Special issue: Environmental risk mitigation for sustainable land use development

The Special Issue (SI) “Environmental Risk Mitigation for Sustainable Land Use Development” presents seventeen interrelated papers addressing the key concept of environmental risk mitigation and sustainable land use development. The issue argues that risk mitigation depends directly on the risk assessment analysis and the quality of applied measures. Therefore, the more precise are risk assessment conclusions, the better the risk mitigation measures would be. This collection of papers follows the vision of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (Sendai Framework) which states that the integration of sustainable development objectives into disaster risk mitigation and adaptation at all levels and at all stages of policy action are of paramount importance for the sustainability of our communities. The final purpose of the issue is to address the mutual roles of land use policy on environmental risk mitigation and adaptation, especially disaster risks.     

Moving out or living on a mound? Jointly planning a Dutch flood adaptation project

All over the world spatial flood risk management policies are on the rise. This paper analyses the planning process for the Overdiepse polder, a so-called “Room for the River” project in the Netherlands. After high water in the 1990s, the Dutch government changed its flood risk management policy. While before 2000 it leaned heavily on dikes to separate water from land, after that year spatial measures to “let the water flow” were introduced. This required the integration of two formerly separated policy domains: flood risk management and land use planning. In the densely populated and economically highly developed Netherlands, returning space to the river unavoidably impacts on the lives and livelihoods of those who live and work along the rivers. Therefore, such spatial measures to decrease flood risk have to be negotiated with various stakeholders. The planning process towards making the Overdiepse polder suitable for temporary water storage deserves more in-depth analysis. We describe and analyze the development of relationships between key actors in the planning process, with a focus on planning practices rather than on assumptions about the existence of certain types and qualities of relationships. We conclude, among others, that citizen involvement can, under specific socio-political and institutional conditions, build trust among stakeholders and increase local legitimacy for interventions by government agencies. However, it should not be idealized as “self-governance” or assumed to be part of a unidirectional change in water interventions towards new relationships between actors.     

Exploring the environmental value of ecosystem services for a river basin through a spatial multicriteria analysis

Environmental quality preservation and nature conservation are complex land use planning problems, involving not only environmental aspects but also socio-economic and operational factors and represent ecosystem services of fundamental importance to human well-being, for health, livelihoods and survival. The present paper proposes a Multicriteria Spatial Decision Support System (MC-SDSS) development for the assessment of the environmental quality of the river basin of the Pellice river in the Province of Turin (Italy) with the objective of increasing awareness of environmental issues in the territorial planning phase. In order to fulfill this goal, the environmental quality issues were divided into two main aspects, “naturalness” and pressures”, which represent the strengths and the weaknesses of the territory. Different criteria were considered for each theme and were integrated into composite maps by a weighted linear combination of factors resulting from a focus group with several experts in different fields. The results of this approach generated a final suitability map of the study area. The map identifies some critical zones that need mitigation measures and highlights areas with high environmental quality which require future specific monitoring procedures and valorization actions. The application was performed by means of the IDRISI software. This paper is based on an integrated approach which facilitates the comprehension of complex phenomena and aims at exploring innovative MCDA models in the field of the environmental quality preservation assessment of territorial transformation.     

水库移民社会风险评价

针对水库移民安置过程中面临的各种各样的社会风险，通过风险调查表定性分析移民的风险程度，提出作好移民规划、实行有土安置、加强移民技术培训、加大后期扶持力度以及建立移民社会保障体系等一系列弱化风险的措施。     

To Cheat or Not To Cheat: Moral Hazard and Agri‐environmental Policy

This Address examines the moral hazard problem in agri‐environmental policy. It begins with a theoretical analysis of moral hazard in this context, including the identification of eight potential causes of cheating behaviour among farmers. But is cheating behaviour among farmers actually a problem for agri‐environmental policy? And if it is, which are the statistically significant causes of concern? The answer seems to be: “we don't know” as there are currently no empirical analyses of the moral hazard problem and its causes in agri‐environmental policy. On this basis I analyse a set of policy solutions – to a problem for which we have no evidence of its causes or extent!     

Land use,water management and future flood risk

Human activities have profoundly changed the land on which we live. In particular, land use and land management change affect the hydrology that determines flood hazard, water resources (for human and environmental needs) and the transport and dilution of pollutants. It is increasingly recognised that the management of land and water are inextricably linked (e.g. Defra, 2004). “Historical context, state of the science and current management issues” section of this paper addresses the science underlying those linkages, for both rural and urban areas. In “Historical context, state of the science and current management issues” section we discuss future drivers for change and their management implications. Detailed analyses are available for flood risk, from the Foresight Future Flooding project (Evans et al., 2004a,b) and other recent studies, and so we use flooding as an exemplar, with a more limited treatment of water resource and water quality aspects. Finally in “Science needs and developments” section we discuss science needs and likely progress. This paper does not address the important topic of water demand except for some reference to the Environment Agency's Water Resources Strategy for England and Wales (Environment Agency, 2009).     

Dietary patterns and body mass indices among adults in Korea: evidence from pseudo panel data

The debate over the association between dietary patterns and obesity has not been settled in the literature. Some studies suggest that there are significant differences in mean body mass index across dietary patterns whereas other studies refute that result. The objective of this study is to test whether dietary patterns have a significant effect on body mass index in Korean adults when controlling for calorie intake and several sociodemographic factors. We present new evidence derived from pseudo panel data created from a series of cross‐sections. Our results from the pseudo panel analysis show that some of the dietary patterns that were identified from the Korean adults’ food intake survey have a significant effect on body mass index. Specifically, males with the “beef and processed food” (P < 0.05), or “pork and alcohol” (P < 0.05) dietary pattern had significantly higher BMIs, whereas females with the “fast food” (P < 0.1) or “ramen and bakery” (P < 0.01) dietary pattern had higher BMI.     

A dividing issue: Attitudes to the shooting of rear and release birds among landowners,hunters and the general public in Denmark

Why are organised shoots involving birds that are farm-reared and subsequently released a dividing issue in several countries? As a contribution to answering this question the paper reports a national survey of landowners (n = 1207), hunters (n = 1130) and the general public (n = 1001) in Denmark. While there was broad agreement across all three groups that recreational hunting of naturally occurring “surplus” wildlife is acceptable, the release of farm-reared game birds for shooting was a dividing issue, both within the groups and between them. The majority of participants (51%) in the survey representing the general public were against the practice; a majority of hunters (61%) were in favour of it; and landowner approval rates lay between these two poles. Respondents with a “mutualist” or “distanced” wildlife value orientation according to the definitions by Teel et al. (2005) consistently displayed a more negative attitude to rear and release shooting than those with a “utilitarian” orientation. The differences in attitude could not be explained in terms solely of underlying concerns about nature conservation and biodiversity protection. Concerns about the behaviour of the released birds, and about hunting “culture” and regulatory measures, also informed the participants’ attitudes. The regulatory framework governing shooting based on the release of farm-reared birds could reflect a wider range of concerns than those hitherto acknowledged.     

The River agreement in Italy. Resilient planning for the co-evolution of communities and landscapes

According to the “evolutionary” approach (Davoudi & Al., 2012), urban resilience implies that urban systems have capacity to react to several external disturbances - economic, social, environmental - regarding all components of urban governance and transforming itself in a new development model.River basins are considered an interesting space for experimental workshop on resilience, as a driver of territorial policy, for ordinary communities and landscapes, where the relationship between the sustainable use of territorial resources could led to new territorial strategies, as well as “promote managements synergies” at different levels of regional and local planning.River Agreements (RA) appear as an innovative governance method which can help in the drafting of potential plans and practices for the development of resilience in fluvial territories. It is a form of negotiated planning, that helps to involve social actors in order to: improve people’s knowledge of current territorial conditions and the effects of human activities; increase social awareness; include society in the identification and implementation of solutions; to encourage innovative changes in planning objectives and urban and architectural design, starting with the legal and planning framework of an Action Plan. Starting from the ‘80 s, RA were experimentally tested in Belgium and France and currently widespread also in Italy. In Piedmont Region (Italy), it is recognized as a successful territorial governance tool used to define shared strategies, measures, rules and projects. We will present the case study of the Sangone River Agreement as the first participate planning and design experience in Piedmont signed by local actors.     

Land-use conflicts in coastal tourism and the quest for governance innovations

Based on media content analysis this study examines 213 land-use conflicts in Danish coastal tourism to understand the formats of land-use struggles and the methods used to manifest discontent. It contributes to emerging, but still under-investigated risks of overtourism and spatial degradation and it addresses who is active in conflicts, with what means they communicate, and with what results. A typology of issues that kick off conflict includes “Construction and rebuilding”, Change in land-use”, “Infrastructure alteration”, “Illegal activity”, “Landscape modification”, “Climate change” and “Access permission”. These are issues raised most frequently by neighboring residents and holiday home owners, followed by nature associations and public authorities. Institutionalized channels of complaint are most often used, while more radical forms, such as demonstrations, protest movements and vandalism, are rare. However, successful multi-modal campaigns and national energy planning are affected by tourism-related protests. Overall, the Danish planning system proves capable of accommodating most tensions, and the settled power balance in the planning systems largely continues, although planning is a target for remonstration and activism. The article discusses the participatory deficits observed. It informs protesters and government bodies alike, and contributes to the ongoing scholarly discussions about the nature of spatial development.     

The incremental construction land differentiated management framework: the perspective of land quota trading in China

Construction land plays a vanguard role in China’s rapid urbanization process. However, confront with massive loss of farmland resources, the highly centralized land-use planning and management system established by the central government in 1998 stipulates that the red line of 1.8 billion mu of farmland should be guarantee to ensure food security. A series of land management system innovations such as “the replacement of basic farmland in different places”, “the compensated supplement of farmland in different places”, and “the land conversion quotas transregional transaction” in Zhejiang province have received increasing attention, under the premise that neither dissipating the economic development efficiency nor breaking the constraints of various planning quotas. Inspired by the “three-phase” efficiency improvement based on the concept known as the “adaptive efficiency”, this article first proposes the inherent policy shortcomings as incalculability, inseparability, and uncontrollability. Then, adopting the mathematical model derivation and economic analysis tool, we demonstrate that the “general allocation + competition allocation + rewarded allocation” of new construction land quota allocation scheme has improved the three-stage Pareto efficiency. Relying on the network analysis of the cross-regional trading in Zhejiang province, the “time hotspot”, “regional hotspot”, Siphon effect, price fluctuation and inequality of opportunity are also observed in the process of trading. The authorities should play a quasi “wedge-like” blocking role in due course. It is therefore suggested that a differentiated management scheme should be adopted considering the variance in regional resource endowments and social ecosystem. This paper expected to shed light on improving construction land-use efficiency for China and other similarly placed developing countries.     

Replacing “mixed use” with “all mixed up” concepts; a critical review of Turkey metropolitan city centers

Following industrialization and modernization, globalization has asserted itself in the daily life and spatial practices at the end of the 20th century. Instead of a zoning approach separating the city from functional aspects, the “mixed-use” approach was been brought to the agenda in order to have inclusive design and sustainable city centers. The new mixed-use business areas in the İstanbul, Ankara, and İzmir metropolises constitute the focus of this study. Within the scope of this study, analyses were performed in order to examine effective dynamics from an urban scale to a housing scale. In the first stage, the planning processes of central business areas and the development of “mixed-use” approaches were investigated. Eight parcel-based structured and five area-based structured mixed-use projects were analysed, and the regional structure and dynamics were discussed. In the last stage, the projects were analysed in detail according to their functional programs.At the end of the present study, a mixed structural approach is suggested for decision-making, planning, and design implementation processes resulting in projects which will be developed in central business areas offering sustainable development and improvement. In this approach, termed “all mixed-up”, it would be possible to design affordable housing for low-income inhabitants and at the same time revive urban regions with mixed-income users, developers, and governmental institutions.     

Assessment of regulation of legal relations of territorial planning: A case study in Lithuania

Land management is inevitably linked to the regulation of activities of its proprietor or operator stipulated by legislation and documents of territorial planning. In Lithuania, as in many European countries, territorial planning is a key measure for the formation of landscape and the alteration of its elements. With the help of territorial planning documents, governing authorities has the opportunity to orderly regulate the layout of long-term stable elements of landscape and the sustainable territorial development. However, in comparison with other European Union (hereinafter – EU) countries, territorial planning system valid in Lithuania until January 1, 2014 is still “young” and having specific features with former countries of the Soviet bloc legal regulation. The system did not provided a consistent and sustainable territorial development mechanism: there was the lack of measures allowing to manage the development processes of residential areas and implementation of territorial planning documents (especially the municipal master plans) solutions for the creation of a harmonious functional spatial system. The aim of the present paper is to assess the regulation of legal relations of territorial planning in Lithuania and the EU member states. The assessment summarizes processes of the formation of a landscape during the territorial planning, introduces new opportunities to more accurately predict the results of the current process of landscape planning, and highlights legal and sustainable elements of territorial planning system optimization. As can be seen from the assessment carried out, one of the most important territorial planning objectives was and still remains the balance of mutual relations (hierarchy of plans) of territorial planning documents in shaping the cultural landscape to ensure the rational distribution of the land fund, combining a variety of activities as well as often different land users’ and public interests. Therefore, the implementation of the territorial planning reform of Lithuania capacitates for the transition to an integrated territorial planning, ensuring sustainable development.     

中国耕地“非粮化”的时空格局演变及其影响因素

研究目的:探究中国耕地“非粮化”时空演化特征及影响因素,以期为中国耕地资源保护和粮食安全保障提供参考。研究方法:GIS空间分析、空间计量模型。研究结果:(1)2004—2018年,中国整体的“非粮化”水平呈波动变化,2016年后“非粮化”最为显著;“非粮化”类型逐渐由蔬菜、油料、棉花等多类型向蔬菜瓜果转变。(2)“非粮化”在空间上大致表现出由东北向西南逐步严重的态势,类型多为蔬菜和油料作物,又以蔬菜为主导。(3)各影响因素中,人工成本和种粮比较收益在后期对非粮种植有显著负向影响;劳动力非农就业促进“非粮化”现象发生;机械动力水平在前期对“非粮化”具有显著负向影响,后期表现为正面作用;良好的政策环境对“非粮化”具有抑制作用。研究结论:为应对耕地“非粮化”现象,应继续保障粮食种植收益、完善农业生产设施与服务市场、健全法律政策与制度,以稳定粮食生产。     

The visual impact of agricultural sheds on rural landscapes: The willingness to pay for mitigation solutions and treatment effects

New rural and industrial sheds cause significant transformations determining a negative change in landscape perception. In this paper the willingness to pay (WTP) of residents to mitigate the visual impact of sheds in the rural areas of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato” is estimated through a Choice Experiment (CE). The CE survey was carried out through face-to-face interviews involving 400 residents. The set of mitigation attributes was selected by means of a landscape analysis and presented to respondents using a set of images (close and distant views). Conditional Logit (CLogit) and Mixed Logit (MXL) models both in preference and in WTP space were estimated. From the empirical point of view, the study shows that sheds are generally perceived as negative landscape elements, and that residents are willing to pay for mitigation solutions, such as tree lines and formal hedgerows. The results are relevant for policy makers since they suggest how agricultural sheds are perceived and which mitigation strategies are preferred by local residents. From the methodological point of view, we estimate and test different models for assessing the effect of the visual treatment (close vs distant view). We show the theoretical equivalence of a fully interacted model (i.e., estimated on the whole sample and including interaction terms with the treatment), with split models of the choice for separate subsamples submitted or not to the treatment. We find that in estimation the equivalence holds in the results of Conditional Logit models, but not in Mixed Logit models. The reasons and implications are discussed.     

Livestock intensification as a climate policy: Lessons from the Brazilian case

Brazil is trying to identify ways to ally economic growth with climate change mitigation. Productivity gains in livestock have been pointed out as a promising alternative to achieve that goal. Thus, this paper analyses the economic impacts of a policy of productivity gains in the Brazilian livestock. Besides, we evaluate if the policy may conciliate agricultural growth and deforestation control, bearing in mind the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land-use changes. The analysis was carried out through a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, tailored to represent land-use changes, GHG emissions and removals. Besides, it made progress modeling the heterogeneity of climate, soils, and emissions in inter-regional models with many regions. The results show that productivity gains can effectively “save” land and thus avoid deforestation, especially in the Amazon and Cerrado (savannah) biomes. The policy also may boost the economic growth, spreading it to other regions of Brazil, like Centre-West and North, and increasing income and consumption in those places. However, as a climate policy, focused on the reduction of GHG emissions, the results may be counterproductive. The net amount issued may increase, as a result of the positive stimulus of the policy on the economy, and GHG emissions are directly related to the economic growth.     

The Need for Comprehensive Climate Change Mitigation Policies in European Agriculture

During the last decade the European Union has shown a firm determination to move to a low carbon economy. Since 2008 the agricultural sector has been part of this strategy and is included in the EU effort sharing decision. Introducing specific GHG mitigation obligations for agriculture could be one option to achieve an overall GHG emission reduction target. One argument for this strategy would be that the agricultural sector is the main contributor of non‐CO₂ greenhouse gases. Nevertheless, a comprehensive EU mitigation policy would most likely have to take into account the particularities of its diverse agricultural sector, reflected by different trends in historical GHG emission reductions, and a varied mitigation cost structure between farming systems. Consequently, using targeted but flexible policy instruments may more equitably distribute the mitigation efforts across Member States and reduce cost inefficiencies. The increased uptake of technological and management emission mitigation measures would be crucial to keep mitigation costs for EU farmers at a minimum. However, while unilateral action would initially signal the EU's commitment to serious GHG mitigation effort in the sector, ultimately a multilateral agreement is needed to minimise emission leakage and to reduce global GHG emissions effectively.     

从保护到经营:美国湿地保护交易制度及其启示

研究目的：分析美国为保护湿地而创设的湿地交易补偿制度,为中国湿地保护具体制度设计提供参考。研究方法：文献归纳法和比较分析法。研究结果：美国湿地保护交易制度是为缓解湿地流失而设立,由开发者购买替代湿地实现对开发活动带来的湿地生态损害的补偿,交易制度刺激了替代湿地的营建,保持了美国湿地数量动态的平衡。研究结论：中国可借鉴美国经验实施对湿地的生态补偿;交易手段在中国湿地保护中有发展的空间;湿地交易可以实现对湿地的保护和合理利用;中国湿地保护从长远看应该是政府和市场的结合。     

The failure of agri-environment measures to promote and conserve grassland biodiversity in Slovenia

The effectiveness of four grassland-specific agri-environment measures (AEM), implemented in the frame of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in the period 2007–2013 in Slovenia was studied. We questioned whether the measures – “extensive grassland maintenance”; “preservation of special grassland habitats”; “preservation of grassland habitats for butterflies” and “bird conservation in humid extensive meadows in Natura 2000 sites” did genuinely support the conservation (maintenance or improvement) of high nature value (HNV) grasslands in Slovenia. The HNV grasslands were defined on the basis of national fine-resolution field mapping of habitat types. Two main outcomes emerged: AEM did not reach the vast majority of HNV grasslands in Slovenia (only 3%); the proportion of HNV grassland area included in AEM was negligibly low (1). Moreover, even this very limited interest in AEM did not target only grasslands of HNV, but any permanent grasslands regardless of their conservation value: forty-one percent (41%) of the grassland areas included in the AEM were actually non-HNV grasslands (2). The absence of pre-selection criteria for grasslands along with an absence of monitoring of the effectiveness and efficiency of the measures and low interest in the subsidies among farmers, led to almost complete failure of the AEM to promote and conserve species-rich extensive grasslands in Slovenia between 2007 and 2013. Even with some minor differences, the same concept was maintained for the currently running EAFRD 2014–2020, which raises serious concern.     

Can soil-less crop production be a sustainable option for soil conservation and future agriculture?

Agriculture faces huge challenges regarding sustainable use of soils and its sustainability performance in general. There are three different approaches to sustainable agricultural production commonly proposed, namely intensification, agro-ecological approaches and high-tech industrial approaches. Often, some propose that only agro-ecological approaches are truly sustainable options, with particular benefits for soil protection, while others argue that intensification or high-tech performs better through land sparing. In this viewpoint, we scrutinize the notion of “sustainable agricultural production” and the role these approaches may play for such, in particular addressing the controversy of “naturalness” versus “artificiality” in production systems. Consumers often perceive agriculture as “natural”, but agriculture today thrives always on strong human intervention. We posit that agriculture is linked to soils and natural processes, but that this provides little guidance on what sustainable agriculture should be. Being “natural” need not be an aspect of being sustainable. If it is, arguments for this need to be provided. Furthermore, revealed consumer preferences may much less frequently posit being “natural” as a central criterion for food consumed than usually assumed. By all this, we do not want to promote any of those three approaches uncritically. We rather argue for enlarging the option space for sustainable agriculture in an unprejudiced way.