Towards Land System Sustainability: Navigating Global Challenges and Local Realities

Dear Colleagues,

In an era defined by global environmental crises and socio-economic transformations, achieving sustainable land system management demands adaptive strategies that address both global pressures and local contexts. This Special Issue seeks contributions that bridge these scales by exploring the dynamics of land systems in various socio-economic and ecological settings, highlighting strategies that can foster resilience and sustainability.

Objective:

This Special Issue aims to investigate sustainable land use practices through interdisciplinary approaches, assessing the impacts of governance, economic pressures, climate change, and population dynamics on land systems worldwide. By identifying synergies and conflicts across different land use objectives, this collection will deepen our understanding of sustainable land management pathways that align with global sustainability goals yet remain sensitive to unique regional challenges.

Topics of Interest:

1. Global–local land governance models: analyses of land governance frameworks that balance global sustainability standards with local socio-political contexts;
2. Climate adaptation and resilience in land systems: studies on land use practices that enhance resilience to climate-induced disruptions;
3. Socio-economic drivers of land use change: examination of how economic, social, and demographic factors influence land use decisions globally;
4. Integrative approaches to ecosystem services and land productivity: strategies that reconcile demands for food production, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem health;
5. Urban–rural land dynamics and sustainable development: investigating the impact of urban–rural interactions on land systems including urban expansion, land regeneration, and rural land use transitions to achieve sustainable urban–rural development goals;
6. Teleconnected land systems: investigating the influence of distant drivers on local land use patterns, such as land scarcity and resource demands from urban centers;
7. Innovative land use and policy tools: exploration of novel policies and technologies that aid in achieving sustainable land use transitions.

This Special Issue invites diverse methodologies, including case studies, policy analysis, and spatial modeling, to advance our understanding of sustainable land systems that align with both global sustainability goals and unique regional challenges.

Dr. Li Ma
Dr. Yingnan Zhang
Dr. Yanfeng Jiang
Dr. Chao Liu
Prof. Dr. Rong Ran
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• land systems
• theories of land system change
• land degradation
• human–environment systems
• human–land relations
• land use/land cover change
• land use transition
• urban land management
• rural land use
• sustainable land use
• urban sprawl and regeneration
• urban–rural migration and housing affairs

• Deciphering Land-System Dynamics in China in Land (11 articles)