Pub Date : 2025-02-13DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107495
Yuki Okazawa, Kimihiro Hino, Yasushi Asami
The location of ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants (PVPPs) may be significantly associated with land use when regulated via ordinance. We examined the distribution of ground-mounted PVPPs with respect to land use and current regulatory ordinances. Multinomial logistic regression analysis and the Tobit model were used to investigate the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan. The hypothesis on areas with PVPP regulations and where PVPPs were installed was investigated through a case study, including PVPPs of 50 kW or larger within 12,637 meshes. Landscape, industrial, urban, and rural areas were selected as key land-use categories in terms of regulatory ordinance and PVPP scale/accumulation. The results showed that landscape, urban, or rural areas were generally regulated with ordinances to protect landscape and residential environments while industrial areas had the most PVPP installations. Large-scale or accumulations of multiple PVPPs were more likely to be installed in industrial or rural areas, but less likely to be installed in urban and landscape areas. The findings suggest that rural areas, initially accepting PVPPs, had regulatory ordinances enacted as increasing installations led to concerns. For policymakers, establishing regulatory ordinances to control land use before large PVPP installations would be essential to adjust the relationships between PVPP business operators and residents.
{"title":"Photovoltaic power plant installation in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan, focusing on land use and regulatory ordinances","authors":"Yuki Okazawa, Kimihiro Hino, Yasushi Asami","doi":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107495","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107495","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The location of ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants (PVPPs) may be significantly associated with land use when regulated via ordinance. We examined the distribution of ground-mounted PVPPs with respect to land use and current regulatory ordinances. Multinomial logistic regression analysis and the Tobit model were used to investigate the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan. The hypothesis on areas with PVPP regulations and where PVPPs were installed was investigated through a case study, including PVPPs of 50 kW or larger within 12,637 meshes. Landscape, industrial, urban, and rural areas were selected as key land-use categories in terms of regulatory ordinance and PVPP scale/accumulation. The results showed that landscape, urban, or rural areas were generally regulated with ordinances to protect landscape and residential environments while industrial areas had the most PVPP installations. Large-scale or accumulations of multiple PVPPs were more likely to be installed in industrial or rural areas, but less likely to be installed in urban and landscape areas. The findings suggest that rural areas, initially accepting PVPPs, had regulatory ordinances enacted as increasing installations led to concerns. For policymakers, establishing regulatory ordinances to control land use before large PVPP installations would be essential to adjust the relationships between PVPP business operators and residents.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17933,"journal":{"name":"Land Use Policy","volume":"152 ","pages":"Article 107495"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143403533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-12DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107503
Pat McAllister
In the context of longstanding allegations of land hoarding and/or speculation, this paper examines the land holdings of major housebuilders. The paper discusses the concept of landbanking and potential motives for and consequences of holding land inventories. Through a descriptive analysis of quantitative, temporal data of the landbanks of leading, listed housebuilders, the paper analyses the land holdings of residential developers in both the US and UK. The analysis encompasses various aspects including the relative scale of their land holdings, the extent of land ownership compared to control (typically through options) and the evolution of these patterns over time. It is found that the main motives for holding significant land inventories could be operational, investment or anti-competitive but that holding land also comes with opportunity costs and risks. Despite operating in a highly imperfect land market and restrictive planning regime, the large UK housebuilders have been able to maintain significant and relatively stable landbanks. In comparison, the US has seen a major shift towards land-light strategies. US housebuilders increasingly rely upon relatively short-term options, rather than outright land ownership, to secure their pipeline of development plots. The shift primarily aims to hedge risks associated with holding land. Although the comparative evidence is limited and imperfect, it generally indicates that UK housebuilders tend to maintain smaller land inventories compared to their counterparts in the US, Australia, and Ireland.
{"title":"Housebuilders’ landbanks: Inventory, asset or hoard?","authors":"Pat McAllister","doi":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107503","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107503","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the context of longstanding allegations of land hoarding and/or speculation, this paper examines the land holdings of major housebuilders. The paper discusses the concept of landbanking and potential motives for and consequences of holding land inventories. Through a descriptive analysis of quantitative, temporal data of the landbanks of leading, listed housebuilders, the paper analyses the land holdings of residential developers in both the US and UK. The analysis encompasses various aspects including the relative scale of their land holdings, the extent of land ownership compared to control (typically through options) and the evolution of these patterns over time. It is found that the main motives for holding significant land inventories could be operational, investment or anti-competitive but that holding land also comes with opportunity costs and risks. Despite operating in a highly imperfect land market and restrictive planning regime, the large UK housebuilders have been able to maintain significant and relatively stable landbanks. In comparison, the US has seen a major shift towards land-light strategies. US housebuilders increasingly rely upon relatively short-term options, rather than outright land ownership, to secure their pipeline of development plots. The shift primarily aims to hedge risks associated with holding land. Although the comparative evidence is limited and imperfect, it generally indicates that UK housebuilders tend to maintain smaller land inventories compared to their counterparts in the US, Australia, and Ireland.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17933,"journal":{"name":"Land Use Policy","volume":"152 ","pages":"Article 107503"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143403524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-12DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107482
Alexandru Banica , Ema Corodescu-Rosca , Karima Kourtit , Peter Nijkamp
This paper examines the hypothesis that preventive urban policy responses to disaster threats are likely to play a positive role in the resilient development of cities, not only by strengthening disaster mitigation and response-related adjustment mechanisms, but also by enhancing sustainability and liveability in urban areas. The study aims to test whether pressing disaster challenges for large cities prompt responses that lead to more positive outcomes than in a ‘without situation’. We argue that the ‘Blessing in Disguise’ (BiD) hypothesis applies also to potential threats, and not just to actual disasters. In our empirical study, the development trajectories of 40 global cities – represented by the comprehensive GPCI database – are addressed from the perspective of six distinct main categories of performance variables (Economy, R&D, Liveability, Cultural Interaction, Accessibility, and Environment). The research seeks to explore the linkages between the various GPCI performance indicators and urban GDP at risk using correlation and multiple regression tools, while the systemic interactions among all variables are subsequently analysed by means of Social Network Analysis. The results highlight that the larger and poorer cities appear to be more threatened by natural disasters, while, for the wealthiest cities, manmade disasters are a more significant threat. Manmade threats also appear to be more linked to the main GPCI category scores; in particular, Economy, Cultural Interaction and, especially, R&D appear to be positively correlated with the magnitude of urban threats, while Liveability and Environment are less prominently (or negatively) influenced. Therefore, urban innovative policy response – in a broad sense – is an important driver of proactive resilience and positive sustainability outcomes. In conclusion, the governance of global cities should organically and strategically integrate resilience, sustainability and liveability as a common guide for short- and long-term urban development, by adopting targeted policies that anticipate and manage urban threats, from both a structural and non-structural perspective, so as to develop adaptive urban morphological and land-use functions.
{"title":"Actionable policy responses to disaster threats – A comparative study on resilience and sustainability in global cities","authors":"Alexandru Banica , Ema Corodescu-Rosca , Karima Kourtit , Peter Nijkamp","doi":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107482","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107482","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the hypothesis that preventive urban policy responses to disaster threats are likely to play a positive role in the resilient development of cities, not only by strengthening disaster mitigation and response-related adjustment mechanisms, but also by enhancing sustainability and liveability in urban areas. The study aims to test whether pressing disaster challenges for large cities prompt responses that lead to more positive outcomes than in a ‘without situation’. We argue that the ‘Blessing in Disguise’ (BiD) hypothesis applies also to potential threats, and not just to actual disasters. In our empirical study, the development trajectories of 40 global cities – represented by the comprehensive GPCI database – are addressed from the perspective of six distinct main categories of performance variables (<em>Economy</em>, <em>R&D</em>, <em>Liveability</em>, <em>Cultural Interaction</em>, <em>Accessibility</em>, and <em>Environment</em>). The research seeks to explore the linkages between the various GPCI performance indicators and urban GDP at risk using correlation and multiple regression tools, while the systemic interactions among all variables are subsequently analysed by means of Social Network Analysis. The results highlight that the larger and poorer cities appear to be more threatened by natural disasters, while, for the wealthiest cities, manmade disasters are a more significant threat. Manmade threats also appear to be more linked to the main GPCI category scores; in particular, <em>Economy</em>, <em>Cultural Interaction</em> and, especially, <em>R&D</em> appear to be positively correlated with the magnitude of urban threats, while <em>Liveability</em> and <em>Environment</em> are less prominently (or negatively) influenced. Therefore, urban innovative policy response – in a broad sense – is an important driver of proactive resilience and positive sustainability outcomes. In conclusion, the governance of global cities should organically and strategically integrate resilience, sustainability and liveability as a common guide for short- and long-term urban development, by adopting targeted policies that anticipate and manage urban threats, from both a structural and non-structural perspective, so as to develop adaptive urban morphological and land-use functions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17933,"journal":{"name":"Land Use Policy","volume":"152 ","pages":"Article 107482"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143403523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-12DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107501
Dongsheng He , Jinshuo Wang , Guibo Sun
This paper provides compelling evidence that the ambiguity in state-owned land property rights increases transaction costs in China’s transit-oriented development (TOD) projects. The constitution defines the state as the de jure (legally defined) owner of urban land, but tiers of local government share the de facto (practically controlled) land property rights; this ambiguity complicates land use right transfer for TOD. Through expert interviews, document analysis, and case studies in Guangzhou, we identified three critical issues. First, ambiguity in de facto land property rights has led district governments to relocate the metro depot site from a profitable plot suitable for metro scheduling and property development to land plots that are less advantageous and far away from the station. Second, the coexistence of land allocation and leasing approaches under state ownership discouraged an optimised land assembly for the TOD project. Rigid acquisition sizes designated in land allocation for infrastructure discouraged coordination and prolonged negotiations between the district government and the metro company. Finally, the district government faced a disproportionate fiscal responsibility compared to their land leasing share from the municipal government. They are thus passively against the TOD project using their land use planning power. These transaction costs delay the TOD project and jeopardise the outcomes, resulting in depots far from metro stations, housing adjacent to industrial areas, and oversized commercial spaces on urban fringes. We argue that the ambiguity in state-owned land property rights is rooted in China’s historical, cultural, and institutional contexts, driving high transaction costs for urban infrastructure development.
{"title":"Ambiguity in state-owned land property rights increases transaction costs in China’s transit-oriented development projects","authors":"Dongsheng He , Jinshuo Wang , Guibo Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107501","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107501","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper provides compelling evidence that the ambiguity in state-owned land property rights increases transaction costs in China’s transit-oriented development (TOD) projects. The constitution defines the state as the <em>de jure</em> (legally defined) owner of urban land, but tiers of local government share the <em>de facto</em> (practically controlled) land property rights; this ambiguity complicates land use right transfer for TOD. Through expert interviews, document analysis, and case studies in Guangzhou, we identified three critical issues. First, ambiguity in <em>de facto</em> land property rights has led district governments to relocate the metro depot site from a profitable plot suitable for metro scheduling and property development to land plots that are less advantageous and far away from the station. Second, the coexistence of land allocation and leasing approaches under state ownership discouraged an optimised land assembly for the TOD project. Rigid acquisition sizes designated in land allocation for infrastructure discouraged coordination and prolonged negotiations between the district government and the metro company. Finally, the district government faced a disproportionate fiscal responsibility compared to their land leasing share from the municipal government. They are thus passively against the TOD project using their land use planning power. These transaction costs delay the TOD project and jeopardise the outcomes, resulting in depots far from metro stations, housing adjacent to industrial areas, and oversized commercial spaces on urban fringes. We argue that the ambiguity in state-owned land property rights is rooted in China’s historical, cultural, and institutional contexts, driving high transaction costs for urban infrastructure development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17933,"journal":{"name":"Land Use Policy","volume":"152 ","pages":"Article 107501"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143403532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-11DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107498
Stuart Donovan , Matthew Maltman
In 2016, the city of Auckland adopted zoning reforms that enabled more housing on approximately three-quarters of its urban land. Three subsequent studies have found that these reforms increased housing supply and reduced rents. Two economists have, however, criticised these studies on blogs and social media, describing their findings as a “myth”. Despite their informal nature, these critiques have been cited in formal planning and policy processes. Here, we review these critiques and find them to have little to no merit. Specifically, the critiques misunderstand the papers’ methods and rely on inappropriate analyses. In our view, there is remarkably robust evidence that zoning reforms increased housing supply and reduced rents in Auckland.
{"title":"Dispelling myths: Reviewing the evidence on zoning reforms in Auckland","authors":"Stuart Donovan , Matthew Maltman","doi":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107498","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107498","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In 2016, the city of Auckland adopted zoning reforms that enabled more housing on approximately three-quarters of its urban land. Three subsequent studies have found that these reforms increased housing supply and reduced rents. Two economists have, however, criticised these studies on blogs and social media, describing their findings as a “myth”. Despite their informal nature, these critiques have been cited in formal planning and policy processes. Here, we review these critiques and find them to have little to no merit. Specifically, the critiques misunderstand the papers’ methods and rely on inappropriate analyses. In our view, there is remarkably robust evidence that zoning reforms increased housing supply and reduced rents in Auckland.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17933,"journal":{"name":"Land Use Policy","volume":"151 ","pages":"Article 107498"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143379121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-10DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107497
Lu Feng , Guiyue Luo , Giuseppe Ioppolo , Xiaohong Zhang , Wenjie Liao
A sound legal framework for soil pollution prevention and control should contribute to the sustainable use of agricultural land, whose importance to China is almost self-evident. There are abundant studies on China’s soil pollution but lack the discussion on laws which clearly distinguish agricultural land from other types of land use. In this study, we delineate the legislative and judicial status quo of the prevention and control of soil pollution on agricultural land in China by applying the policy integration theory. Based on the normative research of legislative documents and case study of judicial judgments, we find that: China has basically established and is running a legal framework of agricultural soil pollution prevention and control toward sustainable agricultural land use; however, there are several defects in terms of comprehensiveness, consistency, and collaboration. Finally, we draw some implications for improvement from the points of view of legislation, justice, and enforcement.
{"title":"Prevention and control of soil pollution toward sustainable agricultural land use in China: Analysis from legislative and judicial perspectives","authors":"Lu Feng , Guiyue Luo , Giuseppe Ioppolo , Xiaohong Zhang , Wenjie Liao","doi":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107497","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107497","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A sound legal framework for soil pollution prevention and control should contribute to the sustainable use of agricultural land, whose importance to China is almost self-evident. There are abundant studies on China’s soil pollution but lack the discussion on laws which clearly distinguish agricultural land from other types of land use. In this study, we delineate the legislative and judicial status quo of the prevention and control of soil pollution on agricultural land in China by applying the policy integration theory. Based on the normative research of legislative documents and case study of judicial judgments, we find that: China has basically established and is running a legal framework of agricultural soil pollution prevention and control toward sustainable agricultural land use; however, there are several defects in terms of comprehensiveness, consistency, and collaboration. Finally, we draw some implications for improvement from the points of view of legislation, justice, and enforcement.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17933,"journal":{"name":"Land Use Policy","volume":"151 ","pages":"Article 107497"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143376977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-08DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107492
Muhammad Asghar , Muhammad Ayaz , Sharafat Ali
Ecological sustainability is a severe concern in countries with poor environmental performance, fragile institutions, uneven urban sprawl, densification, and high dependence on non-renewable resources. Environmentally failed states face severe threats and chaos in moving towards a sustainable environment. This study analyses the role of urban land use, institutional capacity, environmental policies, green energy, and financial inclusion on ecological sustainability in environmentally failed states. This study uses panel data from 15 environmentally failed states from 2009 to 2022. Static and panel data econometric techniques were applied. Furthermore, the results were generalized to the system-generalized method of moments (GMM). The results show that increased urban land use, financial inclusion, and output deteriorate ecological sustainability. However, effective policies, quality institutions for combating ecological footprint, and green energy improve ecological sustainability. These findings suggest that enhancing the efficacy of environmentally friendly policies, establishing quality institutions for ecological sustainability, and enhancing the use of green energy can alleviate ecological stress and promote ecological sustainability in environmentally compromised states. To this end, urban land use management can be indispensable in reducing ecological footprint. It is recommended that environmentally vulnerable nations with weak institutions and ineffective policies about environmental sustainability should solicit assistance from regional and global institutions and collaborate with relevant stakeholders to tackle environmental predicaments and bolster ecological sustainability effectively.
{"title":"Ecological resilience in crisis: Analyzing the role of urban land use and institutional policies","authors":"Muhammad Asghar , Muhammad Ayaz , Sharafat Ali","doi":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107492","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107492","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ecological sustainability is a severe concern in countries with poor environmental performance, fragile institutions, uneven urban sprawl, densification, and high dependence on non-renewable resources. Environmentally failed states face severe threats and chaos in moving towards a sustainable environment. This study analyses the role of urban land use, institutional capacity, environmental policies, green energy, and financial inclusion on ecological sustainability in environmentally failed states. This study uses panel data from 15 environmentally failed states from 2009 to 2022. Static and panel data econometric techniques were applied. Furthermore, the results were generalized to the system-generalized method of moments (GMM). The results show that increased urban land use, financial inclusion, and output deteriorate ecological sustainability. However, effective policies, quality institutions for combating ecological footprint, and green energy improve ecological sustainability. These findings suggest that enhancing the efficacy of environmentally friendly policies, establishing quality institutions for ecological sustainability, and enhancing the use of green energy can alleviate ecological stress and promote ecological sustainability in environmentally compromised states. To this end, urban land use management can be indispensable in reducing ecological footprint. It is recommended that environmentally vulnerable nations with weak institutions and ineffective policies about environmental sustainability should solicit assistance from regional and global institutions and collaborate with relevant stakeholders to tackle environmental predicaments and bolster ecological sustainability effectively.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17933,"journal":{"name":"Land Use Policy","volume":"151 ","pages":"Article 107492"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143349004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-08DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107502
Francesco Venuti
Nature-based solutions (NbS) are considered key measures for tackling various environmental challenges and attaining multiple urban sustainability goals. In recent years, the barriers to urban NbS implementation have been increasingly discussed by the literature in an effort to highlight what factors impede widespread NbS in cities. However, the urban NbS literature generally neglects the legal perspective of these barriers, which have been rarely highlighted and assessed through a legal lens, despite the significant role that the law plays in influencing urban sustainability transitions. Thus, a legal perspective seems to be missing from the current literature on barriers to urban NbS implementation. This paper aims to test this hypothesis and, by connecting some of these barriers with relevant ongoing discussions in the legal literature, to establish an agenda for future legal research on NbS. To do so, a scoping review is firstly conducted on the literature on governance- and policy-related barriers to urban NbS implementation. The review reveals a number of barriers which, although not discussed from a legal perspective in the literature, can be divided into three categories, namely institutional, procedural and substantive. The main findings of the review are then discussed in the light of the current debates in the legal literature on the division of powers, participatory rights, and the notion of ownership. This analysis demonstrates how some of the issues raised by the legal literature are similar and, at times, overlapping with the problems encountered when implementing urban NbS. The agenda resulting from this comparison suggests that future legal research on NbS should focus on facilitating decentralised governance approaches, enable tailored and easily enforceable public participation mechanisms, and promote the reconsideration of private land ownership on the basis of its socio-environmental function.
{"title":"Bridging NbS and legal literature: Institutional, procedural and substantive barriers to nature-based solutions implementation","authors":"Francesco Venuti","doi":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107502","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107502","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nature-based solutions (NbS) are considered key measures for tackling various environmental challenges and attaining multiple urban sustainability goals. In recent years, the barriers to urban NbS implementation have been increasingly discussed by the literature in an effort to highlight what factors impede widespread NbS in cities. However, the urban NbS literature generally neglects the legal perspective of these barriers, which have been rarely highlighted and assessed through a legal lens, despite the significant role that the law plays in influencing urban sustainability transitions. Thus, a legal perspective seems to be missing from the current literature on barriers to urban NbS implementation. This paper aims to test this hypothesis and, by connecting some of these barriers with relevant ongoing discussions in the legal literature, to establish an agenda for future legal research on NbS. To do so, a scoping review is firstly conducted on the literature on governance- and policy-related barriers to urban NbS implementation. The review reveals a number of barriers which, although not discussed from a legal perspective in the literature, can be divided into three categories, namely institutional, procedural and substantive. The main findings of the review are then discussed in the light of the current debates in the legal literature on the division of powers, participatory rights, and the notion of ownership. This analysis demonstrates how some of the issues raised by the legal literature are similar and, at times, overlapping with the problems encountered when implementing urban NbS. The agenda resulting from this comparison suggests that future legal research on NbS should focus on facilitating decentralised governance approaches, enable tailored and easily enforceable public participation mechanisms, and promote the reconsideration of private land ownership on the basis of its socio-environmental function.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17933,"journal":{"name":"Land Use Policy","volume":"151 ","pages":"Article 107502"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143372802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-06DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107499
Ramoudane Orou Sannou , Edeltraud Guenther
Land restoration is often considered crucial for improving food security, although the complex causal relationship between the two remains unclear. Forests established through land restoration efforts can contribute positively by providing direct food sources or enhancing ecosystem services, yet afforestation efforts may have unintended negative impacts, such as reducing soil moisture and lowering water tables, which could potentially exacerbate food insecurity. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the complex association between a large-scale forest-based land restoration project and food security in the African Great Green Wall (GGW) countries. We utilized FAO survey data on food insecurity from 2015 to 2019, along with near-real-time Land Use Land Cover classification (LULC) generated by deep learning on Sentinel 2 images. Our findings indicate that GGW countries have lower food insecurity compared to non-GGW countries over the considered years. An increase in forest cover, used as a proxy indicator of land restoration, is positively correlated with a reduction in food insecurity. We also find that food insecurity varies across GGW countries, depending on their overall country fragility level. By factoring in country fragility and social sustainability indicators, this study provides a nuanced perspective on how context-specific factors in GGW countries—such as land tenure policies and governance structures—shape food security outcomes. This study highlights the importance of aligning land restoration efforts with social goals, including food security, tenure security, human development, peace, and effective governance. Such an integrated approach can maximize the achievement of multiple social and environmental benefits, ensuring more sustainable and impactful outcomes.
{"title":"Exploring the resource nexus between forest-based land restoration and food security: The case of the African great green wall initiative countries","authors":"Ramoudane Orou Sannou , Edeltraud Guenther","doi":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107499","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107499","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Land restoration is often considered crucial for improving food security, although the complex causal relationship between the two remains unclear. Forests established through land restoration efforts can contribute positively by providing direct food sources or enhancing ecosystem services, yet afforestation efforts may have unintended negative impacts, such as reducing soil moisture and lowering water tables, which could potentially exacerbate food insecurity. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the complex association between a large-scale forest-based land restoration project and food security in the African Great Green Wall (GGW) countries. We utilized FAO survey data on food insecurity from 2015 to 2019, along with near-real-time Land Use Land Cover classification (LULC) generated by deep learning on Sentinel 2 images. Our findings indicate that GGW countries have lower food insecurity compared to non-GGW countries over the considered years. An increase in forest cover, used as a proxy indicator of land restoration, is positively correlated with a reduction in food insecurity. We also find that food insecurity varies across GGW countries, depending on their overall country fragility level. By factoring in country fragility and social sustainability indicators, this study provides a nuanced perspective on how context-specific factors in GGW countries—such as land tenure policies and governance structures—shape food security outcomes. This study highlights the importance of aligning land restoration efforts with social goals, including food security, tenure security, human development, peace, and effective governance. Such an integrated approach can maximize the achievement of multiple social and environmental benefits, ensuring more sustainable and impactful outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17933,"journal":{"name":"Land Use Policy","volume":"151 ","pages":"Article 107499"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143337943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-06DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107491
Meng Zhu , Zhongfa Zhou , Xiaopiao Wu , Jiaxue Wan , Jiale Wang , Jiajia Zheng , Rongping Liu , Fadong Li
Forest expansion and quality improvement in karst mountain areas are the main sources of carbon sink increases in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the carbon sink curve that responds to carbon neutrality goals through the expansion of forest areas and the improvement of forest management quality is still unclear, which limits our understanding of the spillover pathways of carbon sequestration benefits in karst mountainous areas. This study is based on the afforestation carbon sink methodology and improved forest management carbon sink calculation method and uses Guizhou Province, a typical karst mountainous area, as a case study. We simulated and predicted the carbon sink increase resulting from ecological engineering afforestation, as well as the potential carbon sink increase resulting from spatial expansion of afforested areas. We also estimated the increase in carbon sequestration associated with forest management and clarified the path for enhancing spillover effects. The results show that forest management has significant potential for increasing carbon sequestration under limited afforestation space and with increasing forest age. It is predicted that by 2060, the expansion of forest area will increase carbon sinks by 70.79 million t C, and the cumulative increase in carbon sinks through forest management will reach 777.08 million t C, which can contribute 2.92 %-3.74 % of China's carbon neutrality target. The accumulated carbon sink from the increase in forest area and forest management can achieve a climate regulating an ecological product value of approximately 309.27–352.92 billion yuan through the carbon trading market. In addition, this study proposes consolidating and enhancing the spillover effects of carbon sequestration in four dimensions: energy substitution for carbon reduction, ecological protection for carbon maintenance, forest area expansion for carbon expansion, and forest management carbon increase. The research results can provide a research basis and new perspectives for the contribution of forest expansion and management to carbon neutrality goals in karst mountainous areas and the resulting ecological and economic benefit spillovers.
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