Following independence, several southern African states established modern institutions in communal areas to manage human-wildlife relations and land tenure. These reforms were layered over existing customary governance systems, creating overlapping jurisdiction and contested authority. This study analyzes how such institutional arrangements produce governance conflicts within Namibia’s communal conservancies

Balancing economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social equity to enhance urban livability, an essential dimension of human-centered development, poses significant challenges in metropolitan regions. Conventional planning paradigms frequently struggle with navigating the intricate, multi-dimensional trade-offs embedded within human-centered land use decision-making. To bridge this gap,

In a context of budgetary austerity, land value capture (LVC) is increasingly promoted globally as a key source to bridge the financial gap for infrastructure investment. This article examines the LVC mechanisms adopted for the Grand Paris Express, one of Europe’s largest ongoing urban transit projects, led by the state-owned Société des Grands Projets (SGP). It combines LVC literature with the sociology

Built form typological analysis is essential for simplifying and interpreting the vast complexities of the urban built environment, offering a basis for understanding the physical structure of cities. Previous research has largely focused on scrutinizing built form typologies using a limited set of cities, with little attention to their variation across regions and within urban areas. In this study

Transforming food systems to improve socio-economic, environmental, and food security outcomes requires improved understanding of how system actors and outcomes interact across different levels and scales. To date, food systems science supporting the Food Systems Transformation (FST) has focused on macro and global or planetary level outcomes, while actor-focused work has occurred at more granular

Forest restoration in Europe has a complex history strongly influenced by various social, policy and economic factors. Understanding these influences is essential for shaping effective restoration strategies and avoiding past mistakes, particularly in light of meeting ambitious targets outlined in initiatives such as the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. Here we identify the key social, policy and

There are no known valuations for ecosystem service flows from soil carbon for any country or region in the world. In this paper we make a first attempt to generate such data. The study aims were: develop a framework for acquiring international data for application to a specific region (UK); determine whether data limitations render it insufficient to inform the design of policies to encourage more

The article analyzes the impacts of climate change on the pattern of land use in the macro-regions of Brazil, considering the productive specificities of large-scale and family farmers through the scenarios RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 (IPCC, 2014) between 2021 and 2050. The methodological strategy consists of the simultaneous estimation, via Iterated Seemingly Unrelated Regressions (ISUR), of a production

Governance strategies, involving both governmental and non-governmental entities, are instrumental in regulating land use practices and conservation, specifically in countries with high agricultural commodity production. Their interconnection is vital for advancing sustainable agriculture and forest use while simultaneously addressing greenhouse gas emissions and land use and land rights. This study

Climate change and escalating socio-ecological risks require land management to move from “sustainable” rhetoric to operational “responsible” norms. In response, we assume that institutional shifts in land management, driven by technological innovations and evolving societal values, contribute to more responsive and inclusive governance structures. Changing socio-political norms, such as biopolitics

As shrinking cities proliferate, land banks have emerged as critical instruments for managing urban vacancy. This study examines the effects of land-banking programs on social capital (SC), mediated by perceived neighborhood conditions (PNC). Based on 598 survey responses from residents in Detroit, Michigan, the study finds that Land Bank programs affect SC through both direct and indirect pathways

Urban informality—characterised by unregulated and self-organised land use practices—has become a defining feature of many sub-Saharan African cities. In Kumasi, formal planning schemes increasingly coexist and compete with informal transformations that reshape neighbourhood structures and uses. Understanding these dynamics is essential for developing inclusive and adaptive planning strategies. We

This viewpoint examines the overlooked yet crucial role of the underground in achieving net zero carbon transitions. Drawing on insights from the Underground Futures scoping study, a collaboration between Lancaster University and the British Geological Survey, the viewpoint explores how subsurface spaces, once associated with extraction, are now central to energy storage, carbon sequestration, and

Climate change creates new challenges for biodiversity conservation. Numerous conservation approaches have been advocated in response and there is a need to compile these into a readily accessible format. We systematically searched scientific literature to summarize recommendations that previous review papers have given for conserving biodiversity in the face of both direct and indirect effects of

Declining soil health threatens smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, undermining food security and the sustainability of agri-food systems. Although sustainable soil health management (SSHM) offers proven solutions, its adoption remains limited due to systemic barriers constraining farmers’ ability to access, combine, and benefit from essential resources. While recent scholarship calls for

Urban accessibility plays a critical role in shaping property values, as access to essential services and infrastructure can significantly influence real estate prices. Accurate property valuation models are crucial to estimate fair property taxes to fund urban services and public infrastructure. Traditional appraisal methods often struggle to capture the complexities of urban environments, prompting

Net Carbon Goal is a pressing global policy challenge, yet these ambitious goals are typically defined by specific emission reduction percentages and stabilized atmospheric concentration levels. However, the current “Absolute zero” policy has degenerated into a mere accounting game, thereby overlooking the hidden supply-demand interactions in carbon sequestration service (CSS) embedded in the Net Carbon

Ukraine has 10.4 million hectares of public farmland, which surpasses most European countries’ total farmland. A significant portion of that is allocated to private producers through farmland rental auctions. The country’s land decentralization reform of 2014 gradually transferred the management of more than four million hectares from the central governmental agency to local communities governed by

Rapid urbanization is transforming small watersheds, amplifying flood risks and challenging sustainable water management worldwide. This study investigates how regulatory-driven urban expansion affects the hydrology of the Meio River watershed (4 km²) in Florianópolis, southern Brazil – a coastal, rapidly urbanizing area where the municipal Master Plan lacks explicit hydrological criteria. The watershed

Urban expansion has increasingly extended into hillside areas over the past few decades, significantly compromising natural habitat quality (HQ) and posing serious challenges to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 15: “Life on Land”. Although hillside urban expansion (HUE) is an important part of global urban expansion, its effects on HQ remain largely underexplored. Here, we

This study investigates whether customary land tenure systems in Malawi support efficient and equitable access to farmland among smallholder households. While customary tenure remains the dominant form of landholding in many sub-Saharan African countries, it is unclear how different acquisition pathways, such as inheritance, acquisition through traditional leaders, rental, and purchase, perform regarding

Achieving improvements in soil health and biodiversity on agricultural land in the European Union, as outlined in the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, requires bridging the current funding gap through increased private investment. Yet the funding potential of private individuals remains largely untapped, partly due to a lack of attractive funding opportunities and

This study examines the evolving dynamics of farmland ownership in Europe, focusing on the implications of ownership changes, foreign direct investments (FDI), and land concentration on the sustainability and resilience of European food systems. A scoping review of academic literature, available data sources, and policy documents revealed a knowledge gap regarding the evolution of European farmland

Rapid urbanization, persistent housing deficits, and environmental pressures have intensified the need for sustainable housing solutions in Kenya. This study evaluates sustainability in Kenya’s housing development and explicates the contribution of innovative design strategies in the advancement of sustainable housing in the nation. Guided by pragmatist philosophy, the study employed a qualitative

Land use efficiency has emerged as a critical consideration for urban sustainability, but its underlying drivers remain insufficiently explored at the global scale. This paper addresses this gap by combining XGBoost and Bayesian Networks to identify and model the principal factors influencing urban land use efficiency worldwide. XGBoost isolates key drivers and quantifies their effects, Bayesian Networks

Farmers’ and landowners’ decisions affecting soil management reflect not only economic motivations related to productivity, but also deeper principles and values associated with soil health. However, such values are often implicit and not explicitly acknowledged in decision-making processes. In complex agro-silvo-pastoral systems like the Montado in Southern Iberia, where multiple productive and climatic

Cropland abandonment is an agricultural land use change with notable socioeconomic and environmental implications. Previously managed fields are no longer cultivated and undergo natural succession. Biophysical, socioeconomic, and institutional factors that drive cropland abandonment differ between regions across the globe. In Brazil, Rio de Janeiro State has been showing a strong loss of cropland areas

It has been suggested that raising the physical productivity of agricultural commodities should be considered as a strategy to contain the alarming level of deforestation reached in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Based on an application of the Constant Market Share (CMS) methodology, the article verifies the net effect on the need for new land of the historically verified intensification from 2001

Urban vegetation regulates local thermal environments, yet rapid urbanization has simultaneously driven widespread browning that undermines these benefits. Although greening is widely promoted as a heat-mitigation strategy, its capacity to mitigate the warming from browning remains unclear, particularly given the potentially asymmetric thermal responses of these processes. Here, using 30m-resolution

Natural elements in urban environments enhance livability and health, strengthening urban vitality. However, existing research has primarily focused on physical indicators, with limited attention paid to the joint influence of behavioral and perceptual dimensions on urban vitality. To address this gap, this study integrates a spatiotemporal analytical framework encompassing three dimensions: natural

This review discusses the economic drivers, the environmental damages, and the policies enacted to fight Amazon deforestation. It provides key statistics about conservation in the nine Amazon countries, and discusses the underlying causes leading to forest destruction in the region. Economic exploitation of the forest generates profits, but forest destruction creates harm on global, regional, and local

Many regions of the world are suffering from terrorist attacks. Terrorist groups are targeting certain types of land use based on their agendas. This study examines the spatial and temporal patterns of targeted land use types by terrorists over more than fifty years in Egypt between 1970 and 2020. We utilized quantitative statistical analysis and spatial and temporal analysis techniques to understand

While economic inequalities and poor governance are known to influence environmental practices, including access to sanitation, the mismatches in scale and the value of social networks within landscape patterns remain understudied. Understanding how scale mismatches and social networks impact access to sanitation facilities can help identify necessary strategies for improvement. However, research exploring

Carbon compensation policies are widely recognized as effective emission reduction tools. As cropland carbon budgets gain importance in climate governance, balancing food production with emissions mitigation and carbon sequestration has become an urgent challenge. This study proposes a novel theoretical framework for horizontal carbon compensation for cropland use (HCCCU), which aims to promote equitable

Social interaction is a powerful indicator of the vitality and quality of urban public spaces. In areas such as urban squares, the frequency, duration, and spatial distribution of interpersonal encounters reflect how effectively a space facilitates social interactions within the urban land system. However, these interactions—often brief and subtle—are difficult to observe and quantify in dynamic environments

We examined equity and justice in forest restoration programs in Madhesh province in Nepal. We selected four sites that have three different tenure regimes, namely, community forest (Baghbhairav and Musahar), collaborative forest management (Tamagadhi), and forest protection area (Dhanushadham). The primary data were collected through focus group discussion, key informant interviews, field observations

To facilitate well-being and health amongst urban populations, there is a need for urban spatial plans to promote sustainable development, leading to considerable interest and practice related to the delivery of urban green infrastructure (UGI). One approach for delivering UGI is through the adoption of green plans. However, green plans vary considerably in their structure and content, and there is

Climate-Smart forestry (CSF) is an evolving concept that promotes forestry practices that mitigate climate change while supporting forest productivity and income of forest owners. However, the transition towards CSF carries implications for the forest owners’ livelihood and their land’s environmental benefits. This study aims to determine the forest owners' willingness to accept (WTA) incentives for

Utility-scale solar facilities are being installed across the United States at a growing rate. However, the effects of these facilities on local economies are not well studied, especially in rural settings where these facilities are often located. In this paper we estimate the causal effect of a new utility-scale solar facility opening on nearby house prices using a distance-decay difference-in-differences

This paper investigates the structural transformation of Italian agriculture between 2010 and 2020 by analyzing regional data from the 6th and 7th General Agricultural Censuses. Through a comparative econometric approach based on cross-sectional regressions, the study explores how demographic, technological, and organizational factors influence farm consolidation, measured by the average Utilized Agricultural

Restoring “sponge” capacity in sandy uplands is a governance challenge as much as a hydrological one. Yet land-use instruments and land tenure dynamics shaping implementation are under-examined. We assess whether governance of Dutch sandy uplands is moving toward resilience or stuck in reluctance, and why. We combine Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development framework with boundary spanning concepts

The Community Based Natural Resources Management Programme (CBNRM) was developed as an incentive for local communities to partner with government in natural resources conservation and sustainable utilization as local communities were to derive benefits from the conservation of the resources. When the Government of Botswana adopted the CBNRM in the late 1980s, it seemed to have had good intensions for

Sustainable and socially just land use requires effective and legitimate land policies. One potential obstacle to the design of such policies is the lack of appropriate land policy instruments. Currently, we have an incomplete system-level understanding of the critical elements in the repertory of land policy instruments available to local governments (i.e., the land policy toolbox) for purposes of

Ilha Comprida–an island and municipality in Brazil entirely designated as a conservation area–has experienced significant conflicts between urban growth and environmental preservation since 1987. While land use and cover change models can aid territorial management in such contexts, knowledge gaps remain in integrating these models with land use policies through participatory approaches, as well as

Peatlands are vital wetland ecosystems that provide multiple ecosystem services, including climate and water regulation. However, across Europe these ecosystems have experienced extensive change, affecting their role in wider environmental processes. Considering this, the EU Nature Restoration Law, along with LULUCF regulations, mandates using geographically explicit data on the extent and condition

The pursuit of sustainable agricultural investment and the transformation of smallholder farming into commercially viable enterprises is gaining increasing traction, with land tenure security emerging as a critical factor in de-risking agricultural investment. This study examines the impact of land tenure security on farmers’ investment decisions in irrigation and soil and water conservation (SWC)

Protected areas (PAs) and their buffer zones (BZs) are essential for biodiversity conservation but face increasing risk of becoming isolated within human-dominated landscapes. In recent decades, land-use change, urban sprawl, and their impacts on PAs have attracted growing attention worldwide. Yet it remains unclear to what extent such processes contribute to the loss of natural areas, particularly

This study analyzes the effects of the expansion of sugarcane and energy production on the distribution of ownership/exploitation and property of agricultural land in the State of São Paulo, between 1996 and 2017. Data on land ownership by agricultural establishments were obtained from the IBGE agricultural censuses while property ownership was sourced from the INCRA rural property registry. A literature

This paper synthesizes the most recent wave of impact evaluation evidence on land tenure and governance reforms. Building on previous systematic reviews, we focus exclusively on counterfactual-based evaluations, including newly released reports, and expand coverage to both rural and urban settings. Using the Global Land Logic Model as a framework, we assess not only the outcomes reported but also the

The expansion of monocultures and urbanization has reshaped rural landscapes in Brazil. We evaluated how land use has changed in São Paulo state, since a decree defining family farming in the country was issued, and how it contributed to climate change and the ability to adapt to it. We analyzed land use changes between 1985 and 2023 across 601 municipalities, focusing on the dynamics of family farming

Conflicts have emerged as a major constraint to agricultural development in Nigeria, undermining investment, productivity, and rural livelihoods. This study investigates the impact of conflict on agricultural investment decisions among rural households in Nigeria, using nationally representative panel data from the Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) merged

India’s pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity by 45 % by 2030 marked a transformative shift in its climate governance framework. Despite the country’s significant GHG emissions, the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector acted as a critical net carbon sink in 2020, offsetting approximately 533 MtCO₂e. Recognising the dual

Property ownership has long been associated with essential human development outcomes, yet globally, women continue to be at a significant disadvantage compared to men. While previous scholarship has theorized the importance of women’s land ownership, empirical studies have historically been more limited, leaving many relevant questions unanswered. Does asset ownership improve women’s lives? If so

The increasing incidence of floods driven by urbanization and climate change destabilizes urban social, economic and environmental systems where land tenure is integral. Land tenure security is regarded as an essential element in navigating adaptations to disaster events, including floods. However, the occurrence of floods itself could be a source of land tenure insecurity. This study, drawing on political

Urban development strategies significantly shape the characteristics of urban green spaces (UGS). It remains unclear how UGS outcomes differ across cities that have followed distinct strategic trajectories. With this paper, we enrich the environmental justice debate by investigating differences in the provision of UGS resulting from different development strategies, focusing on three dimensions: availability