountain areas (500~800 m). (3) The results of quadrat analysis and nearest neighbor index analysis show that both Han and She settlements are clustered in the spatial distribution pattern, and the distribution of She settlements is more clustered than that of Han, with more dense settlements at a certain spatial scale. The regional cultural landscape is the result of the development and evolution of human-land relationship, and the comprehensive analysis of cultural landscape can understand the process of human-land relationship in a small region. The settlements in the region are indicative of the geographic environment in terms of village naming, spatial pattern, elevation differentiation and relationship with rivers, which can reflect the environmental adaptation process of human activities. Full article
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23 pages, 13065 KiB  
Article
Disparity and Spatial Heterogeneity of the Correlation between Street Centrality and Land Use Intensity in Jinan, China
by Guanwen Yin, Tianzi Liu, Yanbin Chen and Yiming Hou
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(23), 15558; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315558 - 23 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1798
Abstract
In the existing literature on the correlation between street centrality and land use intensity (LUI), only a few studies have explored the disparity of this correlation for different types of LUI and the differences across various locations. In response to the above shortcomings, [...] Read more.
In the existing literature on the correlation between street centrality and land use intensity (LUI), only a few studies have explored the disparity of this correlation for different types of LUI and the differences across various locations. In response to the above shortcomings, in this study, the main urban area of Jinan, China, was taken as an example, and the disparity and spatial heterogeneity of the correlation between street centrality and LUI were explored for different categories of land use. The multiple centrality assessment (MCA) model was used to calculate the closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, and straightness centrality of the traffic network. Based on the floor area ratio (FAR) of each parcel, the utilization intensities of the residential, industrial, commercial, and public service land uses were measured. Employing the kernel density estimation (KDE) method, the street centrality of the traffic network vis-à-vis the urban LUI was rasterized into the same spatial analysis framework. The Pearson correlation coefficient and geographically weighted regression (GWR) were used to measure the correlation between the two variables and the spatial heterogeneity of the correlation, respectively. The results showed that traffic network street centrality strongly correlated with the LUI of the residential, commercial, and public service land use types, but it had a very weak association with the LUI of industrial land use. The GWR results also confirmed the spatial heterogeneity of the correlation. The results of this research highlighted the important role of traffic network street centrality in understanding the urban spatial structure. The study also helped to explain the dynamic mechanism of the road network form and the topological structure of urban spatial evolution. Full article
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21 pages, 6187 KiB  
Article
Spatial and Temporal Variation of Land Surface Temperature and Its Spatially Heterogeneous Response in the Urban Agglomeration on the Northern Slopes of the Tianshan Mountains, Northwest China
by Xueling Zhang, Alimujiang Kasimu, Hongwu Liang, Bohao Wei and Yimuranzi Aizizi
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(20), 13067; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013067 - 11 Oct 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2434
Abstract
An in-depth study of the influence mechanism of oasis land surface temperature (LST) in arid regions is essential to promote the stable development of the ecological environment in dry areas. Based on MODIS, MYD11A2 long time series data from 2003 to 2020, the [...] Read more.
An in-depth study of the influence mechanism of oasis land surface temperature (LST) in arid regions is essential to promote the stable development of the ecological environment in dry areas. Based on MODIS, MYD11A2 long time series data from 2003 to 2020, the Mann–Kendall nonparametric test, the Sen slope, combined with the Hurst index, were used to analyze and predict the trend of LST changes in the urban agglomeration on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains. This paper selected nine influencing factors of the slope, aspect, air temperature, normalized vegetation index (NDVI), precipitation (P), nighttime light index (NTL), patch density (PD), mean patch area (AREA_MN), and aggregation index (AI) to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of LST from global and local perspectives using the geodetector (GD) model and multi-scale geo-weighted regression (MGWR) model. The results showed that the average LSTs of the urban agglomeration on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains in spring, summer, autumn, and winter were 31.53 °C, 47.29 °C, 22.38 °C, and −5.20 °C in the four seasons from 2003 to 2020, respectively. Except for autumn, the LST of all seasons showed an increasing trend, bare soil and grass land had a warming effect, and agricultural land had a cooling effect. The results of factor detection showed that air temperature, P, and NDVI were the dominant factors affecting the spatial variation of LST. The interaction detection results showed that the interaction between air temperature and NDVI was the most significant, and the two-factor interaction was more effective than the single-factor effect on LST. The MGWR model results showed that the effects of PD on LST were positively correlated, and the impact of AREA_MN and AI on LST were negatively correlated, indicating that the dense landscape of patches has a cooling effect on LST. Overall, this study provides information for managers to carry out more targeted ecological stability regulations in arid zone oases and facilitates the development of regulatory measures to maintain the cold island effect and improve the environment. Full article
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20 pages, 5584 KiB  
Article
Seasonal and Diurnal Variation of Land Surface Temperature Distribution and Its Relation to Land Use/Land Cover Patterns
by Ruirui Dong, Michael Wurm and Hannes Taubenböck
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 12738; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912738 - 5 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2385
Abstract
The surface urban heat island (SUHI) affects the quality of urban life. Because varying urban structures have varying impacts on SUHI, it is crucial to understand the impact of land use/land cover characteristics for improving the quality of life in cities and urban [...] Read more.
The surface urban heat island (SUHI) affects the quality of urban life. Because varying urban structures have varying impacts on SUHI, it is crucial to understand the impact of land use/land cover characteristics for improving the quality of life in cities and urban health. Satellite-based data on land surface temperatures (LST) and derived land use/cover pattern (LUCP) indicators provide an efficient opportunity to derive the required data at a large scale. This study explores the seasonal and diurnal variation of spatial associations from LUCP and LST employing Pearson correlation and ordinary least squares regression analysis. Specifically, Landsat-8 images were utilized to derive LSTs in four seasons, taking Berlin as a case study. The results indicate that: (1) in terms of land cover, hot spots are mainly distributed over transportation, commercial and industrial land in the daytime, while wetlands were identified as hot spots during nighttime; (2) from the land composition indicators, the normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) showed the strongest influence in summer, while the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) exhibited the biggest impact in winter; (3) from urban morphological parameters, the building density showed an especially significant positive association with LST and the strongest effect during daytime. Full article
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18 pages, 5924 KiB  
Article
Three-Dimensional Landscape Pattern Characteristics of Land Function Zones and Their Influence on PM2.5 Based on LUR Model in the Central Urban Area of Nanchang City, China
by Wenbo Chen, Fuqing Zhang, Saiwei Luo, Taojie Lu, Jiao Zheng and Lei He
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(18), 11696; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811696 - 16 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2066
Abstract
China’s rapid urbanization and industrialization process has triggered serious air pollution. As a main air pollutant, PM2.5 is affected not only by meteorological conditions, but also by land use in urban area. The impacts of urban landscape on PM2.5 become more [...] Read more.
China’s rapid urbanization and industrialization process has triggered serious air pollution. As a main air pollutant, PM2.5 is affected not only by meteorological conditions, but also by land use in urban area. The impacts of urban landscape on PM2.5 become more complicated from a three-dimensional (3D) and land function zone point of view. Taking the urban area of Nanchang city, China, as a case and, on the basis of the identification of urban land function zones, this study firstly constructed a three-dimensional landscape index system to express the characteristics of 3D landscape pattern. Then, the land-use regression (LUR) model was applied to simulate PM2.5 distribution with high precision, and a geographically weighted regression model was established. The results are as follows: (1) the constructed 3D landscape indices could reflect the 3D characteristics of urban landscape, and the overall 3D landscape indices of different urban land function zones were significantly different; (2) the effects of 3D landscape spatial pattern on PM2.5 varied significantly with land function zone type; (3) the effects of 3D characteristics of landscapes on PM2.5 in different land function zones are expressed in different ways and exhibit a significant spatial heterogeneity. This study provides a new idea for reducing air pollution by optimizing the urban landscape pattern. Full article
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19 pages, 3713 KiB  
Article
Landscape Changes and Optimization in an Ecological Red Line Area: A Case Study in the Upper Reaches of the Ganjiang River
by Guangxu Liu, Aicun Xiang, Yimin Huang, Wen Zha, Yaofang Chen and Benjin Mao
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(18), 11530; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811530 - 13 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1799
Abstract
The key to optimizing ecological management is to study the spatial configuration of the landscape and the dynamic changes and their driving mechanisms at the landscape scale. The ecological red line area in the hilly area of the upper reaches of the Ganjiang [...] Read more.
The key to optimizing ecological management is to study the spatial configuration of the landscape and the dynamic changes and their driving mechanisms at the landscape scale. The ecological red line area in the hilly area of the upper reaches of the Ganjiang River was chosen as the research area in this study. Based on the theory of landscape ecology and the evolution of biological communities, a multiscale coupling model was adopted and combined with remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) technologies to systematically study the evolution of key landscape ecosystems such as forests, patch characteristics, and changes in diversity. The study revealed that: (1) forests represented the largest proportion in the study area, followed by croplands and grasslands; (2) the biological community tended to progress toward climax between 1986 and 1995, but then it moved toward regressive successions between 1995 and 2005 before recovering; (3) the study area was characterized by a high proportion of dominant ecosystems, most of which were at their climax with stable ecological species groups, and which were connected by ecological corridors; and (4) during the period from 1995 to 2010, most landscapes showed a trend of fragmentation. However, during the period from 2010 to 2018, the forest patches were gradually connected. The proportion of dominant landscapes increased, and the landscape uniformity was reduced. Based on the findings, we proposed an ecosystem management strategy that includes strengthening crop management, focusing on the natural restoration of the ecosystems and the cultivation of large patches, exploring disturbances due to mining activities, and applying methods to mitigate damage to and optimize the ecosystem. Full article
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13 pages, 1054 KiB  
Article
Understanding the Farmland Rights Confirmation Policy from the Perspective of Farmers: Evidence from Jiangxi, China
by Lingying Lu, Guoliang Xu, Zhiyuan Li and Chunyan Wan
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(18), 11295; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811295 - 8 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1860
Abstract
Since the 1970s, although the Chinese central government has constructed farmland rights confirmation policy to stimulate the vitality of rural land elements, it is rare to discuss the effectiveness of the policy from the perspective of farmers. This paper applies the deep interview [...] Read more.
Since the 1970s, although the Chinese central government has constructed farmland rights confirmation policy to stimulate the vitality of rural land elements, it is rare to discuss the effectiveness of the policy from the perspective of farmers. This paper applies the deep interview and questionnaire to present an analysis framework consisting of “policy implementation–input behavior in agricultural production–farmland transfer” and testifies the framework with the mediation model. The findings show that, in general, the farmland rights confirmation policy (FRCP) has a significant negative impact on leasing out farmland and a significant positive impact on leasing in farmland. In particular, for farmland leasing out, the mediating effects of agricultural capital input and agricultural time input account for 15.504% and 14.536% of the total effect, respectively. In addition, for leasing farmland in, these two mediating effects accordingly account for 13.798% and 12.155% of the total effect. It is worth noting that in the future, we should understand FRCP based on the consideration of farmers’ behavior in a given local context, while also focusing on policy implementation as well as policy design. Full article
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