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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2018) | Viewed by 47059

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Sotirios Koukoulas

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Guest Editor

Department of Urban-Regional Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, 38334 Volos, Greece
Interests: geographic information science; remote sensing; spatial statistics; land change science; environmental monitoring and modelling; spatial and environmental planning; climate change impacts
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Geo-environmental and Geo-socioeconomic changes, as well as their interactions, will be studied at a variety of scales in an attempt to explore the role of analytical tools and technologies in understanding changing geographies. The role of Geographical Information Science in mapping, analyzing, monitoring and modeling change will be presented in a series of articles, providing answers to research questions and problems that are suitable for GISc (Geographical Information Science contributions) analysis.

This Special Issue will not attempt to answer all questions or connect all the dots in the complex puzzle of our changing world. It will however present examples of ways to quantify change, highlight patterns of geographical differentiation, explore spatial complexities and drivers of change and present some solutions that can lead to practices of sustainability. Planning for sustainability requires an interdisciplinary approach with an emphasis on the application of modern methodological developments in GISc and Earth Observation and this is the direction that this issue will take.

Papers incorporating novel and interesting Geospatial Science techniques to study change are particularly encouraged. Well prepared review papers are also welcomed. A thematic balance will also play a role in the selection of papers.

Prof. Dr. Sotirios Koukoulas
Guest Editor

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.

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Keywords

Spatial patterns of Environmental change
Spatial patterns of Socioeconomic change
Impacts of Climate change
Dynamic Simulation techniques
Spatio-temporal modeling and analysis of geographical problems

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 7999 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

GIS Analysis of Land-Use Change in Threatened Landscapes by Xylella fastidiosa

by Giuseppe Maggiore, Teodoro Semeraro, Roberta Aretano, Luigi De Bellis and Andrea Luvisi

Sustainability 2019, 11(1), 253; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010253 - 7 Jan 2019

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4954

Abstract

Land-use/land-cover analysis using Geographic Information System (GIS) application can describe and quantify the transformation of the landscape, evaluating the effectiveness of municipal planning in driving urban expansion. This approach was applied in the municipality of Spongano (Salento, South Italy) in order to evaluate the spatial heterogeneity and the transformations of the land use/land cover from 1988 to 2016. This approach was also used to examine the spread of Xylella fastidiosa, which is a plant pathogen of global importance that is reshaping the Salento landscape. The land-use maps are based on the CORINE Land Cover project classification, while the topological consistency was verified through field surveys. A change detection analysis was carried out using the land-use maps of 1988 and 2016. The most extensive land-use class is olive groves (34–36%), followed by non-irrigated arable lands and shrub and/or herbaceous vegetation associations. The main transition of land involved non-irrigated arable lands, which lost 76 ha and 23 ha to shrub and olive areas, respectively. Meanwhile, the artificial surfaces class doubled its extension, which involved mainly the transition from shrub and heterogeneous agricultural areas. However, the olive groves class is threatened by the dramatic phytosanitary condition of the area, indicating a compromised agroecosystem, which is causing a de facto transition into unproductive areas. The results highlight the inconsistency between what was planned by the urban plan in the past and how the landscape of Spongano has been changed over time. This evidence suggests that it is necessary to develop a plan based on learning by doing, in order to shape and adapt the processes of territorial transformation to the unpredictability of the ecologic, social, and economic systems, as well as ensure that these processes are always focused on environmental issues. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GISc Contributions to the Study and Understanding of Geographies of Change)

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19 pages, 2652 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Using Information on Settlement Patterns to Improve the Spatial Distribution of Population in Coastal Impact Assessments

by Jan-Ludolf Merkens and Athanasios T. Vafeidis

Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3170; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093170 - 5 Sep 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4269

Abstract

Broad-scale impact and vulnerability assessments are essential for informing decisions on long-term adaptation planning at the national, regional, or global level. These assessments rely on population data for quantifying exposure to different types of hazards. Existing population datasets covering the entire globe at resolutions of 2.5 degrees to 30 arc-seconds are based on information available at administrative-unit level and implicitly assume uniform population densities within these units. This assumption can lead to errors in impact assessments and particularly in coastal areas that are densely populated. This study proposes and compares simple approaches to regionalize population within administrative units in the German Baltic Sea region using solely information on urban extent from the Global Urban Footprint (GUF). Our results show that approaches using GUF can reduce the error in predicting population totals of municipalities by factor 2 to 3. When assessing exposed population, we find that the assumption of uniform population densities leads to an overestimation of 120% to 140%. Using GUF to regionalise population within administrative units reduce these errors by up to 50%. Our results suggest that the proposed simple modeling approaches can result in significantly improved distribution of population within administrative units and substantially improve the results of exposure analyses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GISc Contributions to the Study and Understanding of Geographies of Change)

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20 pages, 7706 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multicriteria Evaluation of Tourism Potential in the Central Highlands of Vietnam: Combining Geographic Information System (GIS), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA)

by Huong T.T. Hoang, Quang Hai Truong, An Thinh Nguyen and Luc Hens

Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3097; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093097 - 30 Aug 2018

Cited by 44 | Viewed by 9210

Abstract

Tourism potential provides an indication for the tourism development opportunities of regions and sites. This paper deals with a multicriteria evaluation of the tourism potential in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The study area is located in the Southeast Asian monsoon tropical climatic zone, and offers both natural and cultural tourism resources. GIS-based cost distance analysis was used to calculate the travel time along the road and using other transportation networks. Then an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to determine a weighting coefficient for each criterion in multicriteria evaluation. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was processed next to AHP, allowing combination of the internal and external tourism potentials of the considered sites. Both AHP and PCA approaches were based on a certain number of alternatives, and take multiple criteria and conflicting objectives into consideration. The results show that the Central Highlands have considerable potential for tourism development at 99 potential eco-tourism sites and 45 potential cultural tourism sites. However, the region is now faced with poor tourism infrastructure with low external potential. An improvement of tourism infrastructure, service quality, and strengthened linkages with other tourist sites is indicated to diversify the tourism products and increase the attractiveness of regional destinations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GISc Contributions to the Study and Understanding of Geographies of Change)

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33 pages, 6179 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mapping and Understanding the Dynamics of Landscape Changes on Heterogeneous Mediterranean Islands with the Use of OBIA: The Case of Ionian Region, Greece

by George Kefalas, Konstantinos Poirazidis, Panteleimon Xofis and Stamatis Kalogirou

Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 2986; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10092986 - 22 Aug 2018

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4985

Abstract

Mediterranean islands contain heterogeneous landscapes, resulting from the complex interactions between natural and anthropogenic processes, and have significant ecological and conservation importance. They are vulnerable systems to global change and the monitoring of changes, induced by the interacting environmental drivers, is of particular importance for applying a sustainable management regime. The aim of this study was to detect and analyze the landscape dynamics and changes in landscape composition over a 30-year period on the Ionian Islands of Western Greece. State-of-the-art object-oriented image analysis on freely available remote sensing data such as Landsat images was employed achieving final mapping products with high spatial and thematic accuracy (over than 85%), and a transferable classification scheme. The main drivers of environmental change are tourism and associated activities, wildfires and livestock breeding which act in different ways and intensities within and between the islands. The repopulation of those islands, after a period of significant depopulation from the 1940s to the 1980s, and the boom of tourism since the mid-1970s prevented further land abandonment and the recultivation of abandoned land which indicates that tourism and agriculture can be complementary rather than competing economic sectors. Despite the significant increase of tourism, a general trend was observed towards increasing cover of high-density vegetation formations, such as shrublands and forests. At the same time, wildfires, which are in some cases associated with livestock breeding, continue to be an important vegetation degradation factor preventing further ecosystem recovery on the study islands. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GISc Contributions to the Study and Understanding of Geographies of Change)

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17 pages, 1394 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Towards a Common European Space for Asylum

by E. V. Petracou, G. N. Domazakis, G. I. Papayiannis and A. N. Yannacopoulos

Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 2961; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10092961 - 21 Aug 2018

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3727

Abstract

In this paper, we provide a critical overview of the current migration policies of the EU as framed by the recent amendments of the EU migration policies since 2015. We highlight that the construction of the migration policy is a constitutive element of the spatial process of reorganization of territorial policies through the combination and diffusion of state, regional and global. We show that the perception of permanent and static migration pressure, and countries’ specialization in migration are the basis for diffusion of asylum and migration policies to a number of different countries imposing similar migration systems and establishing a global governance of migration regime. The paper highlights a geographic and political change in migration and border management, through the patterns of EU Member States cooperation, and in particular their reluctance to establish a common asylum system based on solidarity and the focus on substituting the lack of a common asylum system by bilateral externalization agreements the main objective of which is the management of migration and border control rather than guaranteeing asylum and refugee policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GISc Contributions to the Study and Understanding of Geographies of Change)

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20 pages, 6961 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Scenario-Based Simulation of Tianjin City Using a Cellular Automata–Markov Model

by Ruci Wang, Hao Hou and Yuji Murayama

Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2633; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082633 - 26 Jul 2018

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4026

Abstract

Rapid urbanization is occurring throughout China, especially in megacities. Using a land use model to obtain future land use/cover conditions is an essential method to prevent chaotic urban sprawl and imbalanced development. This study utilized historical Landsat images to create land use/cover maps to predict the land use/cover changes of Tianjin city in 2025 and 2035. The cellular automata–Markov (CA–Markov) model was applied in the simulation under three scenarios: the environmental protection scenario (EPS), crop protection scenario (CPS), and spontaneous scenario (SS). The model achieved a kappa value of 86.6% with a figure of merit (FoM) of 12.18% when compared to the empirical land use/cover map in 2015. The results showed that the occupation of built-up areas increased from 29.13% in 2015 to 38.68% (EPS), 36.18% (CPS), and 47.94% (SS) in 2035. In this context, current urbanization would bring unprecedented stress on agricultural resources and forest ecosystems, which could be attenuated by implementing protection policies along with decelerating urban expansion. The findings provide valuable information for urban planners to achieve sustainable development goals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GISc Contributions to the Study and Understanding of Geographies of Change)

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21 pages, 3418 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantitative Assessment of Regional Debris-Flow Risk: A Case Study in Southwest China

by Guangxu Liu, Erfu Dai, Xinchuang Xu, Wenxiang Wu and Aicun Xiang

Sustainability 2018, 10(7), 2223; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072223 - 28 Jun 2018

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3145

Abstract

This paper uses a comprehensive risk assessment method to investigate the population risk of debris flows in Southwest China. The methodology integrates models from hazard, vulnerability literature and some empirical equations. The main steps include debris-flow disaster-hazard zoning, estimation of the frequency of the disaster, factor identification of population vulnerability, and calculation of the fragility rate. The results demonstrate that the most hazardous regions in Southwest China are primarily observed in the mountains around the Sichuan Basin, the border area between Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, the eastern and southern regions of Yunnan Province, and the eastern area of Guizhou Province. The extremely high vulnerability zones are characterized by a fragility rate of 3.89 persons per 10,000 people. The comprehensive risk gradually increases from the southeast of the study area to the central region, reaching its highest value (more than 100 persons/year) on the Jiangyou–Zhaotong–Baoshan Line and decreasing thereafter to its lowest in the northwestern region. Extremely large-scale disasters are the major factor of casualties. Appropriate risk management and mitigation solutions should be comprehensively determined based on the combination of debris-hazard levels and fragility rates in the hazardous regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GISc Contributions to the Study and Understanding of Geographies of Change)

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30 pages, 9502 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Climatic Changes and Their Relation to Weather Types in a Transboundary Mountainous Region in Central Europe

by Andreas Hoy, Nils Feske, Petr Štěpánek, Petr Skalák, Andreas Schmitt and Petra Schneider

Sustainability 2018, 10(6), 2049; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10062049 - 16 Jun 2018

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4265

Abstract

A first-time common cross-border assessment of observed climatic changes in the Saxon–Bohemian region was the aim of the German–Czech climate cooperation INTERKLIM. This paper focuses on the observed changes of temperature and precipitation averages and extremes within the period 1961–2010, investigating how variations of a range of climate indices were regionally shaped by changes in frequency and character of weather types. This investigation serves to enhance our understanding of the regional climate characteristics to develop transboundary adaptation strategies and focuses on the classification of the “Grosswetterlagen” using the parameters of air temperature and precipitation. Climate data were quality controlled and homogenized by a wide range of methods using the ProClimDB software with a subsequent comprehensive regional visualization based on Geographical Information Systems. Trends for the temperature averages showed increasing trend values mainly from January to August, especially for high temperature extremes. Precipitation trends displayed regionally varying signals, but a strong spatially uniform decrease from April to June (early growing season) and a distinctive increase from July to September (late growing season). Climatic changes were supported by frequency changes of weather types, e.g., the drying from April to June was related to a decrease/increase in patterns causing rather wet/dry conditions, while from July to September opposite trends were observed. Our results represent regional climatic changes in a complex topography and their dependency on variations in atmospheric circulation peculiarities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GISc Contributions to the Study and Understanding of Geographies of Change)

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18 pages, 2471 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Further Widening or Bridging the Gap? A Cross-Regional Study of Unemployment across the EU Amid Economic Crisis

by George Grekousis

Sustainability 2018, 10(6), 1702; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061702 - 23 May 2018

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3491

Abstract

The 2008 global economic crisis led to a sharp increase in unemployment with an estimated 210 million people being unemployed worldwide by 2010. This study analyzes the spatio-temporal distribution of unemployment in the European Union (EU) at a cross-regional level between 2008 and 2013 to identify if spatio-temporal patterns of unemployment exist, and if the European regions have suffered similarly during the study period. Various local spatial autocorrelation techniques are applied and results show that unemployment is highly polarized across the EU regions. Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece are experiencing high rates of unemployment forming clusters in space and time. By contrast, Germany, Austria, and nearby regions are more resilient to the economic crisis strains thus creating spatial clusters of low rates of unemployment. Spatial autocorrelation increased considerably in 2013 compared to 2008, indicating further polarization of unemployment and a widening gap between the south and the central-north, showcasing that the severe austerity measures imposed in the beginning of the crisis on some countries did not have any positive effect on unemployment mitigation. The paper also discusses interesting cross-regional patterns to assist policymakers and planners to better understand how high rates of unemployment are spreading geographically and thus take preventive measures to alleviate the implications of the phenomenon. The proposed analysis delves deeper into comprehending geographies of change, and related findings can support spatial planning for achieving society’s sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GISc Contributions to the Study and Understanding of Geographies of Change)

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3388 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Detecting Historical Vegetation Changes in the Dunhuang Oasis Protected Area Using Landsat Images

by Xiuxia Zhang and Yaowen Xie

Sustainability 2017, 9(10), 1780; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101780 - 30 Sep 2017

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4175

Abstract

Abstract: Given its proximity to an artificial oasis, the Donghu Nature Reserve in the Dunhuang Oasis has faced environmental pressure and vegetation disturbances in recent decades. Satellite vegetation indices (VIs) can be used to detect such changes in vegetation if the satellite images are calibrated to surface reflectance (SR) values. The aim of this study was to select a suitable VI based on the Landsat Climate Data Record (CDR) products and the absolute radiation-corrected results of Landsat L1T images to detect the spatio-temporal changes in vegetation for the Donghu Reserve during 1986–2015. The results showed that the VI difference (ΔVI) images effectively reduced the changes in the source images. Compared with the other VIs, the soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) displayed greater robustness to atmospheric effects in the two types of SR images and was more responsive to vegetation changes caused by human factors. From 1986 to 2015, the positive changes in vegetation dominated the overall change trend, with changes in vegetation in the reserve decreasing during 1990–1995, increasing until 2005–2010, and then decreasing again. The vegetation changes were mainly distributed at the edge of the artificial oasis outside the reserve. The detected changes in vegetation in the reserve highlight the increased human pressure on the reserve. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue GISc Contributions to the Study and Understanding of Geographies of Change)

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