Wind power planning in France (Aveyron), from state regulation to local planning [Erratum,paper published in Land Use Policy 26 (2009) 744–754]

The development of wind energy in France presents an exemplary case of contrast between the policy instrument and its effectiveness in terms of installed wind power capacity. After 7 years of one of the highest feed-in tariffs in the world, the installed capacity in France is still very low. This is notably due to a diffuse pattern of administrative landscape protection which impacts on the construction of wind power potential. In turn, the pace of wind power development can be understood only by looking in more detail at the way in which landscape is dealt with in local planning processes. This paper examines the question using the case of Aveyron in southern France. We follow the shifting ways in which landscape is enrolled in wind power planning, in a context where new planning instruments favor an incipient decentralization in wind power policy. The case points to a change in both the networks and the concepts involved in the design of landscape representations that underlie the construction of wind power potential. We show that this change has been forced by the far-reaching and decentralized visual impacts of wind power technology, suggesting that technology is recomposing the social as part of its development process and questioning the very meaning and perception that is given to landscape.     

The mismatch between regional spatial planning for wind power development in Germany and national eligibility criteria for feed-in tariffs—A case study in West Saxony

In future, wind power is to contribute decisively toward achieving climate policy goals. It can accomplish this, however, only if sufficient space for erecting wind turbines (WTs) is made available. In Europe we currently observe the trend that administrative landscape protection counteracts the desired development. Especially in Germany, the country that leads the world thus far in terms of installed capacity for wind power, the planning authorities are moving toward limiting locally available sites by designating so-called priority and suitability areas. These areas give the erection of WTs priority over other types of land uses but prohibit the erection of WTs outside these areas. The scale and the placement of these areas will be of great significance in future for securing wind energy supply at the regional level and thus for accomplishing national goals in climate policy. According to the regulations in the law revising the legal status of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG, 2009), payment for wind power feed-in to the grid is granted only if, with regard to energy production, the WT to be erected yields at least 60% of a pre-defined standard performance level. With this regulation, the EEG wishes to prevent erecting WTs at locations inefficient for energy production. At the same time, however, higher standards are placed on the allocation of VE areas (priority and suitability areas) as a result. This poses the question: Does regional planning conform to such standards? With the example of the planning region West Saxony, we will evaluate the role the designation of VE areas plays in achieving Germany's wind energy ambitions. The case study reveals that the strategic search of VE areas by the regional planning authorities, involving local stakeholders and the public, hampers investment in state-of-the-art WTs as fostered by the EEG (2009). This leads us to the general conclusion that, even with a participatory design of strategic planning and a determined governmental policy, deployment of the wind resource is not a fast-selling item that in future may contribute decisively toward achieving the ambitious goals in energy and climate policy.     

Rapid land use change by coastal wind farm development: Australian policies,politics and planning

The siting of both onshore and offshore wind farms has caused controversy in a number of countries, particularly in Europe, which currently has the world’s largest array of offshore wind turbines. Like the rest of the world there has been a dramatic increase in wind farm development In Australia over the last two decades but none of this has occurred in the offshore environment. Australian wind farms are predominantly located onshore around the southern part of the continent where wind energy is high. This has specifically affected rural coasts where it has created planning and land use policy issues along with environmental impacts and associated public and political reaction. This paper examines the geographic spread, timing and concentration of Australian wind farms around the coast. It also examines the extent to which scientific knowledge on wind farm impacts is incorporated into different state and federal land use and environmental policy and legislative frameworks. The paper concludes that the rapidity in the expansion of the Australian wind energy sector has outpaced strategic land use planning resulting in a piece-meal and cumulative wind farm development on rural coasts.     

Spatial analyses of emerging and fading wind energy landscapes in Denmark

The development of wind energy in Denmark goes back 30 years, during which the technology was commercialised, up scaled and a series of planning systems were developed. After the millennium, the impact on landscapes increased, the planning regime failed and economic conditions were worsened with the removal of the fixed feed in tariff. The earlier forerunner country is left in the lee of the internationally boosting wind energy business. From a land use policy view it is interesting to analyse how this has happened and what impact the planning policy has had on the landscape effect of wind energy. In order to analyse the impact of wind turbine development through times and on the population of a region, the present paper analyses by means of geographical information systems and in time steps. The spatial relations between population, landscapes and the wind turbine development from 1982 to 2007 were modelled for the Northern Jutland region by means of proximity, density and visibility analyses. Results indicate that development was not continuous and impact on landscape and population was closely related to technology development. The paper concludes on the use of these methods and on the effectiveness of planning regimes.     

Land use planning and the ecosystem approach: An evaluation of case study planning frameworks against the Malawi Principles

Global land use change continues to undermine the capacity of ecosystems to sustain ecosystem service (ES) flows. Much attention in policy and research has therefore been given to concepts, tools and processes for sustainable land use planning, including consideration of ES and the ecosystem approach. However, there are limited empirical cases or evaluations of ecosystem approach based planning from which lessons can be drawn. The aim of this research therefore was to identify and evaluate existing case study planning frameworks that have the potential to operationalise the ecosystem approach. Based on the Malawi Principles, a new suite of evaluation criteria was developed. This was used to assess case study documentary evidence and evaluate the extent to which the 12 Malawi Principles had been considered. The evaluation also assessed the planning methods/approaches used by the case studies and their potential to help translate the Malawi Principles into land use planning outcomes. Finally, a SWOT analysis was used to structure the main findings. Our results show that the Malawi Principles have been considered across the case studies “fully” or “partially” in 64% of instances suggesting, therefore, that the case studies present a reasonable interpretation of the ecosystem approach. However, poor consideration of biodiversity and environmental limits across the cases highlights the risk of land use management decisions continuing to contribute to the degradation of natural capital.     

Agricultural landscape dynamics in response to economic transition: Comparisons between different spatial planning zones in Ningbo region,China

Many major agricultural regions worldwide are experiencing drastic landscape transformations. Examining the complex links among agricultural landscape dynamics (ALD), land use and land cover (LULC) change, socioeconomic development and government planning is pivotal to enhance the efficiency of agricultural landscape management. With a case of the Ningbo region (China), this paper employs the structural equation modeling (SEM) to quantify and compare the relationships between ALD and economic transition as well as the mediating LULC factors in different spatial planning zones. ALD are quantified by time series remotely sensed imageries and a set of landscape metrics; and economic transition is described by a set of indicators from three aspects (globalization, decentralization and marketization). Results show that ALD present similar trend in the two spatial planning zones between 1979 and 2013. However, the magnitude of ALD is larger in the non-urban planning zone. In particular, agricultural landscapes change into the fragmented, irregular, decreased, and isolated patterns at a more rapid pace. Economic transition drivers and LULC mediators differ remarkably between the two spatial planning zones. For the urban planning zone, economic transition influences ALD through construction land morphological changes and water body spatial density increases. For the non-urban planning zone, economic transition influences ALD through forest morphological changes and construction land spatial density increases. In addition, the relative importance of ALD determinants differs between the two spatial planning zones. Marketization plays a more critical role in driving ALD in the urban planning zone, while decentralization has a stronger impact on ALD in the non-urban planning zone. It is argued that land use master plan for agricultural landscape protection should be implemented in the non-urban planning zones and land use plan in the two spatial planning zones should be integrated. This study contributes to the understanding of the complex mechanism of ALD in response to economic transition.     

Adaptive responses to landscape changes from onshore wind energy development in the Republic of Ireland

Covering 26 years of Irish onshore wind energy development, this article tracks patterns in landscape changes from wind farm construction and identifies adaptive responses in public policy and by stakeholder groups. Wind farms face well-documented challenges with social acceptance due to landscape changes; however, little research has examined interactions between landscape change and social adaptations over the long-term. This article systematically reviews 20 policy documents, undertakes spatio-temporal linear modeling of 212 wind farms using 9 landscape change metrics, and analyzes 5 stakeholder group interviews on adaptive responses to landscape changes. Upward trends occur in turbine height, impact accumulation, placement in agricultural landscapes, construction delays, and new farms built per year. Downward trends occur in the number of turbines per farm, visual disruption of protected areas, and placement in wetlands. Key patterns in stakeholder groups’ adaptations include conflicting interpretations of landscape amenities and evolution, and expanded community outreach, networking, and public participation after exposure to infrastructure. Stakeholders adapt to existing infrastructure separately from adapting strategies to respond to new wind farms. Overall, a mutual relationship emerges wherein landscape changes from wind farms respond to policies and stakeholder activities, while policies and stakeholder groups adapt to the physical realities of landscape change.     

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.     

Effects of local land-use planning on development and disturbance in riparian areas

Land-use change can significantly affect the provision of ecosystem services. On a local scale, zoning laws and other land-use regulations are commonly used to influence land-use change, but their effectiveness is often unclear. We evaluate the effectiveness of local land-use planning in concentrating development and minimizing impacts in riparian areas. We use spatially-explicit land cover data from the USGS Land Cover Trends project to measure development and disturbance rates before and after implementation of Oregon’s land-use planning system. We apply a difference-in-difference estimator to address the problem of non-random assignment of regulations on the landscape. We find that land-use laws in Oregon have concentrated development inside of UGBs and lowered development rates in riparian areas. However, disturbance in riparian areas has increased inside of UGBs. Overall, our findings suggest that local land-use planning can be an effective tool for promoting the provision of non-market ecosystem services.     

Wind power,landscape and strategic,spatial planning—The construction of ‘acceptable locations’ in Wales

A number of analysts have argued that decisions about renewable energy technologies and targets need to be reconciled with the social and environmental contexts in which those technologies are adopted. However, an unresolved issue is how the contextually-embedded qualities of landscape might be represented at the national level, alongside other energy policy considerations like resource availability, economic efficiency and technical feasibility. To explore the dilemmas of this enterprise, this work examines the efforts of the Welsh Assembly Government to develop a spatial planning framework for wind energy. The work examines how particular landscapes became identified as ‘acceptable locations’ for wind farms, and the consequences. Four sets of findings are discussed: the selectivity with which landscape qualities enter strategic planning rationalities, favouring qualities that are formally demarcated and measurable ‘at a distance’; the tendency of the identified strategic search areas for wind to reinforce the degraded status of afforested upland areas; the extent to which the planning framework has rendered certain environmental qualities malleable; and the way that drawing boundaries around acceptable locations for large-scale wind energy development may restrict the scope for future reflexivity in energy policy.     

Socioeconomic drivers of forest loss and fragmentation: A comparison between different land use planning schemes and policy implications

Forest loss and fragmentation, which generate various negative environmental and ecological consequences, have become widespread phenomena across the globe. Motivation to investigate the underlying drivers is essential for land use planning and policy decision making. This paper characterizes forest loss and fragmentation from 1979 to 2014 in the Ningbo region (China) using multitemporal satellite imageries and a set of landscape metrics (area-weighted mean patch area, edge density, area-weighted shape index, Euclidean nearest neighbor distance, effective mesh size and total area); and then quantifies the responsible socioeconomic drivers (economy, social activities, science and technology, culture and policy, demography) under different land use planning schemes (urban and non-urban) using multivariate linear regression. Results show that the two zones present identical trend of intensifying forest loss and fragmentation but differ in changing magnitude and speed. More specifically, forest loss and fragmentation in the non-urban planning zone occurs at a significantly higher pace and magnitude. For the urban planning zone, population pressure, economic growth and fruit consumption are the primary drivers of forest loss, while forest fragmentation is mainly driven by economic openness, cash crop consumption and environmental protection consciousness. For the non-urban planning zone, income increases, fruit consumption and infrastructure development are the primary drivers of forest loss, while infrastructure and tourism development are the major drivers of forest fragmentation. Besides, forest loss and fragmentation in the two zones are both heavily subjected to land use policy. The variance partitioning analysis highlights that the policy driver is the most influential one and economic driver also has strong effect on forest loss and fragmentation in the urban planning zone. For the non-urban planning zone, the influence of policy driver is the strongest and social activity is also very powerful. These results provide compelling evidence that land use planning fails to play an efficient role in protecting forest resources in the Ningbo region. The failure should be attributed to several issues associated with land use planning and forestry governance that widely exist in China. We finally propose some pertinent implications and suggestions for China’s land use planning and forest policy. This study is believed to advance the understanding of the socioeconomic drivers of forest loss and fragmentation. It therefore provides some new insights in land use policy.     

我国农村土地整治的发展态势与重点研究领域

土地整治是为提高土地生产承载能力而实施的一项涉及到资源环境、社会经济、政策制度等多方面持续、动态的系统工程.从国家的战略部署、目标的现实转变、统筹城乡与促进农业现代化、社会经济发展阶段等方面对土地整治提出了战略需求,指出了当前土地整治应从完善整治规划编制体系、建立监测-评价-调控系统、推进整治制度创新、加强生态景观建设整治等4个领域来重点研究.结果表明:在土地管理从数量向数量、质量、生态管护转变中,土地整治越来越趋于综合化发展.     

New urban planning challenges under emerging autonomous mobility: evaluating backcasting scenarios and policies through an expert survey

The future implementation of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) in cities can have significant impacts, both positive and negative, on their sustainability. The objective of this research is to investigate those impacts and evaluate which policies could be most effective in achieving the desired city scenario through a backcasting planning methodology. To this end, a survey among experts was carried out in which they expressed their opinions on the potential consequences of AVs in cities and on the effectiveness of various policy packages focused on achieving a more sustainable mobility and land use planning. The results obtained show that the experts consulted were sceptical about the positive impacts of AVs, arguing that they could induce an increase in car trips and urban sprawl. The policies that could be most effective in mitigating these effects, leading to a city more aligned with the planned objectives would be: to strengthen active (foot, bicycle) and public transport modes, to restrict access of motorised modes to central urban areas and to use freed spaces for alternative modes of transport, green areas and public facilities. A cluster analysis also showed that most of the experts consulted considered that the policy packages presented could be effective or very effective in reaching the most desirable scenario. Therefore, it is important that the implementation of AVs does not subordinate to, but enhances, the sustainable mobility and land use policies already being developed in many urban areas.     

The struggle to achieve holistic landscape planning: Lessons from planning the E6 road route through Tanum World Heritage Site,Sweden

Since the EU introduced the European Landscape Convention (ELC) in 2000, the landscape has received growing attention in spatial planning and environmental impact assessments. To promote implementation of the ELC, the Swedish National Heritage Board proposed its Landscape Vision 2020, which addresses the goal of a ‘holistic landscape policy’. This study examined challenges and benefits brought by such a holistic approach to handling landscape protection/management within four issues in planning practice, namely cross-sector cooperation, local participation, integrating culture and nature, and bridging past and future. The analysis focused on a controversial road project passing through a World Heritage Site in Sweden. The results showed that the four issues were closely interlinked. In the case study, a new wave of cross-sector cooperation at authority level was observed, but it was also found to dominate the entire planning process and eventually limit the achievement of the other three issues. In conclusion, this study identified institutional culture and political context as key explanatory factors for understanding how the ELC and a holistic landscape view can be implemented in national practice.     

Social learning: A knowledge and capacity building approach for adaptive co-management of contested landscapes

There is increasing recognition in the field of natural resource management that transformative adaptation to climate and policy change requires cross industry learning and cooperation at the landscape scale. This can be supported by the development of systematic methodology on learning models for adaptive co-management between diverse and conflicting landscape managers. Our example of land-use change to hardwood plantation forestry in sub-tropical Australia illustrates an innovative implementation framework for a social learning process that helped build knowledge and community capacity for adaptive co-management of dynamic and shared landscapes. The action research methodology relied on deliberation over local knowledge, existing and emergent scientific findings, resulting in attitudinal change. Processes required facilitation and mediation by a bridging organisation, in this case a research institution, to support cross-scale communications. Reflections suggest that attention is required to manage risk and support stakeholder analysis, particularly in understanding contested values and overcoming power differentials between industry and self-interest groups. Resolving funding issues will require greater consideration by governments and industry groups of their social responsibilities to communities and the environment; particularly as this social learning model is posited for more broad-scale use in providing multi-level governance linkages and as a basis for targeting interventions to address policy gaps or failure.     

基于低碳理念的新农村景观规划研究——以河南省为例

农村传统景观规划没有充分利用生态低碳技术,且在土地利用上忽视了可持续发展战略。文章以河南省为例,分析了新农村规划存在缺少合理有效的生态景观规划及缺乏对自然景观资源的均衡开发等问题;并提出了低碳理念下新农村景观规划及基质与斑块景观规划思路,对基于低碳理念的新农村景观规划展开深入研究。最后该文将低碳理念融入景观规划设计,分别从新农村道路、绿化、照明等3个方面入手,提出道路分级、利用乡土树种进行植物配置、使用新型照明布置模式等新农村景观规划建议,以加快河南省新农村建设进程。     

The Effects of Wind Turbines on Property Values in Ontario: Does Public Perception Match Empirical Evidence?

The increasing development of wind energy in North America has generated concerns from nearby residents regarding potential impacts of wind turbines on property values. Such concerns arose in Melancthon Township (in southern Ontario) following the construction of a large wind farm. Existing literature has not reached a consensus regarding the nature of these impacts. This paper applies a hedonic approach to detailed data on 5,414 rural residential sales and 1,590 farmland sales to estimate the impacts of Melancthon's wind turbines on surrounding property values. These impacts are accounted for through both proximity to turbines and turbine visibility—two factors that may contribute to a disamenity effect. The results of the hedonic models, which are robust to a number of alternate model specifications including a repeat sales analysis, suggest that these wind turbines have not significantly impacted nearby property values. Thus, these results do not corroborate the concerns raised by residents regarding potential negative impacts of turbines on property values.     

满族特色小城镇旅游景观规划设计策略研究——以青山沟镇旅游景观规划为例

[目的]试图结合青山沟镇的自然环境和满族文化,在解决现有问题的基础上设计满族特色小城镇旅游景观规划。[方法]针对满族特色小城镇建设采用文献法列举国内学者既有研究成果,鉴于其未能从满族特色的继承与发展的角度建立满族特色旅游景观规划设计的研究系统,文章以青山沟镇为例,在分析青山沟镇发展现状、景观建设情况的基础上找出该地区旅游发展存在的问题,并在制定规划原则的基础上提出具体解决策略。[结果]研究发现,创造满族特色的旅游景观规划必须将满族文化贯穿到城镇的整体景观规划当中;注重文化的时代性;注重文化和自然资源的结合;注重公众参与,只有通过各方面的配合才能达到全面的、真正的满族特色。[结论]通过民族特色旅游景观规划设计可以将青山沟镇的旅游模式由地区资源导向性转变为产品导向性,可以科学有效地建构满族特色旅游景观品牌,为促进具有满族特色的旅游景观发展提供技术支持。     

泽普县农村居民点空间格局演变及其影响因素

[目的]试图揭示出泽普县农村居民点的变化主要驱动力,以期为农村居民点的空间布局管理和科学的布局调整提供政策指导。[方法]文章综合使用GIS技术、景观指数定量分析的方法和空间分析方法对泽普县农村居民点2005~2014年用地规模结构、空间分布、形态结构的演变特征进行研究,并且分析了地形与自然资源因素、区位与环境因素和社会经济因素对其的影响。[结果]在社会经济快速发展的背景下,泽普县的农村居民点扩张明显,集约程度较低;农村居民点的斑块形态指数趋于规则,人为管控和村镇选址规划的效果初步体现;空间上斑块聚集特征明显,主要体现在大斑块低密度分布和小斑块高密度分布的景观格局;但是从整体来看泽普县近10年来空间格局变化不大,局部有聚集趋势,尤其是在海拔适宜、经济高速发展的地区集中趋势更为明显。[结论]农村居民点居住的景观格局变化主要与自然条件息息相关,但在时间和空间的微观层面上社会经济因素和区位条件具有更大的影响力。