Effects of land-use master plans in the metropolitan fringe of Japan

The complexity of the landscape in Japanese metropolitan suburbs is the result of high competition among land-demanding economic activities. Although both urban and rural planning legislation has played certain roles in the ordering of land-use, lack of coordination among different zoning systems is still a key issue in the proper development and conservation of limited land. This study investigated the effects of land-use master plans on actual control of land use through maximal utilization of detailed grid data with advanced GIS functions. We analyzed land-use changes in the Osaka metropolitan area for three periods: 1979–1985; 1985–1991; 1991–1996, and compared these changes with the zoning status in each period. This study demonstrates that disordered developments resulted in an increase of vacant areas in urban fringes, which also accelerated the fragmentation of forests and farmlands, causing a disordered spatial pattern from which it will be difficult to recover with the present land-use master plans.     

Refining landscape change models through outlier analysis in the Muskegon watershed of Michigan

Balancing natural resource protection and urban development is of concern to researchers, planners and citizens who are aware of the environmental, social and economic impacts of urban land use. Land-use change models can assist in finding this balance. An objective of this research was to build a better model of land-use change by integrating quantitative and qualitative techniques. A modelling approach is presented that combines statistical logistic regression with field-based outlier analysis. To this end, a collaborative effort between researchers, who are adept at building models, and local experts, who better understand the dynamics of landscape change in their communities, was undertaken. The findings indicate that this modelling approach is successful in improving overall model performance, as measured by pseudo r-squared value, and identifying additional drivers of land-use change, namely zoning, soil suitability and distance to highway interchange. Most importantly, this collaborative modelling process, involving researchers and local planners, has practical utility for land-use decision making.     

Living in the big city: Effects of urban land-use on bird community structure, diversity, and composition

Cities represent an important threat to biodiversity at different scales. Nevertheless, little is known on the processes underlying such effects. In this paper we describe bird diversity, structure, and composition patterns in different urban land-use categories. For this, we surveyed resident bird communities in four representative land-use categories of southwestern Mexico City. Our results show that bird communities vary greatly along the different studied urban land-uses, which represent an urbanization development gradient. Bird communities were highly dominated by few generalist species in areas with commercial components, while showed to have higher evenness values in green areas. Bird species richness decreased and bird abundances increased with urbanization intensity. Also, our results indicate that bird species richness and abundance values are sensible to site-specific habitat characteristics. Although we did not find a clear pattern of taxonomic homogenization related to urbanization, our results show that urbanization development entails the functional homogenization of bird communities. Thus, based on our results, we suggest three urban planning and management activities: (1) regulate land-use change related to urbanization; (2) increase the number of green areas within the city; (3) establish bird monitoring programs to identify focal areas that need management and assist with ecological data for urban planning.     

Towards Facilitative and Pro-poor Land-Use Management in South African Urban Areas: Learning from International Experience

Few would argue with the proposition that land-use management is one of the most powerful tools in the context of planning, both in South Africa and internationally, with the potential to transform the urban landscape. Yet despite its potential, it has been neglected both in terms of academic enquiry and legislative reform. This has resulted in land-use management functioning as an undesirable and unwieldy tool that perpetuates the modernist ideals of land-use separation and sprawling suburbia, and most worryingly, the perpetuation of an urban form that is essentially anti-poor. This paper initiates a search for the appropriate criteria for a land-use management system in South Africa’s urban areas. We argue for a land-use management system that moves away from the traditional exclusive emphasis on zoning towards a more flexible system based on a tiered set of plans. This system must take into account and respond to the dynamics of the urban land market, both its formal and informal dimensions, and directly address the poor and their needs as the central focus of land-use management.     

城市边缘区生态环境保护研究综述

论文通过文献调查、概念分析和相关历史研究,尝试梳理边缘区环境现象、生态源头问题认知及解题方法,重点解析了生物多样性保护、生态要素保护与土地利用规划导向等边缘区重点研究领域,对现行程序管理与评估手段中的薄弱环节予以详细阐释。研究围绕三方面展开：（1）城市边缘区生态环境品质关系到城镇生态、空间形态以及城镇化管理,规划需协调建设与非建设用地并提升保护区的复合生态服务功能;（2）自然生境与农林非建设用地为主要保护区域,跨部门构建内连城区、外接乡村腹地的绿色生态空间网络,是重要的规划手段;（3）降低边缘区规划建设影响关乎保护的长效性,需要实体空间保护规划与政策法规及管理软件支撑协同作业。     

Effects of land-use master plans in the metropolitan fringe of Japan

The complexity of the landscape in Japanese metropolitan suburbs is the result of high competition among land-demanding economic activities. Although both urban and rural planning legislation has played certain roles in the ordering of land-use, lack of coordination among different zoning systems is still a key issue in the proper development and conservation of limited land. This study investigated the effects of land-use master plans on actual control of land use through maximal utilization of detailed grid data with advanced GIS functions. We analyzed land-use changes in the Osaka metropolitan area for three periods: 1979–1985; 1985–1991; 1991–1996, and compared these changes with the zoning status in each period. This study demonstrates that disordered developments resulted in an increase of vacant areas in urban fringes, which also accelerated the fragmentation of forests and farmlands, causing a disordered spatial pattern from which it will be difficult to recover with the present land-use master plans.     

Land-use and land-cover change and its environmental implications in a tropical highland watershed,Ethiopia

This study analysed long-term land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) in a highland watershed covering an area of about 154?km² in the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia. Two sets of panchromatic aerial photographs (1957 and 1982) and a Landsat TM image (2001) were the main input data from which three land-use and land-cover maps were produced by employing geographical information systems/remote sensing techniques. These data were complemented by some socio-economic data that were generated by using household survey, key-informant interview and group discussion methods. The results show that in regard to land-use and land-cover, the major change has been the reduction of areas under natural vegetation cover and expansion of open grassland, cultivated areas and settlements. Over the four and a half decades considered, areas of forest and dense tree cover and shrub grassland decreased by 64 and 6%, respectively. Forest and dense tree cover experienced the greatest change; from accounting for ～9% of the total area of the watershed in 1957 to only ～3% in 2001. In general, much of the de-vegetation occurred between 1982 and 2001. Cropland and rural settlement showed a small but consistent increase between 1957 and 2001. Riparian vegetation decreased during the first period, but increased almost to the same level during the second period by gaining land from the other land-use and land-cover types. The observed LUCCs were driven by a combination of proximate and underlying causes. These include increasing demographic pressure and associated demands on environmental resources, widespread rural poverty and inadequate management of common property resources owing to poorly defined ownership arrangements. There is a need for short-term and long-term strategies to ensure sustainable land management and agricultural development in the watershed.     

Green belt in a compact city: A zone for conservation or transition?

The paper examines the evolution, implementation and performance of the green belt in the compact and land-hungry city of Hong Kong. The green belt in Hong Kong comprises over 25% of all the land areas under the statutory land-use zoning plans. Its planning policy declares that there is a presumption against development in this land-use zone. Based upon historical study, cross-sectional examination of 109 statutory zoning plans and quantitative analysis of 1230 planning application cases, this study has evaluated whether the green belt was indeed treated as a non-building area for the purpose of landscape and countryside conservation. The conclusion is that the actual planning intention of the green belt has been ambivalent and flexible and it is a transition zone rather than a zone for conservation in Hong Kong.     

Land-use planning and distribution of threatened wildlife in a city of Japan

The relationships between the distribution patterns of threatened wildlife species and current land-use planning were investigated in a city of Japan to design a sustainable and land-use plan. Spatial distributions of 165 species of threatened wildlife (99 plants and 66 animals) were obtained by surveying most of the Chiba City, located in northeastern part of the Tokyo Bay area. Distribution maps were created within 334 rectangular cells, each measuring 1.1 km×0.9 km, oriented in the cardinal directions. Four land-use zones, i.e., urbanization promotion, parkland, agricultural and urbanization control, and agricultural promotion zones were identified.The distribution of these threatened species was analyzed in terms of green cover and zoning categories. Few threatened wildlife species were found in the urbanization promotion or parkland zone. Most were concentrated in the surrounding arable areas with green covers of more than 50%. Areas other than those set aside for intensive agricultural development in the agricultural promotion development zone contained the greatest number of species. These areas belonged to the agricultural and urbanization control zone, where the traditional agricultural landscape still remains in and around narrow valleys called “yatsu”.The results suggest that the regional biodiversity depends heavily on areas in which the traditional landscape remains relatively intact. Based on these results, a series of recommendations, including conservation and restoration of habitats, establishments of wildlife networks and corridors, and citizen involvement in conservation, were presented to the city studied. The data and recommendations will hopefully help the city, as well as many other areas faced with similar issues, devise future land-use plans that combine sustainable development with conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of high quality living environments.     

小城镇发展与城镇用地预测研究--以重庆市大足县为例

根据大足县的自然、社会经济环境和小城镇的发展现状,预测了大足县未来5年和10年的城镇化水平与城镇用地的需求量。根据预测,未来大足县城镇用地的需求很大。随着城镇化进程的加快,城镇用地的供需矛盾会更加突出。因此,一方面应加大农村居民点的集中和农居用地的整理,在保持耕地占补平衡的基础上,适当增加重点小城镇的用地;另一方面,要加强城镇用地的集约化程度,提高现有土地的利用率。总的原则是首先保证经济实力强的小城镇的用地,以发展其经济,增强其辐射范围,从而带动整个大足农村经济的发展,提高大足县整体经济水平;其次,对目前经济实力一般,但未来有较大发展潜力而人均用地又较少的小城镇,适当地提高其用地水平;对目前经济实力一般,而人均用地较多的小城镇,要严格控制城镇用地的增加。     

基于城市生物多样性保护的环滇池鸟类生境识别与网络构建

生物多样性是人类赖以生存和发展的重要基础,城市生物多样性是其重要组成部分。鸟类是城市生物多样性的指示物种和伞护物种,具有重要研究价值。基于城市生物多样性保护的目的,利用MaxEnt模型预测识别滇池沿岸鸟类适宜生境,完成生境制图,并利用最小成本距离模型和电路理论构建及优化鸟类生境网络。结果表明：1)MaxEnt模型识别环滇池湖滨水陆相交区域为鸟类高适宜区生境,距滇池一级保护区距离与植被覆盖度是影响鸟类生境适宜性的主要因子;2)生境制图结果显示,高适宜区生境以湿地与林地为主,两者占比分别为39.34%和28.67%;3)基于最小成本距离模型构建了滇池沿岸及昆明城市范围内的鸟类生境网络;4)基于电路理论识别了生境网络的生态“夹点”和“障碍点”,改进网络的连通性。研究成果形成鸟类生境识别和网络构建的系统方法,为城市生物多样性保护提供科学依据与参考。     

The flora of selected urban land-use types in Berlin and Potsdam with regard to nature conservation in cities

Part of this investigation is the flora of three different urban land-use types which represent typical biotope characteristics of Berlin and Potsdam. The majority of these urban land-use types is located in the former GDR territory of East Berlin and Potsdam, which were almost unexplored and are therefore of special botanic interest. The focus lies on the inventory of wild-growing vascular plants, their diversity, richness, and value for nature conservation.The first investigated land-use type are the landscape parks of Potsdam with their plant communities of meadows and lawns which differ from many other grasslands of today in having unique plant species due to their historic garden design and the continuous way of extensive garden management. Second, the residential areas of the 20/30s in Berlin and their diversity of wild-growing vascular plants and planted trees which reflect the original garden management and the gardening traditions of this decade are presented. The third urban land-use type is the area of the Berlin wall with urban wasteland communities. It will be shown that also in the inner city with a high population density a special variety of species makes urban wastelands worthy for nature conservation.     

Modelling the impacts of payments for biodiversity conservation on regional land-use patterns

We present a land-use allocation model that evaluates the impact of payments for ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation on land-use patterns. In a non-linear optimisation procedure, land use is allocated at farm level, taking into account risk behaviour, and spatial as well as temporal variability of net revenues of land-use alternatives, using a spatial resolution of 29 m × 29 m. The model is applied to a study area of 30 km × 34 km in western Ecuador, considered a hotspot for biodiversity. In this coffee growing region, agroforestry systems with shade-coffee are important for biodiversity conservation at the landscape level, but under pressure due to low revenues. Through scenario analyses, we analyse the effects of price premiums per kg, payments per ha, and price buffering for coffee, as well as incentives leading to coffee yield increases, and payments per ha of forest remnants. We compare different risk aversion levels of the involved agents. We conclude that payments per ha are more efficient to maintain or increase coffee areas than payments per kg. Price buffering may be the most cost-effective way to support coffee production, especially at high-risk aversion levels. Significant yield increases are necessary to make coffee more attractive compared to the other alternatives. Relatively low payments per ha of forest can significantly increase forested land. Risk behaviour turns out to be an important factor when determining the possible effect of payments for ecosystem services. We conclude that the model is a versatile tool to support planning of payments for conserving ecosystems.     

Strategic land-use allocation: dealing with spatial relationships and fragmentation of agriculture

In The Netherlands, a debate continues to take place on how to allocate the available space among several types of land use. The rural area is under constant pressure from urban developments. Multi-purpose land use is becoming more and more important.Land-use allocation problems can be identified as complex planning problems, with a large number of stakeholders involved. Therefore the decisions made with respect to land use must be clear and transparent to these stakeholders. Various methods have been developed to support land allocation issues. Typically, however, the analysis of topological relationships, initiated by biophysical and socio-economic processes, and the spatial configuration of different land uses, is often neglected, especially for agricultural planning. Neglecting the spatial configuration and these relationships can result in spatial fragmentation of land use, thus endangering sustainable land use.This paper focuses on a method to address land-use allocation issues where the topological relationships are taken into account. The method is implemented in a Geographical Information System (GIS). Two cases for Dutch agriculture are discussed.     

生态整合目标导向下的城市开放空间资源利用与关联建设用 地布局

针对城镇建设土地利用与开放空间 系统相互割裂,土地利用布局错位的问题,提 出城市规划层面,土地利用与空间布局所承载 的自然、社会与经济过程多纬度整合的规划 思路。立足城市规划土地利用核心环节,致力 于城镇建设土地利用系统和开放空间土地资 源系统的生态整合,趋利避害。文章通过实地 走访调查及文献研究等方法,对城市土地利 用、公共空间现状及其相互关系进行了调查 研究,梳理了其中存在问题,并尝试结合案例 实践探索生态整合目标导向下的规划路径： 通过可相容性分析将环境区分配给可以创造 社会与经济增殖效益的建设土地用途,并以 此获取环境保护的经济与社会支持;运用环 境区与建设区的整体空间布局方法,最大化 环境区外部增殖效益;保护地域环境资源并 融入建设土地利用,塑造地域空间     

绿色低碳背景下城区边缘绿色空间规划思路与方法研究 ——以宝鸡中心城区南部台塬区生态建设规划为例

城区边缘绿色空间深刻地作用于 城市空间结构与生态品质,进而影响绿色低 碳建设目标,然而现实中却为规划建设的薄 弱环节。文章运用文献梳理与案例研究方 法,结合宝鸡南部台塬区规划实践,探讨了 绿色低碳背景下城区边缘绿色空间的规划 思路：尊重自然过程,提升城区边缘绿色空 间内在系统生态功能和外在复合服务功能; 利用区位与环境优势,发掘邻近城区正向关 联的空间环境与产业经济边缘效应。规划 方法展现于相互支撑的三个方面：塑造潜在 可能转化城区外缘绿色空间低碳功效的绿 色空间结构;构筑减少土地利用过程碳足迹的绿色空间用地布局;综合考量城郊游憩与地方 食物供给等绿色产业布局。最后,文章探讨了绿色空间与相关建设用地全覆盖土地利用控制 方法与空间设计导引指向。     

The Peri-urban Land-Use Planning Tangle: An Australian Perspective

With increasing urbanization of the world's populations, there is increasing concern about land consumption, particularly, urban expansion onto non-urban land. This paper identifies current approaches leading to this point and argues that these create a tangle requiring a more mature approach if land use is to be managed more effectively, especially at the peri-urban fringe. The effects of managing peri-urban land under current paradigms are demonstrated in case studies of Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. The conclusion uses international examples to suggest that fresh planning approaches that take an integrated view of land-use management in a new paradigm are needed.     

生态适宜度评价在城市规划中的应用——以上海南桥新城总体规划为例

城市规划布局和土地使用的合理性是实现城市可持续发展的重要载体之一。以上海市南桥新城总体规划为研究对象,在城区总体规划中引入土地利用的生态适宜度评价的理念,提出生态适宜度评价指标体系,建立进行生态适宜度评价的定量化研究方法,为优化城区规划方案提供依据。     

Involving Homeowners in Flood Mitigation

Although less-than-fee acquisition (the purchase of development rights) has been used in several large-scale public programs to preserve open space in rural areas, its use by government in urban fringe areas under stronger development pressure has been limited.

Based on an analysis of the few ongoing programs, the cost and management questions are examined here in light of alternative methods of preserving land for purposes of conservation, scenery, agriculture and other compatible open uses. Nothing is found inherently wrong with the concept of less-than-fee acquisition: under the proper conditions it can be a viable method for preserving open space in urbanizing areas.