The ‘squeezed middle’: Identifying and addressing conflicting demands on intermediate quality farmland in Scotland

The growing demand for a wide range of private and public goods and services from a finite land resource is increasingly challenging for planners at local, regional, national and international scales. The Scottish Government's development of a Land Use Strategy has given salience to resolving conflicts and enhancing synergies in land use. In Scotland, the poorest quality farmland is often designated for nature and landscape conservation and the highest quality farmland often protected for food production. This means that many of the competitive pressures on land are experienced in what we term the ‘squeezed middle’. The paper identifies the multiple (and not exclusively economic) drivers of land use choices and, through an ecosystem services lens, explores three particular areas of land use conflict. These are (i) the continued high level of public support for farming, which has done little to address the problem of low farm incomes; (ii) the pressure to increase woodland planting on farm (and other) land; and (iii) conflicts associated with intensive game management, especially on sporting estates. Using the Scottish situation as an example, the heterogeneity of land use pressures means that there is a danger of the principles of the Land Use Strategy becoming lost in translation from national policy to practical land use decision-making. The appropriate scale for delivery of integrated ecosystem services may therefore be more local than current pilot projects, and may require more active participation of land managers. It may also require policy instruments that are more flexible in adapting to the local context, including payments for ecosystem services.     

How feasible is regional integration for reconciling land use conflicts across the urban–rural interface? Evidence from Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan region in China

Competition among different uses for land is becoming acute under the process of urbanization, and conflicts related to this competition are becoming more frequent and more complex. This article presents a methodology for confronting this issue. By applying an integrated framework, we explore the implicit role of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Regional Integration (BRI) policy in land use conflicts by focusing on the urban-rural interface, and try to address the research question: “How feasible is BRI for reconciling land use conflicts across the urban-rural interface?” An original structure of the analysis is developed based on the identification of three types of conflicts, namely, conflicts over land use structure, conflicts over land conversion and conflicts over landscape pattern. According to the interactions and relationships among these conflicts, we define broad categories of land use conflict areas. Indeed, these conflicts are all related to the unplanned use of agricultural land reserves, which competes with other more immediate uses, and the over-exploitation of land resources caused by unsustainable urban practices. This policy is clearly a critical objective for optimizing the land use structure. It, however, fails to reconcile the conflicts over land conversion and landscape pattern, especially for considerable agricultural land conversion to non-agricultural uses, and low-density development pattern with mixed residential and industrial land uses. Hence, alternative strategies involving public participation, spatial equity, rural revitalization, land-use system reform, and new type of urbanization, can be identified as viable solutions for land use conflict management, which may be complementary to regional integration. The findings of our paper may also contribute to the policy debate on BRI concerning land use planning and regional sustainability.     

Perceptional differences in the factors of local acceptance of spent nuclear fuel repositories

In the process of land use planning, massive social costs are incurred as various conflicts arise due to the location of locally unwanted land-use (LULU) such as spent nuclear fuel repositories. The factors affecting local acceptance of such facilities may vary according to individuals’ perceptional differences. This study aims to examine the differences in factors affecting local acceptance in regards to residents’ risk perception of spent nuclear fuel repositories. To do so, Q methodology was adopted. Three perceptional types—safety concerns-government distrust (type 1), safety trust-government trust (type 2), and safety concerns-conflict avoidance (type 3)—were identified and the differences in local acceptance factors among these types were verified via path analysis. The results showed that risk perception had the highest influence on local acceptance for types 1 and 3, whereas economic feasibility had the greatest influence for type 2. The methodology and results of this study may contribute to developing a policy on siting LULU facilities in consideration of local acceptance and the risk perception of residents.     

China’s local governments breaking the land use planning quota: A strategic interaction perspective

In China, the planning quota, i.e., the binding target of construction land (BTCL) in land use planning for 15 years (2006–2020), was exhausted within only 7 years, which represents a very serious problem. This result not only nullifies the meaning of the plan itself but also threatens China's food and ecological security and poses great challenges to sustainable development. Here, we develop an analysis framework for local governments that break the BTCL in view of the strategic interactions of transferring newly increased construction land (NCL) among local governments and perform an empirical analysis of data on 262 prefecture-level cities from 2007 to 2016. The two main conclusions are as follows. First, adjacent local governments engage in positive strategic interactions regarding the quantity of NCL transferred. Second, positive strategic interactions regarding the quantity of NCL transferred are important reasons why local governments break the planning quota. In addition, we find that better economic development corresponds to more obvious positive strategic interactions. We also find that fiscal incentives and land misallocation play a significant role in promoting the increase in NCL, while strengthening land law enforcement can effectively constrain the increase in NCL. This paper enriches the literature on the reasons for planning failures, extending the research perspective to the level of interaction effects among local governments, and this paper provides new evidence regarding the strategic interaction among Chinese local governments. Moreover, this paper provides an important new path for the central government to constrain urban land expansion and to control the behavior of local governments that break the planning quota.     

“Let's try to get the best out of it” understanding land transactions during land use change

This article investigates land transactions in relation to intended land use change from a micro-scale perspective. A better understanding of land transactions is important for understanding and influencing how land is used. The aim is to explore how the different aspects and their interrelations influence landowner behaviour during land transactions initiated by the government. The study draws on 42 explorative interviews with land purchasers, land policy experts, planning professionals and local farmers.The study shows that uncertainty, and feelings of justice are pivotal aspects during land transactions. Moreover, land transactions are co-evolving with the planning process. Landowners exhibit strategic behaviour based on their personal situation and their expectations on uncertain aspects. The strategies are strongly interrelated with the evolution of land use change. Land use changes are both input on which actors base their strategies, as well as the outcome of those strategies. The aspects found in this study were strongly interrelated and changed over time. Some aspects were context dependent, while others are expected to influence land transactions in general. In this light, the strength of a successful planner is twofold: on the one hand a planner needs to be a good communicator; on the other hand a planner should be able to deal with uncertainty and expectations during plan processes.     

Use of the Migrating Birds Optimization (MBO) Algorithm in solving land distribution problem

Land distribution is an important process in Land Consolidation (LC) projects where agricultural parcels are reallocated to predetermined blocks. Land distribution is a process that takes a long time, requires high operating costs, and conflicts between landowners occur frequently. The parcels are tried to be placed in the best and most appropriate place of the existing blocks by considering many parameters in the distribution stage. Therefore, the placement of new parcels in blocks is seen as an optimization process. In LC projects, this process is carried out manually by technical staff using a software and thus it becomes a process that takes weeks and even months. Various methods have been developed to solve this important stage of the LC projects. It is required to find the best solution, since this issue is an optimization problem. This study aims to develop a new land distribution method. For this purpose, land distribution were carried out by use Migrating Birds Optimization (MBO) Algorithm. Used land distribution method in practice and the results of the new developed method were compared and thus the usability of the method that developed by us was tested. With this study, it has developed a new and successful distribution method according to the preference of land owners.     

Land cover changes and environmental protection: A study based on transition matrices concerning Sardinia (Italy)

Prevention and mitigation of the progressive spread of artificialization are key goals of environmental protection policies leading to the establishment of protected areas. Artificialization processes can be effectively assessed by analyzing land cover and land use changes, which put in evidence different kinds of processes that spur a decrease in natural areas and an increase in artificial ones. In this article, we first analyze land cover change processes by developing transition matrices using the simplified Land and Ecosystem Account taxonomy, and next we compare and contrast processes that take place in areas characterized by different levels of environmental protection, which we identify as follows: natural protected areas, sites of the European Natura 2000 network, and unprotected areas. We take the Italian island of Sardinia as a case study, since a system of national and regional parks and an extensive Natura 2000 network have been established in this region, and analyze and compare land cover change processes over more than twenty years (i.e. between 1990 and 2012). Our results highlight significant implications for the definition and implementation of planning policies aiming at preventing or mitigating artificialization processes within the island. However, the methodological approach here proposed can be applied in other European regional contexts so as to tailor planning policies to the local characteristics of ongoing land cover transition processes.     

A comparison of land unit delineation techniques for land evaluation in the Western Cape,South Africa

Land evaluation, an integral part of land use planning, has been established as one of the preferred methods to support sustainable land use management. In essence, land evaluation aims to compare and match each potential land use with the properties of individual parcels of land, also called land units. A land unit is an area that is, according to predetermined properties, different from the surrounding land and can be assumed to have homogeneous land properties (e.g. climate, soils, cover). Land components (also called landform elements, terrain units or land surface segments) are often used as land units, mainly because their boundaries frequently coincide with transitions in environmental conditions. Although land components have traditionally been delineated by studying topographical maps, interpreting aerial photographs and making field measurements, such manual mapping techniques are very time-consuming and subjective. Land component maps can be generated more objectively and faster by using computer algorithms. This paper compares the maps produced by three algorithms, namely the automated land component mapper (ALCoM), the iterative self-organizing data analysis technique algorithm (ISODATA) and multi-resolution image segmentation (MRS), to determine which technique produces the most homogenous and morphologically representative land components for an area in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The results revealed that the three methods produced significantly different land component maps. While ISODATA's units were relatively homogenous, their boundaries rarely followed morphological discontinuities. ALCoM performed better in delineating land components along terrain discontinuities, but produced relatively heterogeneous land components. Overall, MRS performed consistently well and was significantly more sensitive to morphological discontinuities than the other two methods tested. Land use managers should, however, use MRS with care as more research is needed to determine what effect its different input parameters have on land unit boundaries.     

The role of planning in achieving indigenous land justice and community goals

This paper suggests that the capacity of indigenous groups to engage effectively in a range of planning activities is crucial to achieving land justice and community goals. This argument is relevant in the face of long-standing tensions between indigenous peoples residing in post-settler societies and nation-states such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand over questions of land and natural resource use. The paper argues that effective planning is crucial for (i) protecting indigenous interests by engaging the planning activities of the state, (ii) the successful acquisition of lands through legal land claim processes, and (iii) helping indigenous communities achieve their goals by implementing effective community-based planning processes.     

The relationship between land use and groundwater resources and quality

Groundwater has three major roles in our environment: providing the baseflow that keeps most rivers flowing all year long, maintaining good river water quality by diluting sewage and other effluents, and as an excellent source of water supply, providing over 75 per cent of the potable supply in some regions. Groundwater is intimately connected with the landscape and land use that it underlies, and most of the landscape and is vulnerable to the anthropogenic activities on the land surface above. Land use affects groundwater resources through changes in recharge and by changing demands for water. Inappropriate land use, particularly poor land management, causes chronic groundwater quality problems. Acute groundwater quality problems are common and arise from unsuitable land use and control, notably through point sources of hazardous chemicals. Current land use instruments have only been designed to address quality issues in groundwater and do not consider recharge. These instruments have been largely ineffective in protecting groundwater from diffuse pollution for several reasons including fragmentation, their general absence of teeth, and their lack of integration into the land use planning system. This paper argues for a more radical approach which would zone land according to its overall vulnerability and resilience to anthropogenic and climatic influence in order to sustainably support the ecosystem services it can deliver. Land use would be matched with the vulnerability of the soil, with geology and water, and with the whole ecosystem. The Water Framework Directive offers a mechanism to do this, but there is no evidence of enough political will to tackle the long-term conflicts between land use and groundwater.     

Land-property markets and planning: A special case

Land use policy often intervenes in land-property markets. This raises a question that may have critical implications for land use policy: are these normal markets? This paper addresses that question: are land and property ordinary market goods, or do they lack some of the preconditions necessary for markets to work properly? We find that land-property has limited substitutability, due to the critical factor of location; qualified by location, land is limited and sometimes unique. These attributes make land and property investment assets risking speculation, warranting public intervention to mitigate negative social consequences. Land-property markets need market or administrative support to work, which planning provides through public and private agents. The paper reviews the different forms of planning and development control in land-property markets.     

An assessment of stakeholders’ participation in land use planning process of Luapula Province Planning Authority

The legal framework of Zambia has laws that support participatory land use planning process but there are no guidelines on how it should be done. Thus, the research aims at assessing if the Luapula Province Planning Authority (LPPA) has a land use planning process that incorporates effective stakeholders’ participation.The research is based on secondary data, especially the land use planning process in the Urban and Regional Planning (URP) Act No. 3 of 2015 of the Laws of Zambia and the participatory land use planning process of Kilimanjaro Region.The data analysed show that there is lack of effective stakeholders’ participation in the LPPA land use planning process; the LPPA land use planning process does not have the provision to capacity build stakeholders during the land use planning process; lack of participatory land use planning guidelines; the institutional framework under customary authority is not part of the land use planning process and the LPPA land use planning process is a top-down approach.The conclusions state that the legal and institutional frameworks in existence are inadequate for effective stakeholders’ participation in land use planning process of LPPA. In addition, the stakeholders are not incorporated in the LPPA land use planning process in terms of decision making but incorporated as reactants to the decisions made by the public authorities.The recommendations are that a National Land Use Planning Commission composed of representatives from stakeholder groups needs to be established. In addition, some sections of the URP Act No. 3 of 2015 of the Laws of Zambia need amendment inorder to have continuous feedback between the land use plan makers (planning firm(s) and planning authority) and the stakeholders. Furthermore, Village Councils must be given power to make decision by establishing them as Village Planning Authorities.     

Land use policy in China: Introduction

This themed issue of Land Use Policy builds mainly on papers presented at an international conference on ‘Land Use Issues and Policy in China under Rapid Rural and Urban Transformation’, convened by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, in October 2012. The conference set out to share and promote new scientific findings from a range of disciplines that advance research on land use policy in China. The contributions to this themed issue provide conceptual–theoretical and empirical takes on the topic, around four main areas of interest to both researchers and policymakers: nation-wide land use issues, the Sloping Land Conversion Program, land engineering and land use, and land use transitions. Various land use issues have been associated with rapid urban–rural transformations in China, giving rise to formulation of new policies directly affecting land use. However, these have contributed to new land use problems due to the nature of the policies and the difficulties in policy implementation constrained by the special ‘dual-track’ structure of urban–rural development in China. In view of this, this themed edition makes a compelling call for more systematic research into the making and implementation of China's land use policy. It also emphasizes the challenges for further research on land use policy in China.     

Developing a spatial planning information package in ISO 19152 land administration domain model

Cities establish and maintain Land Administration Systems (LAS) to manage information about the land and urban space. Recognizing the importance of the urban space for sustainable development, information from spatial planning will affect land administration and vice versa. Therefore, every aspect that influences land use, both from spatial planning and land administration should be identified, documented, and standardized as they contain legally binding rules for governments and citizens. The Land Administration Domain Model (LADM), ISO standard 19152:2012, offers guidelines to ensure interoperability in the representation of Rights, Restrictions, and Responsibilities (RRRs). LADM is also capable of standardizing multi-dimensional representation, including the temporal capability for documenting and visualizing all legal aspects of land use or space. This paper discusses how to construct interoperable information between the spatial plan and land administration. We present the standardization of spatial planning information and land administration as subsets of land-related information. The paper proposes the development of a spatial planning package within the existing LADM standard.     

Customary land allocation,urbanization and land use planning in Ghana: Implications for food systems in the Wa Municipality

Food insecurity remains persistent in the Global South due to constraints in food production capacities and intricate land tenure systems that stifle investment in agriculture. In the urbanized regions, uncontrolled urbanization and non-compliant land use systems have further worsened the potentials for urban food production. This research is based on a case study of the Wa Municipality in order to assess the influences of customary land allocation and peri-urbanization on land use planning and foods systems in Ghana using explorative and narrative research approaches. The study identified that customary stakeholders responsible for allocating such lands in the Wa Municipality were indiscriminately converting large tracts of hitherto agricultural lands to urban land uses. Statutorily prepared land use plans are hardly enforced and the planning priorities are on residential and commercial land uses that command higher land values to the detriment of agricultural lands. Weak institutional linkages also characterize the mandated planning and land administration institutions, with a planning system that is reactive rather than proactive in addressing development control challenges across the country. There is the need for planning authorities to adopt participatory land uses planning together with customary landholders and educating them on the essence of comprehensive land use planning approaches. Based on the findings, local governments need to partner landowners to identify and reserve high potential agricultural land for sustainable urban food production.     

土地利用总体规划修编指标利益冲突问题研究

研究目的：分析规划修编中,中央和地方、地方和地方之间在确定规划指标时利益冲突的成因和表现形式。研究方法：文献资料法,博弈分析法。研究结果：中央政府和地方政府土地利用追求目标上的差异是导致规划指标分解过程中产生冲突的主要原因。政府之间信息不对称是造成指标分解冲突的重要原因。研究结论：整合中央和地方的利益、实行参与式规划,做好规划修编过程中的上下结合,减少冲突,使得各项指标的确定能够有利于协调区域发展,并得到各地区的认同。     

The political economy of wine: How terroir and intra-sector dynamics affect land use in Spain

This paper provides a constructive critique of Corrine Cash's paper “Good governance and strong political will: Are they enough for transformation?”, published in volume 58 of Land Use Policy in 2016. By focusing on how intra-sector dynamics influence land use policies in conflicts revolving around urban sprawl, this paper aims to complement and, to some extent, widen the analytic lens deployed by Cash. The examination of the Spanish wine sector and its lack of zoning policies confirms Cash's argument about the need to go beyond discourses of ‘good governance’ and ‘strong political will’ to understand the dynamics underpinning real spatial processes. However, this exploration underscores the need to add layers of complexity to land use analyses, showing the relevance of intra-sector conflict and logics. In complicating any simplistic reduction of urban sprawl conflicts to rural–urban oppositions, the paper ultimately calls for a more dynamic and multiscalar planning theory to address complex governance issues.     

Planning consistency and implementation in urbanizing China: Comparing urban and land use plans in suburban Beijing

The evaluation of the extent to which urban and land use planning have achieved their objectives is crucial to better management of urban land development. China’s urban and land use plans have the common purpose of controlling urban sprawl. This research aimed at comparatively assessing the consistency and implementation of these plans, considering the Changping District in suburban Beijing as a case study. Three main findings were obtained: (1) each plan used different strategies to control new developments, and there were several quantitative and spatial conflicts between the two plans; (2) neither plan has been well implemented or effective in controlling urban sprawl, despite the slightly better performance of the land use plan; (3) core-periphery decreasing trends were revealed in land quota allocation and effectiveness of planning implementation. Remote regular towns received the least land resources from the top-down planning system but also developed fast, mainly through informal and illegal approaches. Further investigation into the double failure of China’s current spatial planning system in quantitative and spatial control over urban land development requires a deeper integration of various spatial management systems, a fundamental transformation of planning philosophy, and a higher respect for peripheral areas in urban-rural integration. The planning assessment approach and reform recommendations developed on the basis of the Chinese practice are probably referable for other developing countries facing similar processes of rapid urbanization and imperfect spatial management.     

Integrating decentralised land administration systems with traditional land governance institutions in Ghana: Policy and praxis

The aim of the Land Administration Project (LAP) policy reform for supporting the establishment of the Customary Land Secretariats (CLSs) is to formalise and strengthen customary land administration and management within the context of decentralised land administration. With the prospects of the CLSs becoming the legal local land administrative units, the paper assessed how traditional land governance institutions may have contributed to the decentralisation of land administration in Ghana. The research used case study strategy within the qualitative research paradigm and un-structured questionnaires were used to collect data. The analyses show that, simple land registries exist with traditional local governance institutions through the CLSs. The maintenance and effectiveness of this however depends on continuous improvement of records keeping, quality of office personnel and suitable office accommodation. This should be devoid of local power struggles among current and successive chiefs. Also, collaboration with public land sector agencies especially in areas of sharing information on rights, uses, disputes and preparation of planning layouts is paramount. These registries are mere extension of the state land administration apparatus as service units under the deconcentration of land administration powers. The paper concludes that the current policy focus on strengthening decentralised land administration through the CLSs may fail if attention is not given to the maintenance of the local registries. Revenue generation capacities of the CLSs need to be enhanced in order for them to recruit and maintain quality office staff, and acquire technical logistics. Decentralising land administration to the CLSs under the deconcentration of powers should be maintained in the interim because of the teething problems identified with this current system.     

The interrelations of land ownership,soil protection and privileges of capital in the aspect of land take

The novelty of this study lies in the analyses of legislation concerning land use policies by examining the specific boundary between land ownership and land take. The basic motive was that the European Commission (EC) withdrew the Soil Framework Directive (SFD) in 2014 following the objections of certain Member States (MS) who countered that as most lands are privately owned, they should not fall under the remit of public governance. Since the withdrawal of the SFD land take is an issue receiving more attention. The legal content of ownership rights has been subjected to constant debate in the context of land-use policies and planning practices, which raises the questions of who decides how the land can be used and whether administrative authorities give priority to non-agricultural uses. Our study seeks to explore these issues through the lens of property law by comparing different legislations on access to land on three levels of policy implementation: the EU, the national, and the local levels. MS legislations are highlighted through the example of Hungary in two aspects: (1) regulation regarding Access to Land and Land Ownership Rights (ALOR), and (2) legislation and results of the LANDSUPPORT decision support system concerning Land Take Changes (LTC). We designed figures to demonstrate how policymakers can use the new LANDSUPPORT platform to show the gaps and inconsistencies among the above aspects. We found that the legislative regulations concerning private land use to achieve soil protection objectives remain the weakest link in the environmental protection legislation of the EU. Anxieties concerning built-in legal guarantees on each of the studied levels actualise our research. Currently, global land management is not on the political table although common European legislation might be able to preserve land for agricultural use.