Zionism and agricultural land: National narratives,environmental objectives,and land policy in Israel

The 1990s saw two different and even contradictory trends in Israel. On the one hand, there was a substantial increase in environmental awareness, on the part of both the general public and decision-makers, that led to a change in the land use planning policy at the national level. On the other hand, the Israel Lands Council (ILC), the body empowered by law to shape the national land policy, made a series of decisions that severely violated the principle of preserving agricultural land and led to massive conversion of agricultural land and open space for commercial, industrial, and residential development. Thus the national land policy became incompatible with the land use planning policy and the rise in environmental awareness it reflected.     

Environmental impact assessment of urban land use transitions—A context-sensitive approach

Land consumption due to residential development, economic growth and transportation belongs to the most serious environmental pressures on landscapes worldwide, in particular in urbanised areas. Accordingly, the aim of containing the development of land is rated increasingly high on the agenda of environmental policy, at least in densely populated countries such as Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands or the UK. As a result, different strategies and instruments to prevent excessive land consumption are being discussed. However, many of these strategies and instruments adopt a rather general approach, while it seems more effective to define the particular areas where the goal of reducing land consumption is to be pursued. Such an approach must draw on information about how detrimental specific land use transitions are with regard to, for instance, the functionality of soils, water balance or habitat quality at specific locations. This paper introduces a conceptual framework for the impact assessment of land use transition in urban areas which highlights how such information can be acquired. This framework includes the differentiation of two levels of impact assessment: the level of the single land unit and the context level which takes into account regional and aggregated impacts of land use transition bound to the spatial context. The conceptual framework provides a basis to disaggregate (supra-)national policy targets regarding land use, to scale them down to the regional level, and thus to clarify the spatially explicit implications of land use policies.     

土地利用规划中土地利用空间结构和布局研究进展

土地利用空间结构和布局是土地利用规划工作中的关键所在,是决定土地利用规划是否科学合理的重要步骤;开展土地利用空间结构和布局优化研究有利于促进土地资源利用的集约高效,有利于新一轮的土地利用规划修编的编制和实施;综述了目前我国土地利用空间布局相关理论的研究进展,回顾了土地利用空间布局所采取的主要技术和手段,对我国土地利用空间结构和布局研究进行了展望;研究表明：我国土地利用空间布局理论研究有了长足进展,但还未形成严密的科学理论体系;在研究视角上,多注重耕地和基本农田保护,在“统筹兼顾”“以人为本”“理性发展”等方面应加强;在研究方法上,应加强现代数学模型与计算机空间模拟等方法在土地利用规划布局中的应用研究,加强参与式土地利用规划理论和方法研究,与传统的规划研究方法和手段相结合,形成客观、准确、科学的土地利用规划技术体系。     

Impact of land tenure on land use in low-income countries

The role of land tenure in agricultural development has been a subject of intensive research, particularly within the context of land and agrarian reform. The complexity of the world's major land tenure systems is well recognized and no attempt is made here to go beyond an overview as this paper limits itself to the impact of land tenure on land use in low income situations. Present land use is determined by a host of factors, of a physical/biological and socioeconomic nature. In applying land evaluation, the question it is necessary to ask is to what extent, when and where land tenure conditions act as a considerable constraining factor impeding a more optimal use of land resources. Even in what used to be low-population density areas (such as Sub-Saharan Africa) it appears that the frontier phase is becoming exhausted and the intensification of agriculture proceeds; it becomes imperative to examine land tenure in relation to land use implications. It is shown that so far a multi-disciplinary approach has often been lacking in treating land tenure and related issues.     

Key issues of land use in China and implications for policy making

The paper aims to comprehensively analyze key issues of current land use in China. It identifies the major land-use problems when China is undergoing rapid urbanization. Then, the paper interprets and assesses the related land-use policies: requisition-compensation balance of arable land, increasing vs. decreasing balance of urban-rural built land, reserved land system within land requisition, rural land consolidation and economical and intensive land use. The paper finds that current policies are targeting specific problems while being implemented in parallel. There is lacking a framework that incorporates all the policies. The paper finally indicates the current land-use challenges and proposes strategic land-use policy system to guide sustainable land use in the future.     

Associating land use/cover information with land parcels represented in LADM

LADM design requires the association of external land use/cover information with cadastral land parcels. In addition to model design, related specifications are to be defined in the implementation. Yet, there are many severe obstacles against defining such specifications that are applicable to all cases. In this context, there are many different types of land use/cover classification systems for different purposes in different data quality, scale and content, which are either designed internationally or nationally. FAO Land Cover Classification System (LCCS), CORINE land cover, INSPIRE land use/cover themes, land use capability classification and Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) are common international examples.In this study, management of spatial land use/cover data in association with cadastral land parcels represented by LADM was studied in a pilot study area in Turkey. In this context, association of spatial information as sub-divisions of land parcels (sub-parcels) was studied. Different land use/cover data sets (four types) were specifically produced for this study with an LPIS like digitization method. For the association, special overlay operations with and without predefined XY tolerances were carried out. Effects of similar yet different data sets, spatial data consistency between the produced sub-parcel data sets and land parcels, and also errors were analyzed based on the results. It is found (1) that the level of detail (base production scale) of external land use/cover data set increases spatial association errors, (2) that using XY tolerances to reduce these errors causes data inconsistency and (3) that direct spatial harmonization of two data set may be a robust solution when it is possible. In this context, in order to contribute to the implementation of LADM in terms of spatial association of land parcels and external land use/cover data, together with these data processing and analysis work, LADM modelling abstraction, availability and data quality issues of external land use/cover data, updating and maintenance issues were also discussed.     

我国城市用地扩展与土地集约利用

分析了我国城市用地增长弹性系数和城市用地扩展幂指数规律,发现土地利用效益偏低、扩张速度偏快是目前我国城市用地扩展的主要特征;分析了城市用地扩展的主要驱动力,发现固定资产投资和人口增长是城市扩展的主要动力,而第三产业发展有助于抑制城市用地扩张;认为城市扩展是我国现阶段经济发展的必然结果,但我国城市土地利用应变外廷扩展为外延扩展和内涵挖潜相结合的利用方式,提高土地利用的集约度与综合效益.     

Exploring land use changes and the role of palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia

This study compiles and analyses national-level data on land use change (LUC) and its causes in Indonesia and Malaysia over the past 30 years. The study also explores the role that palm oil has played in past LUC and that projected growth in palm oil production may play in LUC until 2020 and suggests strategies to minimize negative effects. Data collection for the study revealed that the quality and quantity of data on LUC on a national scale over time are low. Despite these uncertainties, the overview of past LUC indicates that large changes in land use have occurred in Indonesia and Malaysia. In Indonesia, LUC can primarily be characterized by forest cover loss on 40 million ha (Mha) of land, a 30% reduction in forest land. Deforestation in Malaysia has been smaller in both absolute and relative terms, with a forest cover loss of nearly 5 Mha (20% reduction in forest land). Other large changes in Malaysia occurred in permanent cropland (excluding oil palm), which has decreased rapidly since the early 1990s, and in land under oil palm cultivation, which experienced a sharp increase. Projections of additional land demand for palm oil production in 2020 range from 1 to 28 Mha in Indonesia. The demand can be met to a large extent by degraded land if no further deforestation is assumed. In Malaysia, expansion projections range from 0.06 to 5 Mha, but only the lowest projection of oil palm expansion is feasible when only degraded land may be used. The role of palm oil production in future LUC depends on the size of the projected expansion as well as agricultural management factors such as implementation of best management practices, earlier replanting with higher yielding plants, and establishment of new plantations on degraded land. The current use of degraded land needs to be investigated in order to reduce possible indirect LUC, land tenure conflicts, or other social impacts. In addition to minimizing direct and indirect LUC by the palm oil sector, measures that reduce deforestation triggered by other causes must also be implemented. A key element for doing so is better planning and governance of land use, which entails more appropriate demarcation of forest land and protection of land that still has forest cover, improved monitoring of land use, and more research to uncover the complexities and dynamics of the causes and drivers of LUC.     

Farmer-specific relationships between land use change and landscape factors: Introducing agents in empirical land use modelling

Traditional empirical land use change models generally assume one average land use decision-maker. Multi-Agent System (MAS) models, on the other hand, acknowledge existence of different types of agents, but their poor empirical embedding remains a serious handicap. This paper demonstrates how agent information can also be incorporated into empirical, biophysical land use models.     

Public participation and organizational change in Wisconsin land use management

This article explores the issues that arise when land use management organizations change their previous ways of relating to the public. I introduce an analytic framework for evaluating organizational changes that are grounded in participatory planning and decision making. Using a case study of a recent planning initiative of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, I examine dynamics of trust, civic capacities, personal demands, history of working relationships, and interest in the issue at hand. Though preliminary, the conclusions drawn from this research illustrate how these dynamics may influence the success of participatory planning that reflects organizational change.     

大庆市土地利用/土地覆盖景观格局研究

利用遥感影像处理系统,对大庆市1978~2001年5个时段的TM影像进行处理,得到大庆市土地利用图;据图进行土地利用/土地覆盖景观格局分析,利用GIS软件计算出大庆市区土地利用/土地覆盖的破碎化、斑块形状、分离度、优势度、均匀性及多样性等景观指数,并对大庆市区土地利用/土地覆盖进行自相关分析;结果表明,作为一个典型的石油型城市,大庆市景观格局有其独特之处。     

浅析现行土地利用/覆盖变化描述方法

土地利用/覆盖变化是当前全球变化研究的热点问题之一;将土地利用/覆盖变化的描述方法分为土地利用时空变化和景观格局两个方面,分别从土地利用程度、动态变化速度、位置迁移和转换方向及来源方向等角度分析,对土地利用变化过程中的景观格局指数的变化规律总结归纳,并对指数的适宜性作以分析。     

The evolving concepts of land administration in China: Cultivated land protection perspective

This paper presents a holistic method by integrating three concepts (land resources management, assets supervision and political governance for sustainability) for investigation of land administration in China, taking into consideration of cultivated land protection for a testimony with econometric method. Theoretically, in this self-organizing integrated method, land resources management focuses on the productivity of land; land assets supervision centralizes on the realization of land usufruct rights in land transference; land political governance for sustainability concentrates on harmonious linkage of economic efficiency, social stability and environmental safety of land use. Their interrelations are complex. Methodologically, the results indicate that the theoretical model is feasible to explain variations of cultivated land protection with these three concepts. Cultivated land decreases with increasing land value increment multiples, and is positive with political governance concept, but not in a linear fashion. Finally the results suggest that roles of government in land administration need to be changed and strengthened, supporting complete compensation for land expropriation and modification to policies of cultivated land.     

宜宾市土地利用变化分析

旨在分析宜宾市在研究时段内土地利用变化状况;确定土地利用的数量变化采用分级赋与指数法;在GIS支持下,利用各期现状图叠加分析和DEM模型分析确定空间变化;得出研究区域人类活动强烈,土地用途变化大的结论;应该优化土地利用结构和建立舍理的土地利用措施。     

Cultivated land conversion and potential agricultural productivity in China

In China there is a growing debate on the role of cultivated land conversion on food security. This paper uses satellite images to examine the changes of the area of cultivated land and its potential agricultural productivity in China. We find that between 1986 and 2000 China recorded a net increase of cultivated land (+1.9%), which almost offset the decrease in average potential productivity, or bioproductivity (−2.2%). Therefore, we conclude that conversion of cultivated land has not hurt China's national food security. We also argue that more recent change in cultivated area likely has had little adverse effect on food security.     

Preindustrial agriculture versus organic agriculture: The land cost of sustainability

The study of traditional agrarian systems can provide useful knowledge for improving the sustainability of present-day agriculture. Nonetheless, with the loss of traditional agro-ecosystems and the rationale that guides them, as has happened in Europe, an historical research approach can have a decisive role to play in recapturing this knowledge. In this article we study the evolution of a typical Mediterranean agro-ecosystem during the last 250 years, supporting the claim that high diversity and the internalization of energy flows and nutrient cycles found in traditional agriculture, are not only characteristics of the greatest sustainability of such systems, but are based in the need for additional land in production. This claim requires the dedication of land to diverse and complementary uses that leave a footprint on the landscape. Organic agriculture needs to consider this “land cost”, meanwhile trying to minimize it in order to improve its actual degree of sustainability.     

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.     

大连金石滩土地利用时空分异研究

以1992、1998、2004、2009年的金石滩地区土地利用数据为基础,运用GIS软件的叠置分析,空间分析对研究区土地变化时空分异研究。本文通过单一土地利用动态度和综合土地动态度分析研究区内图地类型变化的速度和趋势,同时将土地利用扩展强度指数带入分析土地利用规模的变化,以此探究其土地利用变化的驱动因素。研究表明,土地利用数量变化模式呈现耕地面积大量减少,建设用地迅速增加:1992-2013年各土地利用类型单一动态度中耕地和未利用地减少速度相对较快,分别为-4.36%和-4.37%;城乡建设用地增加最快,为21.37%,其次为交通水利用地,为17.99%;1998-2004年综合土地利用动态度最大,为3.63%,这期间土地利用变化最为迅速,旅游开发活动剧烈。扩展强度指数计算各土地类型得出,耕地的扩展强度指数最低,为-1.48,城乡建设用地的扩展强度指数最高,为1.42%。研究结果可信。