Horse riding posing challenges to the Swedish Right of Public Access

Increasing numbers of horses are being kept for sports and leisure purposes in peri-urban areas throughout the Western world. This expansion of the equestrian sector represents a multifunctional transition, with new production of rural goods and services and increasing influence on land use.In Sweden, the number of horses has increased from 70,000 to approximately 300,000 over the last 30 years. This increase is putting pressure on the traditional Right of Public Access, an old custom allowing the public to walk, cycle or ride on private or state-owned property.This paper analyses multifunctional land use in peri-urban areas in order to provide a deeper understanding of the potential conflicts arising due to the expanding equine sector and to assess how these can affect the Swedish right of public access and spatial planning.A survey of horse riders and landowners in three peri-urban regions of Sweden revealed that these groups differ in their attitudes towards the Right of Public Access. The data also showed that the expanding equine sector is generating new demands on rural areas and there are questions regarding how the current system of open accessibility can meet the increasing market for equestrian leisure activities. The main conclusion is that there seems to be a strong need for intervention and deliberate creation of new ways of handling the accessibility question, where both a bottom-up and top-down approach may be useful.     

Crisis or continuity?: Framing land disputes and local conflict resolution in Burundi

This article is about the importance of framing in conflict situations, and how this informs peacebuilding interventions. It discusses the consequences of understanding land disputes in Burundi as a short-term problem, resulting from the massive return of refugees and displaced to their former homes. This framing of land disputes urged international and local organizations to initiate programmes for strengthening the capacities of local conflict resolving institutions. The case material shows that, though the return of refugees was a factor in disputes about land, there was a lot of continuity between conflict-related and regular land disputes. Many disputes required first and foremost solutions at the national, political level, rather than at the local level. Further, the predisposition towards local institutions failed to take account of the weaknesses of those institutions. The article further points out some of the practices that played a role in this framing of conflict and the intervention strategies based on it.     

Public participation and local environmental planning: Testing factors influencing decision quality and implementation in four case studies from Germany

Public and stakeholder participation in environmental planning is often assumed to enhance effectiveness through improving the environmental quality of decisions and enhancing implementation. We draw on the literature on participatory environmental governance in order to derive key participation-related factors that are hypothesized to impact on decision quality and implementation. We then outline four cases of decision-making processes in local environmental planning in Germany, representing a variety of forms of public participation, and what we suggest can be seen as four different pathways to ‘success’ in participatory planning. The case studies, recounted on the basis of stakeholder interviews and secondary research, are subjected to a cross-case analysis in order to examine the influence of participation in each case. We consider how key participation-related factors played out across the cases, and assess both decision quality and implementation against counterfactual non-participatory, or less-participatory, scenarios. In moving beyond accounts of ‘what happened’, and considering how participation changed the order of things relative to ‘what would have happened’ under different scenarios, the research highlights how very different pathways may lead to ‘success’ in participatory environmental planning from the viewpoint of process organizers and planners sympathetic to environmental issues. We conclude that, given the significance of context and surprises, planners and process organizers must be open to different pathways to the successful conclusion of participatory planning processes.     

广东省土地利用规划四级联动信息化管理体系构建

本文通过分析广东土地利用规划数据库的现状特点以及土地规划管理的信息化现状,提出构建广东省土地利用规划省市县乡四级联动的信息化管理体系的设想,并总结了体系构建的现有基础和预期效益。     

Stakeholder perceptions and governance challenges in urban protected area management: The case of the Las Piñas – Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area,Philippines

The conservation and management of protected areas in urban settings has become increasingly challenging with dynamics over land use change in adjacent urban areas being highly relevant to, but at times conflicting with, the protected area. This study seeks to better understand the implications of land use change processes to urban protected area management through the case study of the Las Piñas – Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA) in Metro Manila, Philippines. Factors and processes influencing land use change and protected area management and the impact of stakeholders’ perceptions on protected area were analyzed. The urban protected area in itself has limited influence on its surrounding urban areas, as land use change in these areas is shaped more by social, economic and policy/institutional factors occurring within the context of urban-regional development. The study also found that land use conflict is evident in an urban protected area due to the competing ecosystem services derived by various stakeholders. This discord is deepened by the lack of coordination between land use planning and protected area management. Integrating protected area management with land use planning through legally binding instruments, specific timeframes and clear internal procedures can help resolve land use conflict for an urban protected area at the strategic or policy level.     

Land management for erosion prevention: A case study for a Turkish nature reserve

As a result of landslides and soil erosion, a substantial amount of soil has been lost in Turkey. Particularly, fertile lands have long been faced with the threat of erosion, largely as a result of traditional (unplanned) land use practices. This threat is more evident in the Black Sea Region with its rough topography and rainy climate. The basic reason for this threat is the lack of organization in land use planning and control. Although proposals, in the context of this requirement, are included in national development plans, they have not been implemented. Accordingly, in this study research based on spatial data evaluation was carried out for Sera Lake located in Akcaabat, Trabzon, Turkey. For this purpose, temporal area, depth and volume changes of the lake were determined by utilizing topographic maps, aerial photographs and hydrographical measurements. To evaluate determined changes in the size of the lake and to produce suggestions to legislators for required sustainable land management activities, information on land use/cover types, land ownership and climate in the vicinity of the lake was utilized. As a result, it was determined that the area, depth and volume of the lake were significantly decreased during the last decades, as a consequence of erosion mainly caused by traditional land use practices; thus, the lake is threatened with the danger of extinction due to erosion. Precautions required for the alleviation of erosion and other adverse environmental effects which largely seem to be caused by harsh physical properties (caused basically by topography) of the region were discussed. In support of the information inherent to the region, traditional arable land use was logically determined as the basic non-natural factor (which is directly prone to erosion) to be rearranged in the context of sustainable land management. In this context, beyond nationwide actions (national agricultural policy and Soil Protection and Land Use Law), which may provide the required land management tools in the long term, it is proposed that planning and accordingly land management activities specific to the study area (Sera Valley) should immediately be commenced in close collaboration with the related public (owners or farmers). However, behaviours of different types of land users (engaged in commercial, subsistence and semi-subsistence farming) and also high number of owners and/or farmers (caused by small pieces of land parcels owned/used in shares) make the desired collaboration almost impossible. This socio-economical problem may be solved by further developing the current land registry and cadastre system in terms of customary land use rights, land use/cover changes and updating procedures.     

Critical analysis of the official Greek urban planning indicators of private uses

The aim of the article is to review the official Greek target indicators, i.e. those standards that are included in the current planning legislation (Official Government Gazette 285/D/5.3, 2004), and are used for the planning of private uses, such as manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, offices, and housing. The article elaborates on the general typology of urban indicators and, more specifically, it addresses the methodology for the calculation of target indicators. Part of this methodology is utilized for the evaluation of the official target indicators that are currently in force. This evaluation is mainly based on the comparison of target indicators with the respective state indicators of years 2004, 2008, and 2012, and is carried out for each category of private urban uses separately. The article concludes on the inappropriateness of the values legislated as target indicators, and stresses the need for their immediate revision.     

浅析低碳型土地利用规划

世界多个城市政府以及诸多国际组织都在积极推进低碳城市的建设,本文主要从土地利用规划的角度提出如何应对气候变化,发展低碳经济。建议通过科学的计算方法制定各地区不同的碳排放指标,将碳排放量严格控制在各指标范围之内,并从土地利用战略研究、土地利用结构调整、土地利用布局优化及环境影响评价等方面,提出将碳排放量放入规划体系之中,实现碳减排与土地利用规划的一体化,进而达到节约资源能源、绿色可持续发展的目的。     

规划导向的土地利用规划环境影响评价方法

研究目的:建立适合中国土地利用规划的环境影响评价程序和方法.研究方法:文献资料法,对比法.研究结果:中国土地利用规划环评宜采用规划导向的环境影响评价方法,在程序上主要采取与规划过程并行的方式,并与土地利用规划的空间体系相适应,选择相应的模式.研究结论:评价对象的差异决定了战略环评与项目环评的方法有所不同,宜从中国土地利用规划的特点出发,使评价的方法具有针对性和可操作性.     

浅析《城乡规划法》对土地利用规划的影响

研究目的：探讨《城乡规划法》对土地利用规划的影响,为新一轮土地利用总体规划的修编提供参考。研究思路：通过对新颁布的《城乡规划法》的解读,在与《城市规划法》对比的基础上,从城乡统筹规划、两规的衔接以及公众参与等角度,简要分析新法对现阶段土地利用规划的影响。研究结论：提出土地利用规划的编制应进一步强化城乡统筹观念,尽早构建和明晰全国规划体系、以法律形式明确界定两者的任务及衔接内容、政府部门权责的确定与落实等建议。     

Governing Suburbia through regionalized land-use planning? Experiences from the Greater Frankfurt region

This paper explores the case of peripheral settlement growth in the Greater Frankfurt (Main) region within current debates on global suburbanization. Within Germany’s sophisticated spatial planning regime, Greater Frankfurt’s system of regionalized land-use planning marks an ambitious initiative to contain urban sprawl. Nonetheless, expansive peripheral settlement growth, and socio-spatial polarization remain distinct characteristics of the booming region. Analyzing state regulation vis-à-vis dynamics of capitalist urbanization and private authoritarianism, we decipher the complex governance arrangements producing this, at first sight, contradictory simultaneity. We uncover the rationales of local growth politics of autonomous municipalities and the region’s multiplied institutional fragmentation that undermine planning ambitions to contain suburban growth. We conclude by critically assessing the political economies of suburbanization in Greater Frankfurt and point to prospects for regional reform.     

Changes in land use, land tenure, and landscape fragmentation in the Tijuana River Watershed following reform of the ejido sector

Changes in land use and land tenure can influence both physical fragmentation and ownership fragmentation of landscapes, with implications for biodiversity. In this study, we evaluated changes in land use and land tenure in the Tijuana River Watershed, a region of high biodiversity and endemism, following the implementation of a new Agrarian Law which allowed for privatization and sales of communal land (ejidos) beginning in 1992. In order to understand changes in land use and cover, we constructed maps from aerial photographs and Aster images and measured changes between 1994 and 2005. In order to understand changes in land tenure, we collected data from Mexican government sources on ejido land size, ownership, and sales, and we conducted 55 structured interviews with ejidatarios in the watershed. Our results demonstrate that land-use/cover change between 1994 and 2005 was dominated by an increase in urban area and grasslands, and a decrease in coastal sage scrub, chaparral, and, to a lesser degree, agriculture. In particular, the conversion of coastal sage scrub has left a far more fragmented landscape than existed in 1994. In addition, most of the ejidos in the watershed, as well as individuals interviewed, had participated in some stage of the land certification and titling process allowed by the new Agrarian Law, resulting in substantial changes in land tenure. However, land tenure security appeared to play a larger role than a desire to sell land and, contrary to studies from other regions, full title to the land was obtained in a range of urban and rural settings, rather than primarily on land closest to urban zones. Our results suggest that past predictions regarding future urban growth and fragmentation of native vegetation in the region have proven accurate and highlights regions of change that merit further study.     

Multi-period stochastic optimization of a sustainable multi-feedstock second generation bioethanol supply chain − A logistic case study in Midwestern United States

This work proposes a multi-objective optimization model to design a sustainable multi-period second generation biomass-to-bioethanol supply chain under multiple uncertainties. The objective is to simultaneously maximize the economic, environmental, and social performance. The strategic decisions such as land allocation for switchgrass cultivation, biorefinery locations and capacities, and the biomass-to-bioethanol conversion pathway are determined for each planning period which are staggered across the entire planning horizon. The augmented ε–constraint method is used to trade-off among the competing objectives and to obtain feasible solutions that achieve desired levels of sustainability. In order to solve the proposed stochastic optimization model efficiently and effectively, this work proposes a solution approach involving sequential application of a modified Sample Average Approximation method and Benders decomposition. A case study is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model and its impact on land usage and sustainability.     

Characteristics of developers and their relations to open space conservation

Developers are entrepreneurs that initiate and carry out land development projects. They play an active dominant and leading role in land use planning decisions, and are, therefore, expected to have a significant impact on patterns of development and open space conservation. The present study identified correlations between characteristics of developers and indicators of open space conservation, based on a random sample of 88 statutory land use plans in the Tel Aviv metropolitan region over the period 1990–1999. The variables used to describe characteristics of developers were of two kinds: direct variables including developer type and land ownership, and indirect proxy variables that represented typical entrepreneurial behaviors (profit seeking, risk taking and innovativeness) including: net residential density, open space per residential unit, spatial location of the plan area and the time lapse until plan approval. Indicators of conservation were: size of plan area, existing agricultural land within the plan, proposed open space and effective open space. We found that developer type and land ownership were connected mainly to plan size and existing agricultural land rate, both indicators of regional conservation potential, while variables representing profit seeking, risk taking and innovativeness were significantly connected to proposed and effective open space rates, which express the conservation level within plans.     

Forecasting housing land requirements

Summary

Because of pressures on the countryside by private housing development, the Government and the planners have become increasingly involved in planning policy issues and in forecasting land requirements. The forecasting techniques used are examined, and their translation into local allocations through structure and local plans and land availability studies are looked at. The demand for more land releases is attributed more to structural changes in the housebuilding industry and local land shortages in the south‐east than to real shortfalls in housing provision. There is a need for improved monitoring systems for land resource management, particularly in balancing ‘green‐field’ releases against development/redevelopment in existing urban areas.     

Organizing anarchy: The food security–biodiversity–climate crisis and the genesis of rural land use planning in the developing world

Shortfalls in global food production, coupled with the growing visibility of climate change's disruptive effects, have underlined for many observers the importance of devoting rural lands to their ‘optimal’ use, where they can make maximal contributions to the global imperatives of feeding the human population and maintaining vital environmental services. In this context observers have endorsed rural land use planning as a way to insure that, at least in theory, lands get devoted to their best uses. In practice, land use planning in the developing world has resembled ‘organized anarchy’. Small landholders with insecure land tenure, overseas investors seeking large land deals, NGOs representing indigenous peoples, government officials, and staff from international environmental NGOs and multilateral organizations have come together in strategic action fields to struggle over and sometimes negotiate land use plans for contested landscapes. These plans represent a strategic, spatially explicit response to the climate change–biodiversity–food security crisis.