An innovative means of urban land development: A case study of Trichur in India

Summary

For more than seven decades, several Indian states have used the plot reconstitution technique in managing urban land development. Recently, Kerala, a small southern state, has experimented with this technique for the first time in a scheme in Trichur. The Trichur experience is unique in that it incorporates significant innovations over a somewhat similar method of land readjustment which is widely practiced in the Asian‐Pacific region. Formulated for complete cost‐recovery, the Trichur project incorporates the active cooperation of the landowners and officials, and is a time‐bound programme to complete all land development and building construction works within six years of the finalization of the scheme proposals.

This paper attempts to explore the use of this innovative means of land development in Trichur with a view to assessing the potentiality and constraints in its use, and identifying critical areas where further refinements would be desirable. Based on fieldwork in the state and intensive interviews, the paper finds the Trichur experience to be of great importance as a viable strategy of urban land development and management. The paper concludes with some recommendations on legal and institutional aspects, and stresses the need for refinements in the scheme preparation and information dissemination for transferability and wider application of the technique.     

An agent-based learning-embedded model (ABM-learning) for urban land use planning: A case study of residential land growth simulation in Shenzhen,China

A forward-looking urban land use plan is crucial to a city’s sustainability, which requires a deep understanding of human-environment interactions between different domains, and modelling them soundly. One of the key challenges of modelling these interactions is to understand and model how human individuals make and develop their location decisions by learning that then shape urban land-use patterns. To investigate this issue, we have constructed an extended experience-weighted attraction learning model to represent the human agents’ learning when they make location decisions. Consequently, we propose and have developed an agent-based learning-embedded model (ABM-learning) for residential land growth simulation that incorporates a learning model, a decision-making model, a land use conversion model and the constraint of urban land use master plan. The proposed model was used for a simulation of the residential land growth in Shenzhen city, China. By validating the model against empirical data, the results showed that the site-specific accuracy of the model has been improved when embedding learning model. The analysis on the simulation accuracies has proved the argument that modelling individual-level learning matters in the agent’s decision model and the agent-based models. We also applied the model to predict residential land growth in Shenzhen from 2015 to 2035, and the result can be a reference for land-use allocation in detailed planning of Shenzhen. The ABM-learning is applicable to studying the past urban growth trajectory, aiding in the formulation of detailed residential land and public service facility planning and assessing the land use planning effectiveness.     

How smallholder farmers adapt to agricultural drought in a changing climate: A case study in southern China

Although the adaptation strategies of smallholder farmers to climate change and its attendant hazards have attracted widespread attention, the quantitative detection and evaluation of their adaptive behaviors remains a difficult task that deserves further study. This article describes an empirical case study performed in southern China to examine the adaptation strategies of paddy farmers to agricultural drought. We collected first-hand data through household questionnaires, in-depth interviews with local managers, and farm-level land-use surveys. The effectiveness of the adaptation approaches of the farmers was assessed in terms of the ecological, economic, and social benefits. Our findings indicate that over the past three decades, when confronted with recurrent seasonal drought in a warming climate, farmers have gradually abandoned the double-cropping rice production and transformed their cropping patterns into a new diversified mode of “Rice-Cole, rice, cotton, seedling nursery, and coarse cereals”. Current farming practice reduces the vulnerability of local agriculture to drought, and allows farmers to diversify and improve their incomes, which contributes to enhanced resilience and adaptability to drought. However, the autonomous adaptation of farmers may primarily serve their interests of minimizing drought risk and maximizing economic profits but could also undermine the social benefits, such as regional grain security. A robust adaptation strategy should balance the ecological and economic benefits with social interests to maintain agricultural sustainability.     

Contingent valuation of urban public space: A case study of Ljubljanica riverbanks

The article presents an economic valuation of the Ljubljanica riverbanks area, which is an urban cultural landscape with distinct qualities of international importance. For this purpose, we combined a classical contingent valuation with a closed-form version of discrete choice method, where the protest responses have been removed. By using econometric analysis, we obtained the willingness-to-pay (WTP) value and established its determinants. It was ascertained that residents derived more utility from implementation of the targeted development scenario than visitors. Thus, a discriminatory contribution scheme similar to the one with respect to the mean WTP could supply substantial revenue for further targeted development, while still providing ample consumer surplus for both residents and visitors. The present analysis represents one of the method’s very few applications to urban landscape in Central and Eastern European countries.     

Uncovering climate (in)justice with an adaptive capacity assessment: A multiple case study in rural coastal North Carolina

Climate change resilience is an area of praxis where efforts to enhance community adaptive capacity are informed by theory. However, there is growing evidence that ethnocentrism and privilege are shaping coastal management policies while many communities with climate justice issues struggle to build resilience. Particularly, rural coastal communities, contrasting urban areas, have limited access to centralized planning efforts, unique local contexts for outreach, compounding social vulnerabilities (job loss, out-migration, limited social services), and receive less attention from resilience researchers. Following calls to integrate climate justice into resilience praxis, we assess perceptions of adaptive capacity within predominately African American communities in a rural low-lying coastal region in eastern North Carolina. We add a climate justice lens to evaluate the previously-validated Rural Coastal Community Resilience (RCCR) framework. The RCCR is intended to improve planning efforts by providing climate change information, initiating conversations, and contributing to resilience theory. In contrast to its previous applications, engagement led to declines in perceived adaptive capacity. This result highlights that the information sharing goals of the engagement efforts were poorly aligned with community concerns and threat perceptions. Additionally, perceived climate injustices emerged revealing instances of adaptation oppression. This study recommends strategies to rethink traditional extension efforts to improve inclusiveness by deeply interrogating the inherent whiteness of standard modes of communicating climate science.     

Assessing the fragmentation of construction land in urban areas: An index method and case study in Shunde, China

The fragmentation of construction land due to decentralised urban development, disorderly mixed land use, and large-scale transportation infrastructure poses a threat to urban integrity. There is a need to quantify the fragmentation level in a consistent way for inclusion in planning-related decisions. In the context of China's urban sprawl, this study develops a quantitative and intuitive index approach that planners can use to analyse multiple fragmentation features of construction land within urban areas. The approach can be used in planning policy reviews for timely land-use assessment and can be integrated into urban planning processes for developing strategic land-use scenarios. The method was applied in Shunde, a typical urban area in southern China, and construction-land fragmentation and its impacts on environmental quality were analysed. The results show that the entire built-up area in Shunde displays a high level of fragmentation. Patches of industrial and rural residence have been identified specifically higher fragmentation level. The shortage of available construction land makes land consolidation within built-up areas very important in planning Shunde's future development. Moreover, the land shortage requires the progressive reduction of construction land fragmentation. The results of the study also indicate that although land fragmentation has been affected by transportation infrastructure and the existence of rivers and hills in this region, decentralised decisions from hierarchical local governance regimes have greatly exacerbated this situation. Shunde provides examples of typical land-use problems associated with quasi-urbanised regions in China; construction-land fragmentation is a greater determinant for the sustainable development of urban and rural areas than construction-land growth.     

The research cost of adapting agriculture to climate change: A global analysis to 2050

Investments in agricultural research and development (R&D) made over the next few decades will likely prove critical in offsetting adverse climate change impacts on the global food system. In this study, we offer cost estimates of public R&D-led adaptation to climate change grounded in an explicit framework relating the flow of annual R&D expenditures to building knowledge capital and thereby raising productivity in agriculture. Our research uses a comprehensive collection of historical public agricultural R&D expenditure and a literature review of elasticity estimates linking knowledge stocks to agricultural productivity growth for key world regions. Given climate-driven crop yield projections generated from extreme combinations of crop and global circulation models, we find that offsetting crop yield losses projected by climate and crop models over 2006–2050 would require increased R&D adaptation investments of between $187 billion and $1,384 billion (in 2005 $PPP) if we invest between 2020 and 2040. This is 16–118% higher than global R&D investment if present spending trends continue. Although these costs are significant, worldwide R&D-led climate adaptation could offer favorable economic returns. Moreover, R&D-led adaptation could deliver gains in food security and environmental sustainability by mitigating food price increases and slowing cropland expansion.     

Exploring the mechanism of border effect on urban land expansion: A case study of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in China

Though previous studies have revealed the mechanism of urban land expansion based on different perspectives, the role of the administrative border tends to be ignored. Combined with empirical study and theoretical analysis, this paper attempts to explore the mechanism of border effect on urban land expansion. Firstly, we propose three hypotheses and develop an initial model. Then, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is applied to the empirical study. Based on the findings in the case study, we concretize the border effect and reveal the mechanism from a theoretical perspective. Our research indicates that borders have an indirect effect on urban land expansion. The indirect effect consists of the influence of administrative borders on medium and the impact of the medium on urban land expansion. The border effect is mainly caused by the influence of administrative borders on medium, while the disparity in border effect among cities and different years is determined by the impact of the medium on urban land expansion. Between 1990 and 2010, financial expenditure and the non-agricultural population were dominant components of the medium in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (BTHR). The social fixed asset was an important medium when regional marketization and integration were at a low level. Although urban land expands in the limited space built by administrative borders, it is caused by cross-border communication among cities. Findings in the paper are expected to enrich our knowledge of the relationship between borders and urban land expansion and provide potential support for the delineation of Urban Growth Boundary.     

Sustainable valuation of land for development. Adding value with urban planning progress. A Spanish case study

This article presents a valuation model of land for development in a sustainable way, based on the design and execution of urban planning. Using this method, one can obtain, at any given point in time, the added value progress of the urbanization process. For each year during the plan’s execution, the value of land has been estimated. The free cash-flow method was applied in order to estimate the land valuation of any given year. From the estimate for each of those years, and using regression analysis, the most suited value added function was obtained, for the increase of value across time up to the point of finalized, fully urbanized land. The results show that this is an exponential growth function, such that during the initial years the progress of valuation is slow, but it accentuates during final years of execution as the land becomes urbanized, at which point the land achieves maximum value.     

The politics of swidden: A case study from Nghe An and Son La in Vietnam

Swidden cultivation practices have been seen as a major driver of deforestation and forest degradation in Southeast Asia. Using two case studies from Vietnam, this paper examines discourses around swidden practices at multiple levels of governance. Our findings show diverse interpretations of swidden resulting in different policy preferences and policy translations when addressing the issue. At national level, swidden is blamed as a principal driver of deforestation and forest degradation, and as such is a practice to be eliminated. As a result of this national stance, provincial level authorities see the existence of swidden as a failure by which their political performance will be judged. Conversely, swidden communities are seen at district level as an innovative solution to help resource-limited police forces ensure national security in border areas. Local commune and village leaders view swidden as a traditional practice to be respected, so as to maintain harmonious relationships amongst social groups, and avoid ethnic groups protesting against the government. Such differences in discourses and political interests have led to swidden becoming an ‘invisible’ issue, with government authorities failing to collect and report on data. Not recognizing swidden also means that swidden actors are practically ‘forgotten’ in the design and implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). Their omission from forest conservation and management incentive programmes could lead to further social marginalization, and potentially result in deforestation and forest degradation in the area. Our findings suggest that REDD+ policies should take into account diverging political interests on controversial land uses such as swidden cultivation.     

工程用海中对近海捕捞渔船和谐赎买的案例剖析——以浙江省舟山市本岛为例

舟山地方经济与社会发展变化的一种载体,即是向海洋要"土地",并以政府工程的形式实现,但也由此引发了与民争利的社会新问题。面对政府工程"用海"的现实矛盾,唯有政府采取安抚和缓政策,加大经济补偿力度,容纳民声,主动扩展民生空间来解决。实践中,主要通过公平推行、阳光操作、取信于民、积极化解社会底层矛盾等来构建海岛渔村和谐社会。值得注意的是,尽管采取了种种惠民政策,仍然出现了产权归属、利益分配等问题。     

Implications of land use transitions and climate change on local flooding in urban areas: An assessment of 42 Indian cities

Urban development induced land transitions affect urban hydrology, resulting in increased flooding risks. Climate change-related precipitation changes are an added complexity to the flood risks of cities. This study examines the role of land use changes in determining the occurrence of urban flooding events across 42 Indian cities under current and future climate change scenarios. Landsat images for 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2017 have been processed using a hybrid classification technique to determine the land use shares for all cities. A typical event-count study using newspaper archives has been conducted to create a flooding event database. A multilevel model employing logistic mixed-effects approach was used. Future projections of the occurrence of flooding events for nine models under three climate change-related Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs)—2.6, 4.5, and 8.5—and three urban development scenarios have been carried out. The results suggest that cities should preserve the land uses that act as a sponge—the green, open and blue spaces. As these spaces decrease, the projected flooding events increase. Under the RCP 2.6 scenario, the number of flooding events is significantly lower (95 % confidence) than under RCPs 4.5 and 8.5. The expected flooding occurrences between RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 are not significantly different (95 % confidence) for many scenarios, suggesting that Indian cities should aim for a world temperature increase of below 2 °C, or devastating consequences are imminent. This study highlights the need for Indian cities to undertake integrated spatial planning measures for a resilient, sustainable urban future.     

海域环境承载力评价模型研究——以胶州湾为例

根据DPSIR概念模型,通过德尔菲法和问卷调查法建立了包括驱动力因素、压力因素、状态因素、影响因素和响应因素5个一级指标及对应的16个二级指标,采用AHP法和模糊综合评价法计算出了两级指标的权重并构建了海域环境承载力评价模型,研究结果表明,模型中驱动力和状态因素占权重较高,响应次之。以胶州湾海域环境承载力评价研究为例,模型分析得出其环境承载力隶属度为良,未能达到优化状态,还需要通过有效发展新型产业,大力发展旅游和运输业,提高资源利用率,减少污染排放等措施进行改进。     

Paths of urban planning in a post-mining area. A case study of a former sandpit in southern Poland

Decision-making on the directions of spatial development are particularly visible in post-mining areas in large cities. This issue is one of the key themes in a discourse that focuses on how to reconcile strategic urban planning and urban policy in post-mining towns, and is based on the concepts of brownfield regeneration and just transition. This paper approaches the issue by taking the redevelopment of the site of a large former stowing sand pit, operated for the needs of coal mining in Sosnowiec near Krakow (southern Poland), as an example. The dilemma concerns turning the former mining area into a new zone for industrial investment or transforming it into a leisure area around a new reservoir. An important part of the study involved obtaining, via a questionnaire survey, the opinions of residents as to their vision for how the former sandpit should be redeveloped. The paper underlines that due to limited social participation in this regard, this is a challenging issue for local urban policy. In post-mining towns, in which sustainable development is particularly important, the changeability of socio-economic phenomena on the one hand and residents' opinions on the other merit special attention.     

Accounting for diverse risk attitudes in measures of risk perceptions: A case study of climate change risk for small-scale citrus farmers in Indonesia

Climate change is likely to generate severe impacts on smallholder farmers in developing countries. As key drivers of adaptation, climate risk perceptions are highly heterogeneous, varying both across people and context, and are complex, being defined as behaviour which varies across both impact and likelihood dimensions in non-linear ways. Yet most studies examining risk perceptions are unable to disentangle the role of perceptions regarding impacts from those regarding the likelihood of climate-related events taking place. This paper presents a decomposition and associated analysis of survey-based ‘risk perception’ measures. The decomposition we apply allows independent accounting for perceptions over frequencies and impacts linking to behavioural patterns of risk attitude. The approach presented here draws on a detailed 2017 survey of 500 farmers in rural Indonesia to generate insights into the relationship between risk perceptions and extension services, accessibility of information, and other factors. Results show that risk perceptions are generated from complex interaction between perceived future frequencies and outcomes of climate events and indicate differential impacts of extension services across these perceptions. This paper also presents empirical support for the use of information and communication technology based extension as an efficient extension tool to reach more farmers than in traditional methods.     

Adaptation strategies to climatic variability: A case study of small-scale farmers in rural Mexico

Climate change is predicted to have major consequences for small-scale farmers in the developing rural areas of the world. Rural areas, nonetheless, harbor opportunities to mitigate global climate changes. Identification of innovative adaptation strategies used by small-scale farmers, therefore, is crucial in order to understand the extent of their implications. This paper identifies the relationships between livelihood units and landscapes that they depend upon, in a small-scale farm community. It examines their experiences of increasing climatic variability, and how the different groups in the community are adapting to it. The study was conducted in a typical rural ejido community on the Pacific coast of Mexico (Ejido Ticuiz), where a detailed socio-cultural profile was obtained by means of semi-structured interviews. In the study area we encountered a range of individual and community-based adaptation strategies, built on farmers’ recognition of the different types of landscapes which supply goods and benefits. Small-scale farmers have used their landscape diversity to build adaptation strategies to guarantee the supply of goods and benefits to cope with uncertain of climate events. Households rather than individuals or the community as an institution were depicted as the core socio-cultural group for better understanding of patterns, behavior and aspirations related to climate change adaptation at local level. The adaptation capacities of rural communities could be significantly strengthened if political, financial and institutional support is targeted at households rather than at individuals or the community level only.     

An application of Target MOTAD Model to crop production in Zambia: Gwembe Valley as a case study

The Zambian Government encourages crop production in the Gwembe Valley without taking into consideration the risks involved. These risks mainly originate from the stochastic nature of rainfall. This paper, therefore, identifies optimal cropping patterns in the Gwembe Valley by using Target MOTAD Model. The results of the Target MOTAD Model indicate an optimal cropping pattern of growing sorghum, rice and soyabeans. This is different from the existing cropping pattern of sorghum, sunflower, cotton and maize. The overall policy implication of adopting the cropping pattern obtained from the model solution is that some resources allocated to the production of current crops have to be reallocated to the production of new crops. Moreover, since people in the Gwembe Valley are used to growing of cotton, sunflower and maize, the adoption of the suggested new crops will entail the education of the people (through extension services) in the crop husbandry of these crops.     

经济欠发达地区生态安全建设思考--以湖南西部为例

湖南省西部地区经济发展水平较低，但生态区位极为重要，它的生态安全直接关系到沅、澧水流域和洞庭湖区的安危以及该区经济社会的持续发展；分析了该区生态安全的特点和发展态势，提出为实现生态安全，应从自然资源合理利用、保护等多方面着手，采取综合对策措施。要实行科学规划，综合治理生态环境；加快农业结构调整，构建绿色经济特色；加强林业建设，构建绿色生态屏障；进行生态分区建设和发展壮大生态旅游业；加强全民生态安全意识。     

基于SEM的公众洪灾风险认知水平评估——以景德镇市为例

客观、准确评估公众洪灾风险认知水平将有助于提高公众参与积极性。基于保护动机理论框架,从灾前准备意识、灾中应对意识以及灾后恢复意识三方面构建评估体系,以景德镇市为例,建立公众洪灾风险认知的结构方程模型,基于路径系数评估了洪灾风险认知水平。结果表明:洪灾风险认知受灾前准备意识和灾中应对意识的直接影响,灾后恢复意识则产生间接影响,灾前准备意识对洪灾风险认知的影响程度最高;评估指标贡献率上,住宅内部损失经历的贡献率最高,应急物资准备意愿、防洪演练参与意愿的贡献率均超过4%;洪灾风险认知评估结果上,女性的风险认知水平高于男性;青年、老年人群风险认知水平较低。